From a single formed life organism to the complex human structure, from killing to survival to killing for fun, the world has always been a chaotic place. If you think 2020 lockdown is making your life hard, I must say you are going to have a huge reality check in this article.
If there is any external issue affecting your life like someone threatening you, giving rape threats, giving murder threats, racist comments, abuses from a stranger or it may be anything the first thing that comes to the mind is legal help is the first thing that comes to your mind, and that is awesome.
But there is a killing generally done by the government without the final say of the court, constitution or any security body of the country. It is called “Extrajudicial killing.”
Extrajudicial Killing: An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution) is the killing of a person by governmental authorities without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. They often target political, trade union, dissident, religious and social figures.
In the world of 195 countries where most of them are governed with democracy, this practice violates the fundamental human rights that come with democracy and the respective constitutions of the nations. So how is this a bad practice to democracy? Let us find out.
When a crime happens, the general procedure is to take the accused to court, submit proofs, and if found guilty, the punishments are given based on the offence. The person should not be even called a “Criminal” until proven in court; they are called “accused.”
In extrajudicial killing, The investigation hardly takes place; there is not even the formal complaint filed. It straight away violates the human rights of individuals, denying them any opportunity of contacting their legal representatives or lawyers.
By this, we cannot know the story of the person who is accused. The procedure of giving punishment is only with the judiciary, and no one can intervene in this. When the government takes the law procedure of giving sentences to hand, it the violation of the law and even the government cant be held accountable and be punished.
There are many incidents in which innocent people lost their life due to this. The history of extrajudicial killing goes back to famous People like Julies César. During the civil war, there is a term used as ‘lynching’. Lynching is an extrajudicial killing carried out by a mob a, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting.
The obstacles to end this are not something impossible but achievable. Various factors affect extrajudicial killing. There are specific prerequisites and prevention programs in most countries, but there is no definite law prohibiting unlawful killings from preventing this kind of human rights violation.
Yes, the judiciary system might be slow in handling a few cases as it might need more concrete proofs to pass a judgment. That doesn’t mean the government can take the law into the hand and pass out assessments. Imagine what the everyday citizen would think? It would always send a wrong message to the citizens regarding the law.
Many honorary bodies like the United Nations and International Human Rights Commission have condemned this act. They have taken up many unique programmes to spread awareness on this and stop this. Their efforts are going strong, but the results are not very promising.
The government should stop interfering in judicial affairs, and there must be strong law implemented, where if the government interferes a stringent action must be taken like dissolving the government. Then these activities will come to a halt.
Let us hope that these come to an end as soon as possible and everyone gets equal justice.