By Owei Lakemfa

A WOMAN in Texas, United States (US)and her male companion were in November 1979 robbed by two Black men.  A month later,   Cornelius  Dupree Jr, a 21-year old Black man was arrested because to the police his description fitted that of a suspect in another rape case.

To the woman,   when shown  a photo array,  Dupree looked like one of her attackers. Her male companion did not think so. But the police preferred to believe the lady and  he was charged with the robbery and  sentenced to 75 years imprisonment.

Finally after spending 30 years,   he was granted parole  in July  2010. One week later,   DNA test results   revealed that Dupree was not the culprit; the state had merely robbed him of not just 30 years of his life, but also his youth! For three decades, he had been made to live in small cells with criminals, de-personalised and known not by his name, but a prison number. He had been denied family life and the opportunity for 30 years of raising a family of his own.

But I will say he was quite lucky; the US is a country that believes in the death penalty   almost like a religion. The police could easily have asked for the death penalty, and he, like many would have been legally murdered by society based on mistaken identity in a society where to many Whites, one Black man looks like another.

Such reliance on the death penalty could have robbed the world of one of the most famous and influential men of the Twentieth Century, the legendary African American, Malcolm X. In his own case, he was actually a criminal and  the police could have asked for the death penalty, but he got a 10-year sentence. It was while in prison, he became spiritually liberated by The Nation of Islam,   and  humanity was given one of the most articulate, intellectually-endowed advocates of social justice.

I had wished a   number of times  that Nigeria did not have the death penalty and that the political trial and conviction of environmentalist, Ken Saro-Wiwa had resulted only in a prison term, even if for life; he might have left prison or detention as conscientious people  like Beko Ransome-Kuti  and Frank Kokori did. He might have written many more books and contributed to the liberation of our country.

The case of Malcom X showed that  man is changeable and that prison can reform. It makes the point that people can be punished for their crimes without being annihilated. The Saro-Wiwa case again emphasizes the point that taking a human being’s life for whatever reason is unreasonable because it is irreversible.

The Dupree incident indicates that when society puts a person on trial, it is itself on trial and that even with the best of investigations and intent, errors can be made. It is therefore the duty of society to ensure   that where errors are made in its name, they can and should be corrected.

America cannot give Dupree back the youth he lost in prison, but it can make some restitution. However, had he been executed, there would have been no chance of that because there is no way his life could have been restored. The finality and irreversibility of the death penalty makes it the worse type of crime any society can visit on its people, itself and humanity. Putting a human being to death is like a collective vengeance by society against someone that has or is assumed to have offended it. This is more sickening in a country like the US that tries minors as adults and executes the mentally ill and retarded.

As we all know, while justice is blind, it affects the poor far more than the rich; that is why it is the poor  that  cannot afford legal fees or good lawyers that usually go to jail; most rich people end up escaping justice or getting light sentences. The ongoing trials of former Abacha henchman, Major Al Mustapha which has spanned a decade shows that with money and good lawyers, cases can be drawn over a long period, prosecutors tired out, witnesses  fade, memories are lost, and possible acquittal acquired in the process.

My other concern is the grossly inhuman, sickening and collectively dehumanizing methods society employ in   exacting its revenge on those condemned by it to die. The most common as in the Nigerian case is hanging; this method is designed to severe the spinal cord of the victim without detaching the head. It does not necessarily result in instant death, in fact, there are numerous instances where hanging is repeated, even thrice as the victim was found to still be alive.

Another is lethal injection; again some victims, particularly drug users whose veins are used to intravenous drug usage do not die immediately. Electrocution   is designed to burn the body’s internal organs. But after the first jolt of electricity, many organs might still be functioning and the victim might even still be conscious.

Another widely used method in America is the gas which can quickly result in death  in comparison with other methods, but  a victim may hold his breath or breathe slowly thereby prolonging the process. I imagine that an innocent man being put to death is likely to react this way.

There is the case of Jimmy Lee Gray executed in Mississippi in 1983 who convulsed for eight agonizing minutes without any indication that the gas had killed him. The quite messy  shooting or firing squad is a preferred method in under-developed countries; in fact Nigerian governments used to advertise this sort of executions with fun-fare and carry them out in public resorts to accommodate the large crowds they attract.  Shooting a person, especially from a distance may not result in immediate death or unconsciousness.

There are far   more dreadful and less efficient ways such as beheading and stoning which Arab countries like Saudi Arabia still retain. We must put a stop to the barbarity called death penalty.