Capital punishment in Mexico

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Capital punishment in Mexico was officially outlawed on 15 March 2005, having not been used in civil cases since 1957, and in military cases since 1961. Mexico is the world's most populous country to have completely abolished the death penalty.

Contents

History

A Mexican execution by firing squad in 1916 Mexican execution, 1914.jpg
A Mexican execution by firing squad in 1916

There is significant history of abolitionism in Mexico, dating back to the 19th century. Following the Plan of Ayutla, the 1857 constitution was drafted, which specifically outlawed the death penalty for political crimes, and allowed abolition for ordinary crimes in the future. [1] [2] Mexico's government at that time was quite unstable, and the express abolition of political crimes could have been linked to concern that the lawmakers themselves could become subject to the punishment if there was an uprising. Personal experiences too may have been a factor, as many Mexicans had experienced political repression. [1] There was widespread condemnation of the death penalty in the media, and many Mexican literates were familiar with the work of Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria. Following the rule of Porfirio Díaz, the death penalty article was amended in the reform which led to the current Constitution of Mexico. [1]

The last non-military execution in Mexico was in 1957 in Sonora, and the last military execution (of a soldier charged with insubordination and murder) in 1961, [3] so the official abolition of the military death penalty in 2005 and of the civil death penalty in 1976 lagged the de facto cessations by 44 and 19 years, respectively. [4]

Mexico is a majority Roman Catholic country, with 88% of the population identifying themselves as adherents. [5] The Vatican has made numerous statements criticizing capital punishment, and this may be a factor in the debate in Mexico.

In 2003, the State of Mexico voted in a nonbinding referendum regarding the death penalty. 82% of the 806,416 people who voted, voted Yes for the death penalty on crimes of murder, kidnapping, child theft and violent assaults. [6] [7] [8]

In a debate during the 2018 Mexican general election, candidate Jaime Rodríguez Calderón proposed to reinstate the death penalty for drug traffickers, hijackers, infanticides and serial killers. [9]

Mexican drug war

A Green Party billboard in 2008 promoting the restoration of the death penalty. Green ad for death penalty in Mexico.jpg
A Green Party billboard in 2008 promoting the restoration of the death penalty.

The Mexican drug war has fueled rising rates of violent crimes such as kidnapping and murder, prompting a reemergence of capital punishment into the political discourse. The Ecologist Green Party of Mexico (PVEM), waged a campaign to promote restoration of the death penalty, including the use of billboards, [10] as part of promotion of the party for the 2009 election for seats in Congress. There have been proposals to amend the 1917 Constitution to allow capital punishment from both the PVEM and the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), but both were rejected. [10] [11] Surveys in 2009 suggested that up to 70% of the population supported the restoration of the death penalty, however it is unlikely that the constitution will be changed, as both religious and human rights groups have strongly opposed restoration. [12]

A 2017 poll study found younger Mexicans are more likely to support capital punishment. [13]

Constitution: Article 22

Cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited. Specifically, penalties of death, mutilation, infamy, marks, physical punishments, torments, excessive fines, confiscation of assets, and others are abolished.

Confiscation of assets does not include the application of said assets to pay for civil responsibilities caused by a crime, or when used to pay taxes or other fines. Nor will it be confiscation when said assets are part of illegal activities, or when they are related to organized crime, or when proof of ownership cannot be established.

International relations

In 1981, Mexico ratified the American Convention on Human Rights, a treaty of the Organization of American States, which prohibits the death penalty from being restored if eliminated. [14] [11] [15] Mexico does not extradite to countries that are seeking the death penalty, and has successfully defended 400 of its citizens charged with a capital offence in the United States. [16] [17] This has in the past led to American fugitives crossing the border into Mexico in order to avoid the death penalty. [18] [19]

In 2002, President Vicente Fox cancelled a trip to the United States to meet US President George W. Bush, in protest of the then imminent execution of a Mexican national, Javier Suárez Medina, in the U.S. state of Texas. Medina had been convicted in 1989 for killing an undercover police officer in Dallas. According to Mexican officials, Suárez was not informed about his right to consular access, and fourteen countries lobbied the United States Supreme Court on behalf of him. [20]

In 2003 Mexico filed a complaint against the United States at the International Court of Justice, alleging that the US had contravened the Vienna Convention by not allowing 54 Mexicans sentenced to death to receive consular assistance. [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is known as a death sentence, and the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is condemned and is commonly referred to as being "on death row". Etymologically, the term capital refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and gassing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment by country</span>

Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as a punishment for a crime. It has historically been used in almost every part of the world. Since the mid-19th century many countries have abolished or discontinued the practice. In 2022, the five countries that executed the most people were, in descending order, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in the United States</span> Killing a person as punishment for allegedly committing a crime

In the United States, capital punishment is a legal penalty throughout the country at the federal level, in 27 states, and in American Samoa. It is also a legal penalty for some military offenses. Capital punishment has been abolished in 23 states and in the federal capital, Washington, D.C. It is usually applied for only the most serious crimes, such as aggravated murder. Although it is a legal penalty in 27 states, 19 of them have authority to execute death sentences, with the other 8, as well as the federal government and military, subject to moratoriums.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (NCADP) is an organization dedicated to the abolition of the death penalty in the United States. Founded in 1976 by Henry Schwarzschild, the NCADP is the only fully staffed nationwide organization in the United States dedicated to the total abolition of the death penalty. It also provides extensive information regarding imminent and past executions, death penalty defendants, numbers of people executed in the U.S., as well as a detailed breakdown of the current death row population, and a list of which U.S. state and federal jurisdictions use the death penalty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Belarus</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Belarus. At least one execution was carried out in the country in 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Europe</span>

Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not carried out an execution since September 1996. The complete ban on capital punishment is enshrined in both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and is thus considered a central value. Of all modern European countries, San Marino, Portugal, and the Netherlands were the first to abolish capital punishment, whereas only Belarus still practises capital punishment in some form or another. In 2012, Latvia became the last EU member state to abolish capital punishment in wartime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Russia</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Russia but is not used due to a moratorium and no death sentences or executions have been carried out since 2 August 1996. Russia has had an implicit moratorium in place since one was established by President Boris Yeltsin in 1996, and explicitly established by the Constitutional Court of Russia in 1999 and reaffirmed in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Taiwan</span>

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Taiwan. The long list of capital offences, for which the death penalty can be imposed, includes murder, treason, drug trafficking, piracy, terrorism, and especially serious cases of robbery, rape, and kidnapping, as well as for military offences, such as desertion during war time. In practice, however, all executions in Taiwan since the early 2000s have been for murder.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Pakistan. Although there have been numerous amendments to the Constitution, there is yet to be a provision prohibiting the death penalty as a punitive remedy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Australia</span>

Capital punishment in Australia has been abolished in all jurisdictions since 1985. Queensland abolished the death penalty in 1922. Tasmania did the same in 1968. The Commonwealth abolished the death penalty in 1973, with application also in the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory. Victoria did so in 1975, South Australia in 1976, and Western Australia in 1984. New South Wales abolished the death penalty for murder in 1955, and for all crimes in 1985. In 2010, the Commonwealth Parliament passed legislation prohibiting the re-establishment of capital punishment by any state or territory. Australian law prohibits the extradition or deportation of a prisoner to another jurisdiction if they could be sentenced to death for any crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Italy</span>

The use of capital punishment in Italy has been banned since 1889, with the exception of the period 1926–1947, encompassing the rule of Fascism in Italy and the early restoration of democracy. Before the unification of Italy in 1860, capital punishment was performed in almost all pre-unitarian states, except for Tuscany, where, starting from 1786, it was repeatedly abolished and reintroduced. It is currently prohibited by the Constitution of the Italian Republic with no more exceptions even in times of war.

Capital punishment is a long unused form of punishment in Brazil. The last recorded instance of a death penalty convict being executed in the country was in 1876. Although virtually abolished, it is still legal during wartime, according to the Article 5, XLVII, "a", of the Federal Constitution. Brazil is the most populous country in the world that does not retain the death penalty in practice. It is also one of seven countries to have abolished capital punishment for ordinary crimes only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Armenia</span>

Capital punishment in Armenia was a method of punishment that was implemented within Armenia's Criminal Code and Constitution until its eventual relinquishment in the 2003 modifications made to the Constitution. Capital punishment's origin in Armenia is unknown, yet it remained present in the Armenia Criminal Code of 1961, which was enforced and applied until 1999. Capital punishment was incorporated into Armenian legislation and effectuated for capital crimes, which were crimes that were classified to be punishable by death, including treason, espionage, first-degree murder, acts of terrorism and grave military crimes.

Capital punishment in Georgia was completely abolished on 1 May 2000 when the country signed Protocol 6 to the ECHR. Later Georgia also adopted the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR. Capital punishment was replaced with life imprisonment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Ireland</span>

Capital punishment in the Republic of Ireland was abolished in statute law in 1990, having been abolished in 1964 for most offences including ordinary murder. The last person to be executed was Michael Manning, hanged for murder in 1954. All subsequent death sentences in the Republic of Ireland, the last handed down in 1985, were commuted by the President, on the advice of the Government, to terms of imprisonment of up to 40 years. The Twenty-first Amendment to the constitution, passed by referendum in 2001, prohibits the reintroduction of the death penalty, even during a state of emergency or war. Capital punishment is also forbidden by several human rights treaties to which the state is a party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capital punishment in Portugal</span>

Capital punishment in Portugal has been abolished. Portugal was a pioneer in the abolition of capital punishment. No executions have been carried out since 1846, with the formal abolition of capital punishment for civil wrong occurring in 1867.

Capital punishment is a legal penalty in South Korea. As of December 2012, there were at least 60 people on death row in South Korea. The method of execution is hanging.

Capital punishment was abolished in the U.S. state of New Mexico in 2009.

Capital punishment in Peru was last used in 1979. In the same year, the death penalty was abolished for ordinary crimes. Peru is one of seven countries that has abolished capital punishment for "ordinary crimes only." Peru voted in favor of the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. Peru is not a signatory to the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Sarat & Boulanger 2005 , pp. 69–85
  2. Constitución Política de la República Mexicana de 1857 (PDF), 1857, archived from the original (PDF) on 23 May 2012, retrieved 2 August 2009
  3. Gibbs, Stephen (4 February 2009), "Death penalty debate grows in Mexico", BBC News , archived from the original on 11 February 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  4. Clarke & Whitt 2007 , pp. 44–45
  5. "Religión" (PDF), Censo Nacional de Población y Vivienda 2000, INEGI, 2000, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 September 2007, retrieved 2 August 2009
  6. "Results of Mexican State's Pro-Death Penalty Poll Clash With Law, Tradition". Los Angeles Times. 19 February 2003. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  7. "Death Penalty Endorsed in State Referendum". Los Angeles Times. 18 February 2003. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  8. Adams, Lisa J. "Mexico state to hold poll on death penalty". Wilmington Star-News. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  9. "Ciudadanos quieren pena de muerte para narcos y asesinos, asegura 'El Bronco'". Reporte Indigo. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 Blears, James (26 February 2009), Mexico's Green Party Urges Death Penalty for Kidnappers, VOA News , retrieved 2 August 2009[ permanent dead link ]
  11. 1 2 Wilkinson, Tracy (5 December 2008), "MEXICO UNDER SIEGE: Some in Mexico want the death penalty reinstated", Los Angeles Times , archived from the original on 24 September 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  12. Gibbs, Stephen (23 February 2009), "Mexico to rethink death penalty", BBC News , archived from the original on 19 February 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  13. "Study examines death penalty support in Mexico". phys.org. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  14. American Convention on Human Rights Archived 18 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine , art 4.2 ratified 2 Mar. 1981.
  15. Bonello, Deborah (10 December 2008), "Death penalty advertisements in Mexico", Los Angeles Times , archived from the original on 14 June 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  16. Lloyd, Marion (28 February 2009), To live or die in Mexico, GlobalPost, archived from the original on 23 April 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  17. Lloyd, Marion (14 January 2009), "Mexico: Death Penalty Gaining Support", Huffington Post , archived from the original on 9 February 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  18. Curtis, Kimberly (13 July 2009), Death Penalty Gaining Support in Mexico, Foreign Policy Association, archived from the original on 23 July 2009, retrieved 2 August 2009
  19. "U.S. fugitives in Mexico spared death penalty: FBI, N.C. and Mexican officials on hunt for Marine slaying suspect", NBC News , Associated Press, 18 January 2008, retrieved 2 August 2009
  20. Knowlton, Brian (16 August 2002), "Fox echoes world on the death penalty : Execution pits Mexico against U.S.", The New York Times , archived from the original on 20 May 2013, retrieved 2 August 2009
  21. Pieter H.F. Bekker (16 January 2003). "World Court Consular Notification and Death Penalty Challenge Revisited: Mexico v. United States". American Society of International Law. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.

Sources