The report tells me that two men were put to death after the Supreme Court upheld their sentences, and that the legal process had run its course. It also tells me that no information was offered about how the security personnel died, about the manner of the executions, or about the evidence and proceedings that led to the convictions. I would ask what purpose is served when a punishment is carried out but the proof on which it rests remains hidden from public view. In my view, the purpose of punishment is not to torment a sentient being nor to undo a crime already committed, but to prevent further harm and to deter others; a penalty whose evidentiary basis is not made known cannot be examined against that purpose.
I have written that one of the best deterrents of crime is not the cruelty of punishment but its certainty, and that the certainty of a well-moderated punishment makes a greater impression than the fear of a more severe one accompanied by the hope of impunity. When the report is silent on the evidence and the proceedings, the certainty of the punishment cannot be assessed by those who might be deterred; only its severity is visible. I would distinguish the severity of a penalty from its capacity to prevent crime, for the two are not the same, and the report gives me no basis to claim that this execution will deter more than a lesser penalty would.
I have also insisted that punishment must be essentially public, prompt, necessary, the minimum possible in the given circumstances, in proportion to the crimes, and dictated by the laws. The report establishes only that the Supreme Court upheld the sentences and that the executions took place; it does not describe the evidence, the proceedings, or the manner of death. I would not declare the punishment disproportionate, for I lack the information to compare it to the offense. I would only note that where the proof and the process remain undescribed, the public cannot verify that the punishment was necessary, proportionate, or dictated by law rather than by other pressures.
