SAHRC shocked by the sudden execution of Mrs Marietta Bosch

The SAHRC is shocked and saddened by the turn of the events regarding Mrs Marietta Bosch, a South African national convicted of murder and executed in Botswana in the early hours of Saturday morning. The death penalty does not in our view advance a culture of human rights and whenever an execution is carried out we simply reinforce the cycle of violence that we need to break. The death penalty has not been shown to have any deterrent effect, it constitutes cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and the only objective it serves from a punishment perspective is to allow society to take revenge on those who have committed serious crime. In addition the high value our constitutional order places on human life and human dignity means that the death penalty would always remain inconsistent with those values.

The answer to violent crime is to ensure that the criminal justice system is able to arrest, prosecute and in appropriate cases convict those responsible. It is in that direction that we should channel, our energies and resources since in doing so we make a contribution to finding durable solutions to issues of crime and violence facing our society. To believe in the intrinsic values of human rights and in addition to pledge a commitment to its promotion and enlargement without any idea of its principles, contents, and orientation in short its jurisprudence is to pursuit a battle in a dangerous field unarmed. The constitutional court ruled that the right to life is an inalienable right. Thus South Africans who pledged their support to the Constitution would have to abide by it. We hope that the execution of Mrs Bosch would not be seen as a reason to bring back death penalty in South Africa and when debates about the death penalty enter the public domain they are dealt with in a way that takes into consideration its intricacies and complexities.

In the matter of Mrs Bosch the Commission remained hopeful that clemency would be granted to her but ultimately has to accept the decision of the government of Botswana not to extend mercy to her. At the end of the day we must however accept the decision of the authorities in Botswana recognising that Botswana is a sovereign state with a legal and political system that has enjoyed considerable respect.

Issued by: South African Human Rights Commission 03 April 2001
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