Judicial corporal punishment

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Judicial corporal punishment (JCP) refers to the infliction of corporal punishment as a result of a sentence by a court of law. The punishment can be flogging, caning, birching, whipping, or strapping. The practice was once commonplace in many countries, but it has now been abolished in most Western countries, but remains an acceptable legal punishment in some Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries. These are mostly either former British colonies (now members of the Commonwealth) such as Malaysia,[1] Singapore and Tanzania,[2] and/or Muslim countries with a system of Islamic (Sharia) law.

Contents

[edit] Arguments for JCP

If we really wanted to punish people, we could sentence drug offenders to join gangs and fear for their lives; we could punish child abusers to torture followed by death; we could force straight men to have semiconsensual prison-gay sex…All these things already happen, but we just sweep them under the rug and look the other way.[3]

“
”
- Peter Moskos talking about the American prison system

Peter Moskos says that it has become a knee jerk reaction, rather than a considered view, to reject all forms of judicial corporal punishment in the United States. Moskos says that most people immediately assume flogging is inhumane. He thus attempts to make a case, which he says "is meant to be provocative", that prison may be worse.[4]

Moskos makes the simplest version of his argument by proposing a thought experiment: if you were sentenced to one year in jail, but were given the option of receiving two lashes under medical supervision, would you take that option? He contends that many people would.[4] Moskos, an assistant professor of law (and former police officer) maintains that we therefore ought to offer that option to criminals, considering we would choose that option for ourselves. He challenges "Now, flogging may be too harsh, or it may be too soft, but it really can't be both."[4]

In his book "In Defense of Flogging", Moskos describes studies showing that higher rates of incarceration have little effect on decreasing crime[4]. This is presumably critical information in the United States, where the incarceration rate is five times the world's average[3] - especially inappropriate, considering most criminals are not the kinds who will need to be kept out of society for the rest of their lives[3]. Gone too, says Moskos, are the days where "cure" and rehabilitation were the focus; today, most criminals are expected to simply improve in prison, despite the fact that their time is spent in a harsh and violent environment with other criminals.[3][4]

Moskos thus argues that prisons in the United States incarcerate unnecessarily, and have proven to be failures in matters of both deterrence and rehabilitation[4]. A reviewer for The Economist writes, about Moskos's book, that "Perhaps the most damning evidence of the broken American prison system is that it makes a proposal to reinstate flogging appear almost reasonable. Almost."[3]

[edit] Countries where JCP is used

The Singaporean official punishment of caning became much discussed around the world in 1994[5] when American teenager Michael P. Fay was sentenced to six strokes of the cane for vandalism.[6] Since that time, the number of caning sentences handed down each year in Singapore has doubled.[7]

Other ex-British territories with judicial caning currently on their statute books include Barbados,[8] Botswana,[9] Brunei,[10] Swaziland,[11] Tonga,[12] Trinidad & Tobago,[13] and Zimbabwe.[14] It has been abolished in recent decades in Hong Kong,[15] the Isle of Man,[16] Jamaica,[17] Kenya,[18] South Africa,[19] Sri Lanka, and Zambia.[20]

In the United Kingdom itself, JCP generally was abolished in 1948;[21] however, it persisted in prisons as a punishment for breach of discpline until it was abolished by s 65 (Abolition of corporal punishment in prison) of the Criminal Justice Act 1967. It was abolished in the Isle of Man after the judgment in Tyrer v. UK by the European Court of Human Rights; It was removed from the statute book in Canada in 1972,[22] in India in the 1950s, in New Zealand in 1941,[23] and in Australia at various times in the 20th century according to State.[24]

Many countries with an Islamic legal system, such as Iran,[25] northern Nigeria,[26] Saudi Arabia,[27] Sudan[28] and Yemen[29] employ judicial whipping or caning for a range of offences. In Indonesia (Aceh province only) it has recently been introduced for the first time.[30]

Other countries that were neither British nor Islamic that have used JCP in the more distant past include China,[31] Germany,[32] Korea,[33] Sweden[34] and Vietnam.[35] In the United States it was last used in 1952 in Delaware.[36]

[edit] Full list of countries

  Countries with judicial corporal punishment

A list of 33 countries that use lawful, official JCP today is as follows:

  1.  Afghanistan (men and women - whip or cane, no target specified; public or private)[37][38] see Judicial Corporal Punishment in Afghanistan
  2.  Antigua and Barbuda (boys only - details unclear)[39][40]
  3.  Bahamas (men - cat on bare back; boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)[41][42]
  4.  Barbados (boys only - details unclear)[8]
  5.  Botswana (males aged 14 to 40 - cane on bare buttocks; in private)[43][44]
  6.  Brunei (men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)[10][45][46]
  7.  Dominica (boys under 16 - details unclear)[47]
  8.  Grenada (men and boys - details unclear)[48]
  9.  Ecuador (men and women - traditional indigenous justice)[49]
  10.  Guyana (men and boys - details unclear)[50]
  11.  Indonesia, Aceh State only (men and women - cane on clothed back; in public)[30][51]
  12.  Iran (men, women, boys, girls - whip or strap, no target specified; public or private)[25]
  13.  Lesotho (men and boys - details unclear)[52]
  14.  Malaysia (Criminal law: men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private).[1] See Caning in Malaysia. * (Sharia law, Muslims only: men and women - cane on clothed back; in private)[53][54]
  15.  Maldives (men and women - details unclear)[55]
  16.  Nigeria (men, women, boys, girls - cane on clothed buttocks or whip on bare back; in public. Used only in northern states)[26][56]
  17.  Pakistan (men and boys - cane or strap on clothed buttocks; public or private)[57]
  18.  Qatar (men and women - details unclear; in private)[58]
  19.  Saint Kitts and Nevis (boys and men - details unclear)[59][60]
  20.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (boys only - cane on bare buttocks)[61]
  21.  Saudi Arabia (men and women - whip or cane over clothes, no target specified; public or private)[62]
  22.  Sierra Leone (boys only - cane or birch on bare buttocks)[63]
  23.  Singapore (men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private). See Caning in Singapore.
  24.  Somalia (men and women - cane on clothed buttocks)[64]
  25.  Sudan (men, women, boys, girls - whip on clothed back)[28]
  26.  Swaziland (boys only - cane on bare buttocks)[11]
  27.  Tanzania (men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)[2]
  28.  Tonga (men - cat on bare buttocks; boys - birch or cat on bare buttocks)[12]
  29.  Trinidad and Tobago (men only - cat on bare back or birch on bare buttocks; in private)[65]
  30.  Tuvalu (details unclear)[66]
  31.  United Arab Emirates (Muslims only: men - whip on bare back; women - whip on clothed back; public or private)[67]
  32.  Yemen (details unclear)[29]
  33.  Zimbabwe (boys only - cane on bare buttocks; in private)[68]

The above list does not include countries where a "blind eye" is sometimes turned to unofficial JCP by local tribes, authorities, etc. including Bangladesh,[69] and Colombia.[70]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Pudu Prison exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, 1998.
  2. ^ a b "United Republic of Tanzania: Current legality of corporal punishment". GITEACPOC. Updated March 2010. http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/un-rep-tanzania.html. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Sing Sing or the lash: Should America flog criminals instead of jailing them?, a review of Peter Moskos' "In Defense of Flogging"
  4. ^ a b c d e f [http://chronicle.com/article/In-Defense-of-Flogging/127208/TheChronicle Review, In Defense of Flogging, article by Peter Moskos
  5. ^ "What US columnists say about Fay's caning". The Straits Times (Singapore). 8 April 1994. http://www.corpun.com/sgju9404.htm#6392. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  6. ^ Wallis, Charles P. (4 March 1994). "Ohio Youth to be Flogged in Singapore". Los Angeles Times. http://www.corpun.com/sgju9403.htm#4910. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  7. ^ "Singapore Human Rights Practices, 1994". US Department of State. February 1995. http://dosfan.lib.uic.edu/ERC/democracy/1994_hrp_report/94hrp_report_eap/Singapore.html. Retrieved 2010-09-24.  and "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2007". Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. US Department of State. 11 March 2008. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100537.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  8. ^ a b "Barbados: Current legality of corporal punishment". GITEACPOC. Updated February 2009. http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/barbados.html. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  9. ^ Nomsa, Ndlovu (11 May 2006). "A village choking under crime". Mmegi (Gaborone). http://www.corpun.com/bwj00605.htm#18334. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
  10. ^ a b "Brunei Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004". US Department of State. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41636.htm. 
  11. ^ a b Report 2007 for Swaziland, Amnesty International.
  12. ^ a b Laws of Tonga, Chapter 18.
  13. ^ Swamber, Keino (1 June 2006). "Twelve strokes for sex with girl, 12". Trinidad Express (Port of Spain). http://corpun.com/ttj00606.htm#19099. 
  14. ^ "Boy to receive 2 cane strokes". Sunday Mail (Harare). 21 May 2006. http://corpun.com/zwj00605.htm#19109. 
  15. ^ Thomas, Hedley (22 April 1994). "Patten may appeal for clemency on sentence". South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). http://www.corpun.com/hkjur2.htm. 
  16. ^ "Isle of Man to scrap birch at a stroke". The Guardian (London). 6 March 1993. 
  17. ^ "Jamaican court abolishes flogging". CNN. 18 December 1998. http://www.corpun.com/jmju9812.htm.  Afterwards, in 2000, the UN Human Rights Committee found in case Osbourne v. Jamaica, concerning a whipping conducted in 1997, that corporal punishment constituted 'cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment contrary to article 7 of ICCPR' (Para. 9.1). A similar conclusion was reached in 2002 in case Higginson v. Jamaica No. 792/1998.
  18. ^ Bowry, Pravin (16 September 2003). "Changes in criminal law significant". Daily Nation (Nairobi). http://www.corpun.com/kej00309.htm#12057. 
  19. ^ Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act, 1997.
  20. ^ "Parliament supports repeal of corporal punishment". Zana (Zambia News Agency). Lusaka. 13 November 2003. http://www.corpun.com/zmj00311.htm#12315. 
  21. ^ "Power to order flogging: Abolition approved in Committee". The Times (London). 12 December 1947. http://www.corpun.com/ukju4712.htm#8283. 
  22. ^ The Canadian Prison Strap, World Corporal Punishment Research.
  23. ^ "The Fall and Fall of Corporal Punishment", November 1999 Newsletter, EPOCH New Zealand.
  24. ^ Australia: Judicial CP, World Corporal Punishment Research.
  25. ^ a b Iran Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004, US Department of State.
  26. ^ a b Finkel, David (24 November 2002). "Crime and Holy Punishment: In Divided Nigeria, Search for Justice Leads Many to Embrace Islamic Code". The Washington Post. http://www.corpun.com/ngj00211.htm#10088. 
  27. ^ Al-Khereiji, Nourah Abdul (25 May 2008). "Government Must Codify Taaziri Punishment Rules". Arab News (Jeddah/Riyadh). http://www.corpun.com/saj00805.htm#20303. 
  28. ^ a b Sudan Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
  29. ^ a b Yemen State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2007.
  30. ^ a b "Aceh gamblers caned in public". BBC News Online (London). 24 June 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4618595.stm. 
  31. ^ Xing Bao (9 October 2003). "Citizen Cane". Shanghai Star. http://www.corpun.com/cnj00310.htm#12181. 
  32. ^ "Judicial and Prison Flogging in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Germany", World Corporal Punishment Research.
  33. ^ Old photographs of judicial floggings in Korea at World Corporal Punishment Research. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  34. ^ Penal Code 1809 at The Early History of Data Networks. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  35. ^ "La loi de l'époque" at Les images d'autrefois du Vietnam. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  36. ^ Red Hannah: Delaware's Whipping Post.
  37. ^ "Afghan charity workers receive lashing, set free". Jakarta Post. Reuters. 8 April 1997. http://www.corpun.com/afju9704.htm. 
  38. ^ "Reporters on the Job: Sharia but No Sword". Christian Science Monitor (Boston). 21 February 2006. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0221/p06s02-wogn.html. 
  39. ^ Antigua State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
  40. ^ Weston, Tahna (15 February 2007). "Court orders 12 lashes for juvenile offenders". Antigua Sun. http://www.corpun.com/agj00702.htm. 
  41. ^ Criminal Law (Measures) Act 1991, The Bahamas Laws On-line.
  42. ^ Bahamas Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
  43. ^ Botswana State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2008.
  44. ^ Botswana Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004, US Department of State.
  45. ^ Mahathir, Helena M.; Kon, James (19 May 2005). "Anti-drugs campaign held in Tutong". Borneo Bulletin (Bandar Seri Begawan). http://www.corpun.com/bnj00505.htm#15776. 
  46. ^ Brunei State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
  47. ^ Dominica State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
  48. ^ Grenada State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
  49. ^ Dra. Mariana Yumbay (21 June 2007). "El ejercicio de la administración de justicia indígena en el Ecuador". Llacta. http://www.llacta.org/notic/2007/not0621b.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-24.  (Spanish)
  50. ^ Guyana State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
  51. ^ "Indonesian Couples Caned over Extramarital Affairs". Jakarta Globe. 8 April 2011. http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/indonesia/indonesian-couples-caned-over-extramarital-affairs/434272. 
  52. ^ Lesotho State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2007.
  53. ^ Damis, Aniza (27 June 2005). "The pain is in the shame". New Straits Times (Kuala Lumpur). http://www.corpun.com/myj00506.htm#16091. 
  54. ^ Religious corporal punishment in Malaysia, World Corporal Punishment Research.
  55. ^ Evans, Judith (1 June 2008). "Lashings Punishment Resumes". Minivan News (Malé). http://www.corpun.com/mvj00806.htm#20256. 
  56. ^ Hamid, Ruhi. Video clips from "Inside a Sharia Court", This World, BBC Two, London, broadcast 1 October 2007.
  57. ^ Pakistan: Judicial corporal punishment by flogging at World Corporal Punishment Research. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
  58. ^ Qatar State Report, GITEACPOC, December 2008.
  59. ^ St Kitts & Nevis State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
  60. ^ Smithen, Corliss (21 February 2006). "Convicted men get strokes, jail sentence". Sun St Kitts (Basseterre). http://www.corpun.com/knj00602.htm#17394. 
  61. ^ NGO Initial Report, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association, January 2002.
  62. ^ Saudi Arabia Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
  63. ^ Sierra Leone State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2008.
  64. ^ Somalia Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
  65. ^ Heeralal, Darryl (4 June 2005). "Jail, strokes for 'dirty old man'". Trinidad Express (Port of Spain). http://www.corpun.com/ttj00506.htm. 
  66. ^ Tuvalu Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2001, US Department of State.
  67. ^ Awad Mustafa (25 April 2007). "Out With The Lash". Xpress (Dubai). http://www.corpun.com/aej00704.htm#19126. 
  68. ^ Zimbabwe State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2007.
  69. ^ "2005 Country Reports on Human Righrts Practices, Bangladesh". U.S. Department of State. 8 March 2006. http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61705.htm. 
  70. ^ "Colombia - Lawfulness of corporal punishment". GITEACPOC. Updated June 2007. http://www.endcorporalpunishment.org/pages/progress/reports/colombia.html#Lawfulness. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 
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