Izvestia 28 October 2005

Abolish the death penalty because of Beslan

On 1 September 2004, several hundred people were taken hostage by terrorists in School Number One in Beslan. When the siege was over, there were 344 victims, 186 of which were children.

It is against this background that I want to state a case for the abolition of the death penalty in Russia. I shall, therefore, refrain from merely repeating the argument that the death penalty is wrong, or insisting that promises made 9 years ago when Russia joined the Council of Europe must be kept for the sake of honour. Rather, I shall try to state a case which will not close our eyes to the pain and grief of Beslan families and of the Russian people. Tragically, they must live with the memory of schoolchildren killed on what should have been the happiest day of their lives.

We should harbour no illusions – all decisions on the death penalty in the Russian Federation will be influenced by the Beslan tragedy – and that is normal. The Russian Federation should not be forced to abolish capital punishment in spite of what happened at School Number One. Rather, it should decide to abolish it because of what happened in Beslan and Nalchik and other parts of the Russian Federation which have suffered terrorist attacks. Some will find this difficult to accept, yet there is not only a moral argument but also logic in seeking justice instead of retribution.

When confronted with such a horrific crime, reaction from any country, not only Russia, is inevitably one of utter shock and outrage, accompanied by fear. There is a need for closure before the grieving process can begin, and even when it does, the wounds, especially of those who have lost their loved ones, may never heal. Some will seek this closure in vengeance, and I can understand their emotions, even if I do not share their opinion. But we need to stop and ask ourselves what it would achieve if those who carried out the massacre in Beslan, or any other terrorist attack, were sentenced to death and executed.

First, despite a short-lived sentiment that scores had been settled, capital punishment would not help anyone, including the families of the victims, to live any easier with the memory of what has happened. Death does not heal.

Second, it would not honour the memory of the victims. There is no decency in spilling even more blood, even that of ruthless murderers, in the name of their innocent victims.

Third, it would give terrorists the satisfaction of obtaining what they sought in planning and carrying out their crime. They do not fear death which they and their disciples delusively consider as a sacrifice or martyrdom. Their real fear is to be exposed for what they are – common criminals – and to be judged and imprisoned until long after their terrorist cause has been defeated and their supporters have given up supporting them.

Finally, and most importantly, the death penalty would do nothing to protect other children from another Beslan. It is, of course, obvious that executed terrorists can no longer harm anyone, but their death at the hands of the state often serves to recruit new terrorists and become a pretext to justify their cause.

Capital punishment is no deterrent to crime. It also carries the risk of transforming judicial errors into irreversible mistakes

These are the reasons which have convinced a growing number of men and women in Russia - including members of the Russian State Duma and its delegation to the Council of Europe Assembly – that the death penalty in Russia must be formally abolished. I am also convinced that this will soon be the case - not because the Council of Europe is asking for it - but because death is not justice, and only justice can bring some sort of peace to the families of the victims and help to prevent another Beslan from taking place.

Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe