Extrajudicial killing is a crime. No need for further explanation to drive home this point.
The right to life is the heart of human rights. Indeed, even criminals are entitled to due process. They should be arrested and brought to a court of law; any “alternative measure” outside the rule of law can only be extrajudicial. It would be disregarding due process, it would be an act of lawlessness, a crime.
“An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind”—M. K. Gandhi.
EJKs, proliferating with impunity, show the weakness and incompetence of the people who are supposed to uphold the criminal justice system—the prosecutors, police officers, lawyers and judges. Often, criminal cases are dismissed for lack of evidence or witnesses willing to testify. But it is imperative that the principal parties—the complainant and the accused—are given a fair chance to present their respective sides before a decision of guilt may be rendered.
Article III, Section 14 paragraph 1 of our Constitution states: “No person shall be held to answer for a criminal offense without due process of law.”
People may see EJKs as an effective means of reducing the high incidence of criminality in the country today. But EJKs can be a form of state terrorism as well—and a first step toward martial law.
EJKs constitute an injustice.
BETHANY QUISIDO,
bethany_quisido93
@yahoo.com