Execution by firing squad

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 executed in this fashion. 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. Nicholas II of Russia and other members of his family were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad. 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.

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.

Firing squads in the USA

Main article: Capital punishment in the United States

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 five executioners were equipped with .30-30 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. Mikal Gilmore in his autobiography stated that when he examined the shirt worn by Gary during the execution, he found five bullet holes, indicating that all members of the squad had been armed with live cartridges, and none with a blank round. The execution took place in a prison building normally used for cannery operations. After the media took photographs of the scene following the execution, the ordinary office chair used to restrain Gilmore was burned by prison officials.

The only other execution by firing squad since the reinstatement- that of John Albert Taylor in 1996- also took place in Utah. The chair used to restrain Taylor is situated in the death chamber in the Uinta #3 building at Utah State Prison and sits adjacent to the gurney used for lethal injection executions.

In Utah, the firing squad (a 5 man team) consisted of volunteer peace officers from the county in which the conviction of the offender took place. A law passed on March 15, 2004 banned execution by firing squad in Utah but, since that specific law was not retroactive, four inmates on Utah's death row could still have their last requests granted. As of 2006, Idaho and Oklahoma are the only other states in which execution by firing squad is still legally available (as back up methods only; both states use lethal injection as their primary methods of execution)

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, 15 leaders were shot at Kilmainham Gaol.

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 troops.

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.

Firing squad in Finland

The traditional Scandinavian method of execution was beheading with an axe. In practise capital punishment was abolished on civilian crimes 1828 by Czar Nicholas I in Finland and all death penalties were commuted to exile in Siberia. Capital punishment was reintroduced by independence war of Finland in 1917 for murder, high treason and military offenses. The method was to be firing squad consisting of ten military police privates, one NCO and one officer.

Death penalty was widely used during and right after the Finnish Civil War; it is assumed that some 20,000 Finns were executed both during the war and in the aftermath. The death penalty statute remained in effect for the duration of the war.

During WWII some 450 persons were executed. The usual causes were cowardice, disobedience, treason and espionage, of which more than half were spies. Usually the executions were carried out after the court-martial by the regimental military police platoon, or in the case of spies, by the local military police. The most famous of such cases was case of Arndt Pekurinen. Most executions occurred in 1941 and during the Soviet Summer Offensive 1944. The last death sentences were given in 1945 for murder but later commuted to life imprisonment.

Death penalty was abolished from Finnish civil law 1949 and for all crimes in 1972.

External links

Firing Squad Execution of a Civil War Deserter Described in an 1861 Newspaper

Execution methods | Penal system in the United Kingdom

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Execution by firing squad

Firing squads in the USA

Firing squads in the United Kingdom

Firing squad in Finland

See also

External links