Method of execution
Execution by shooting
is a method of
capital punishment
in which a person is shot to death by one or more
firearms
. It is the most common method of execution worldwide, used in about 70 countries,
[1]
with
execution by firing squad
being one particular form.
In most countries, execution by a firing squad has historically been considered a more honorable death and was used primarily for military personnel, though in some countries?among them
Belarus
, the only state in Europe today that has the death penalty?the single executioner shooting inherited from the Soviet past is still in use.
Brazil
[
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]
Although Brazil abolished capital punishment in peacetime, it can be used for certain crimes in wartime, such as betrayal, conspiracy, mutiny, unauthorised retreat in battles, and theft of equipment or supplies in a military base.
[2]
[3]
The execution method in this case is execution by shooting.
[2]
[4]
Europe
[
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]
In Belarus, executions are performed by a single executioner shooting the condemned through the brain from behind with a suppressed pistol.
[5]
Soviet bloc
[
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]
In 20th-century
communist states
, shooting was a standard form of execution of civilian and military prisoners alike, with the
Soviet Union
setting an example of the single-executioner approach. The
firing squad
, with its solemn and lengthy ceremony was used infrequently.
The most common method was the firing of a
pistol
bullet ("nine grams of lead") into the brain.
This method was widely used during the
Great Purges
of the late 1930s at locations outside the major cities, e.g.
Krasny Bor
near Petrozavodsk, against purportedly anti-social elements, "counter-revolutionaries" and other
enemies of the people
.
It was also used in the execution of those who had committed ordinary criminal offences. Even after the breakup of the Soviet Union, people continued to be executed by shooting. Serial killer
Andrei Chikatilo
was executed in this way in 1994, just before Russia discontinued capital punishment as part of its accession to the
Council of Europe
.
United Kingdom
[
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]
No British citizen has ever been executed for a civilian crime by shooting by the British Crown Judiciary. A Royal Commission on Capital Punishment considered shooting as a possible alternative to hanging, although the findings published in 1953 concluded shooting was not a sufficiently effective means of execution to justify a switch to the method from hanging.
United States
[
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]
Since 1608, about 142 men have been judicially shot in the United States and
its English-speaking predecessor territories
, excluding executions related to the
American Civil War
.
[6]
During the American Civil War, 433 of the 573 men executed were shot dead by a firing squad: 186 of the 267 executed by the Union Army, and 247 of the 306 executed by the Confederate Army.
Today, execution by shooting is allowed in the US states of
Idaho
,
Oklahoma
,
South Carolina
and
Utah
.
Asia
[
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]
- Bahrain
uses firing squads for execution.
[7]
- In
China
, shooting as a method of execution takes two typical formats, either a
pistol
shot in the back of the head or neck or a shot by a
rifle
in either the back or the back of the head from behind.
[1]
Some more recent executions have been private and carried out using lethal injection, though shooting is still more frequently used.
[8]
[9]
Hong Kong
abolished the death penalty and
Macau
never had the death penalty prior to the handover, and neither restored it when they returned to Chinese sovereignty.
- In
India
, during the
Mughal
rule, soldiers who committed crimes were executed by being strapped to a cannon which was then fired. This was known as
blowing from a gun
. This method, invented by the Mughals, was continued by the
British
who used it to execute native deserters and mutineers, especially after the
Sepoy Mutiny of 1857
.
[10]
It is no longer practiced in the Republic of India, having been replaced by long drop hanging.
- In
Indonesia
,
capital punishment
is administered by a
firing squad
which aims for the
heart
.
[11]
- In
Mongolia
, capital punishment has been abolished since 2016, but the method of execution in 2012 was a bullet to the neck
[12]
from a .38 caliber revolver, a method inherited from Soviet legislation (see
Capital punishment in Mongolia
).
- Executions by shooting have occurred in
Myanmar
.
[13]
- In
North Korea
, executions are carried out by firing squad in public, making North Korea one of four countries that continue performing
public executions
.
[14]
- Oman
uses firing squads for execution.
[15]
- In
Taiwan
, the customary method is a single shot aimed at the heart (or at the
brain stem
, if the prisoner consents to
organ donation
). Before the execution, the prisoner is injected with a strong anesthetic to leave them completely senseless (see
Capital punishment in Taiwan
).
- In
Thailand
from 1934 until 2003, a single executioner would shoot the convict in the back from a mounted
machine gun
.
[16]
[17]
In 1979, a Thai woman named
Ginggaew Lorsoungnern
was executed only to wake up and walk. She was then shot a second time.
[18]
Executions are now done by
lethal injection
.
[19]
- Shooting is the primary method of execution in the
United Arab Emirates
.
[20]
- Shooting is the primary method of execution in
Yemen
.
[21]
- Shooting is used in
Saudi Arabia
, but
beheadings
are more common.
- Before 2011,
Vietnam
used firing squad for execution. Since 2011, Vietnam has used lethal injection as the main form of death penalty.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Citations
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Clark, Richard (2006).
"Shot at dawn!"
.
Capital Punishment U.K
. Retrieved
2009-06-10
.
- ^
a
b
"Afinal, existe pena de morte no Brasil?"
.
Jusbrasil
(in Brazilian Portuguese)
. Retrieved
2018-04-21
.
- ^
"Art. 5, inc. XLVII, "a" da Constituicao Federal de 88"
.
Jusbrasil
. Retrieved
2018-04-21
.
- ^
"Lei brasileira ainda preve pena de morte; saiba quando pode ser aplicada"
.
Gazeta do Povo
(in Portuguese)
. Retrieved
2018-04-21
.
- ^
Gypsy Laborer Faces Execution In Belarus
CBS News, October 13, 2009
- ^
M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smylka's database, "Executions in the U.S. 1608-2002: The Espy File." (Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research)
[1]
- ^
"Bahrain executes three Shi'ites for bombing, sparks outcry"
. January 15, 2017
. Retrieved
October 10,
2019
– via www.reuters.com.
- ^
"?西米脂?9名?生罪犯???被?行??_手机?易?"
.
3g.163.com
. 27 September 2018
. Retrieved
10 October
2019
.
- ^
"China's mobile death fleet"
. Asia Times. Archived from the original on 2007-02-09.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
# ^ Sahib: The British Soldier in India 1750-1914 Richard Holmes HarperCollins 2005
- ^
Cormack, Lucy (2015-01-17).
"Drug traffickers in Indonesia face firing squad of 12 in first executions of 2015"
.
SMH
. SMH
. Retrieved
2015-01-17
.
- ^
“Le president mongol veut abolir la peine de mort”
,
Le Monde
, 14 January 2009
- ^
"Executions worldwide this month"
.
www.capitalpunishmentuk.org
. Retrieved
10 October
2019
.
- ^
Rogers, Simon; Chalabi, Mona (2013-12-13).
"Death penalty statistics, country by country"
.
The Guardian
. Retrieved
2015-12-13
.
Public executions were known to have been carried out in Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.
- ^
Amnesty Intl., Death Penalty, MDE 20/002/2001, 8 May 2001.
- ^
"Thailand Department of Corrections: Death Penalty"
. Archived from
the original
on 2006-04-14
. Retrieved
2007-11-11
.
- ^
"Executioner"
.
- ^
"The Last Executioner"
. 13 August 2007
. Retrieved
10 October
2019
.
- ^
Ltd.Thailand, VOICE TV.
"???????????? 9 ?? '????????' ???????????????????? ???????????????"
.
VoiceTV
. Retrieved
10 October
2019
.
- ^
"Man who raped, killed eight-year-old boy Obaida executed"
.
gulfnews.com
. Retrieved
10 October
2019
.
- ^
"Executions worldwide this month"
.
www.capitalpunishmentuk.org
. Retrieved
10 October
2019
.
Sources
[
edit
]
- Zelitch, Judah. "Soviet Administration of Criminal Law". University of Pennsylvania Press, 1931.
External links
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]