Execution by firing squad

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Template:Globalize Image:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes 023.jpg Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in times of war. The firing squad is generally composed of several soldiers or peace officers. The method of execution requires all members of the group to fire simultaneously, thus preventing both disruption of the process by a single member and identification of the member who fired the lethal shot. The condemned is typically blindfolded or hooded, as well as being restrained. Executions can be carried out with the condemned either standing or sitting.

In some cases, one member of the firing squad is issued a weapon containing a blank cartridge instead of one with a bullet, without telling any of them to whom it has been given. This is believed to reduce flinching by individual members of the firing squad, making the execution process more reliable. It also allows each member of the firing squad a chance to believe afterward that he did not personally fire a fatal shot. This reinforces the sense of diffusion of responsibility. While an experienced marksman can tell the difference between a blank and a live cartridge based on the recoil (the blank will have much lower recoil), there is a significant psychological incentive not to pay attention and, over time, to remember the recoil as soft.

The firing squad is commonly used to execute spies; the renowned World War I spy Mata Hari was so executed. It is often considered a particularly honorable method of execution, and as such is intentionally not used for war criminals, who are often hanged — a penalty associated with common criminals. In contrast, firing squads were used by some countries to execute war criminals after World War II, most notably by Poland, Russia and Norway.

The method is also the supreme punishment or disciplinary means employed by courts martial for crimes such as cowardice, desertion or mutiny. One such execution was that of Private Eddie Slovik by the U.S. Army in 1945. Slovik was the first U.S. soldier executed for desertion since the American Civil War. It has also been applied for ordinary crimes carried out by soldiers, such as murder or rape. Also notably, Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry was executed by firing squad for his participation in the assassination attempt on President Charles de Gaulle.

Firing squads have also been used for political crimes. Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceauşescu (25 December, 1989) is an example of this.

Image:Firingsquad.WWI.staged.jpg Execution by firing squad should be considered distinct from other forms of execution by firearms, such as a single shot from a handgun to the back of the neck. Although, the single shot (coup de grace) is sometimes incorporated in a firing squad execution, particularly if the initial volley turns out not to be immediately fatal.

1 Firing squads in the USA
2 Firing squads in the United Kingdom
3 See also
4 External links

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Firing squads in the USA

Main article: Capital punishment in the United States

Image:Utah.jpg According to Executions in the U.S. 1608-1987 by M. Watt Espy and John Ortiz Smylka, it is estimated that 142 men have been judicially shot in the United States and English-speaking predecessor territories since 1608, excluding executions related to the American Civil War. The Civil War saw several hundred firing squad deaths, but reliable numbers are not yet available. Crimes punishable by firing squad in the Civil War included desertion, intentionally killing a superior officer or fellow soldier, and being a spy.

Capital punishment was suspended in the United States between 1967 and 1976 as a result of several decisions of the United States Supreme Court. The process resumed with the execution of Gary Gilmore on January 17, 1977 at Utah State Prison in Draper. The executioners were equipped with 0.308 inch (7.62 mm) caliber rifles and off-the-shelf Winchester SilverTip ammunition. The subject was restrained and hooded. The shots were fired at a distance of 20 feet (6 m), aiming at the chest. Subsequent examination by Mikal Gilmore, revealed that all members of the squad had been armed with live cartridges, rather than blanks.

The only other execution by firing squad (that of John Albert Taylor in 1996) also took place in Utah.

In Utah, the firing squad was made up from volunteers of peace officers from the county in which the condemned was convicted. Execution by firing squad was banned in Utah by a law passed on March 15, 2004. As of 2006, Idaho and Oklahoma are the only states in which execution by firing squad is still legally available. Additionally, four Utah convicts who chose execution by firing squad could have their requests carried out.

As the book Just Revenge: Cost and Consequences of the Death Penalty , by Mark Costanzo, points out, in order to prepare for an execution by firing squad in Utah, the inmate "(is) strapped into a wooden armchair and a hood (is) placed over his head. A stethoscope (is) used to locate his heart and a red cloth target(is) pinned to the site. Five anonymous sharpshooters (then fire) on command. A large pan (is)placed under his chair to collect the draining blood. A state offcial reported(...) (that) it had taken anywhere from 15 seconds to 27 minutes for the prisoner to die"

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Firing squads in the United Kingdom

Main article: Capital punishment in the United Kingdom

Execution by firing squad in the United Kingdom has been limited to times of war, armed insurrection, and within the military.

Within the military, Admiral John Byng was one of the most senior officers and the last of his rank to be executed in this fashion. He was shot on 14 March 1757 at Portsmouth for "failing to do his utmost" in an encounter with the French fleet during the Seven Years' War. Australian soldiers Harry "Breaker" Morant and Peter Handcock were shot by a British firing squad on February 27, 1902, for alleged war crimes during the Boer War; many questions have since been raised as to whether they received a fair trial.

Following the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland, the 15 leaders were shot.

The Tower of London was used during both World Wars for executions: During World War I, 11 captured German spies were shot, and on 15 August 1941 the German Corporal Josef Jakobs was shot for espionage during World War II.

Since the 1960s there has also been some controversy concerning 306 British and Imperial troops — including 25 Canadian, 22 Irish and 5 New Zealand troops — who were shot for cowardice during the First World War, many of whom are now thought to have been suffering from combat stress reaction or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (or "shell-shock" as it was then known). The New Zealand government pardoned their troops in 2000; the British government declined to do so, although in 1998 it did express sympathy for the executed.

Capital punishment in the UK, including the military, was formally outlawed by the Human Rights Act 1998 (s. 21(5)), although capital punishment for murder had been abolished before this, and there had been no executions by any method since 1964.

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