Executions in Russia, Germany, United States, Uzbekistan, Iran and China

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As long as humans have trod this planet, they have been killing each other. Life expectancy was short - especially after thousands of wars, it's remarkable the human race did not face extinction.

Other than crazy pointless killing, one would think there would be a pattern and a purpose for executions - why else. Note the painting shown is of the Battle of Borodino in 1812 http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/Borodino_battle.htm, between the Russians and Napoleon's troops. What it shows is chaos; war is most often chaotic. So also, can executions be chaotic.

Throughout history, religious and political groups have implemented executions to make a statement, using the word "punishment" as justification.

Current questions might be: is the concept of capital punishment justifiable; is every human life valuable; should a person be executed if they disagree with you; can one person decide the truth for another; "can you ever be absolutely sure a person is guilty."

We all have certain expectations of our governments to protect us from harm. Not exclusive to ancient times, various countries still use capital punishment to "teach a lesson" to miscreants or for those who simply disagree with leaders in power.

All humans are born into a particular culture which may be in varying degrees on a scale from totalitarian/authoritarian on one side, to an opposing system characterized by a representational political structure. No matter if a woman herds goats in Turkmenistan or a doctor removes an appendix in Cape Town, that person hopes/needs to be able to depend on leaders in their social structure to protect them from their fellow humans.

That is what capital punishment was designed to do - protect citizens from the evils of human nature. But who is there to say how much control is necessary? This is the time for wisdom. We presume that the execution of humans has evolved since ancient times. In some places, it has not.

There have been so many examples of execution atrocities, one can almost close their eyes and open the akashic record, sure to find an execution of aggravated proportions. Medieval times were particularly blighted. See "The Ovens at Neisse." http://ladyofspiders.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/punishment-torture-and-ordeal/ Neisse, Germany.

What are the purposes of execution: punishment, education, intimidation, and as a tool for political power retention. In social evolution, humans have found creative ways to better solve their problems. Sticking your finger in your neighbor's eye is a basic way to make a statement, but using brain power to solve the problem is the human quest in current history. Has the world grown up, historians and philosophers ask. Has the civilized world become more advanced at problem solving.

Basic to our belief in the social contract http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract are the questions: can our government, will our government protect us from harm? Of course there are those who may also ask, who will protect citizens from their government?

U.S. State Department report, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2009/sca/136096.htm discusses the human rights record of the authoritarian country of Uzbekistan and its President, Islam Karimov, as "one of the world's worst torturers," to include execution by boiling (boiling as a weapon). http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3943.htm This article from Information Clearing House tells of Mr. Muzafar Avazov, a 35 year old father of 4, who was burnt over 60% of his body. "Doctors who saw the man's body reported that such burns could only have been caused by immersing Avazov in boiling water."

This is personal torture, not punishment, not re-education or intimidation, nor is it political or religious - it is simple sadism and thus pre-human. The Uzbek government failed Mr. Avazov in the most elementary way.

On February 1, 2011, "Iran rejected Dutch outrage over the hanging [four days earlier] of one of it's citizens, Zahra Bahrami, a 45 year old Dutch woman. Iran claimed she was trafficking in drugs but her family said, "The charge was fabricated after she was arrested in 2009, at an anti-government protest," this from Reuters News. click here. A Dutch foreign affairs ministry spokesman called the execution, "an act committed by a barbaric regime." Not only did Iran hang a woman with duel citizenship for an unproven crime, but Iran rejected the formal Dutch complaint against them - a double atrocity.

This execution was done for several reasons: Iran intended to make an example of Ms. Bahrami, even when her guilt was in question.

Secondly, the prisoner was a woman, right there, an inferior being in the eyes of the government. This would also make it a religious crime, as well as a crime against humanity. Her execution was also done for intimidation - a power statement. "Look at us; we are powerful," but in truth, it was an act of cowardice.

"Rights groups say Iran is second only to China in the numbers of people it executes, and is first in terms of per capita executions." http://www.iranhumanrights.org/ says "Iran is on an execution binge - executing 47 individuals this year (2011)."

What about the three hikers apprehended, on charges of spying, as they ventured across the Kurdish border into Iran in 2009? As yet, they have not been executed but it remains a possibility. One of the hikers, Sarah Shourd was released on bail in Sept. 2010, after payment of $500,000. http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/iran/Reports-Iran-Opens-Trial-of-US-Hikers-Accused-of-Spying-115418869.html Questions arise - should Ms. Shourd willingly go back to face trial. Is extortion Iran's motive. If she does not return, will Iran execute the two male hikers? Is this a form of sexual harassment, or a play for power in a sordid bid for propaganda? Does the government of Iran desire to be a responsible world citizen? Apparently not.

China now uses lethal injections instead of public firing squads. Justice is dispensed "out of death vans which shuttle town to town," from USATODAY click here Chinese officials say this is "a civilized alternative" and promotes human rights now, ending the life of the condemned more quickly, clinically and safely. Others would say, "It's a big country, China has a lot of people, some break the law." Others would say, "That's typical of their unemotional attitude."

Capital punishment in China is a state secret but, "Amnesty International estimates there were at least 1,770 executions in China in 2005 [number in that year alone] -- vs. 60 in the United States." On its website, the organization says the toll could be as high as 8,000 prisoners.

One would think that if the Chinese government had made a decision on how to implement capital punishment as a deterrent to crime, they would be proud to give the public exact information.

From an article by news provider, "Foreign Policy," titled "America's Most Embarrassing Allies" http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/01/31/americas_other_most_embarrassing_allies they show a familial photograph of George W. Bush, in an tight grasp of friendship, with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Bush guides the King around his Texas compound (Texas Blue Bonnet flowers in the background). "Foreign Policy" says, "The kingdom remains one of the most repressive countries on Earth, Torture and detention without trial are commonplace." http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011/saudi-arabia

From the NGO, Human Rights Watch, "In March, 2010, a Medina court reaffirmed Lebanese television presenter Ali Sibat's death sentence for witchcraft based on his fortune-telling show broadcast from Lebanon."

Others in the world might call Americans hypocrites if they say nothing about executions in the United States. Visit http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/death-penalty/tribblog-texas-seeking-execution-drug/ if you want to see what the lethal injection syringes look like.

Note, a few words on executions in Russia - there have not been any government executions (that we know of) since 1996, but the law is still "codified under military law, as punishment for 5 crimes: treason, espionage, mutiny, desertion, sedition." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_Russia Recently, there were some public calls for the moratorium to be lifted after the bomb explosion at Moscow airport in January of 2011. But what about during the Cold War?

Just as China now considers the details of capital punishment a state secret, so did Russia during the Cold War. Firing squads were typical during Stalin's regime, but also after World War II, Russians to some degree, learned from Nazi death camps.

The following text is the first three pages of my screenplay for "Blue Group" and a startling way to begin a movie. This comes from a true story of the life Frederic DeLis, as a young man, some time in the 1950's. Mr. DeLis was an officer, agent and operator, first for the CIA (he was recruited out of college at age 17 in 1947), and then for the NSA at its inception, until he retired in 1993.

DeLis resembled a Russian spy, who was an employee of the United Nations and was apprehended by American intelligence. Frederic's assignment was to replace the agent and find out where that took him, literally. American intelligence had no prior information of execution technology until Frederic stood there looking at it.

In the screenplay, the scene is Lubyanka KGB Central, but in real life, the execution took place in the top secret Aquarium complex in Moscow. I choose Lubyanka because it is a well-known historical landmark (old, yellow Georgian construction).

Very few individuals ever witnessed an Aquarium execution. We found only two references in books by Russian soldiers who had gone into that particular area of the Aquarium, but neither saw the unit in operation. One of these Russian authors was Viktor Suvorov, "Inside the Aquarium" ISBN - 0-241-11545-0, 1985, Hamish Hamilton Ltd. click here . Frederic DeLis was the only American to actually witness the unit in operation.

What does the screenplay title mean? Frederic DeLis's told me, "It's a government thing; Reds are people on the ground doing work, following orders. Blues are creative problem solvers; we were a select group."

This excerpt of "Blue Group" has been converted from Final Draft - the software most scriptwriters use; scripts have a unique format and are always written in Courier font. You will see some words in caps; don't ask; that's just how it's done.

FADE IN:

EXT. RED SQUARE, MOSCOW -DAY

An overcast day at a distance, Red Square - a solitary group of ten men cluster in the cold as a GUIDE waves one arm toward the Kremlin, then over to the cathedral's onion domes.

EXT. RUSSIA -DAY

Flat barren land, patches of snow, the crunch of the gravel road under a small military bus as it comes to a stop.

The ten men tumble out, into a strong wind tugging on their coats. Their female soldier GUIDE, speaking English with a Russian accent ushers them to a 4 ft. high stone marker, text in Cyrillic.

GUIDE

Comrades - this is where the valiant Russian Army defeated the timid and foolish Napoleon - The glorious Battle of Borodino. From here, the French ran away to ignominious slaughter.

(with religious-like fervor)

Remember - no one can defeat us.

Everyone concentrates on what she says, except one young man, FREDERIC DeLIS (pronounced like fleur de lis), who rolls his eyes, unconvinced. He's 20, looks young.

INT. BUS -DAY

On the bus, the men speak German, Hungarian, French (two Africans), Chinese, and Czech. Frederic is quiet, sits by the window. An older MAN slides in next to him.

MAN

Hey pal, we're the only Americans here. I'm from Miami, where you from?

Frederic looks past him, to meet the cold eyes of a Soviet guard, then back to the other American, Frederic yawns.

FREDERIC

I didn't sleep last night; I'm going to get some now.

He leans his head against the bus window, closes his eyes.

E/I. LUBYANKA PRISON -DAY

Two male SOLDIERS escort the ten through the entrance of a graying yellow multistory 18th century building.

SUPER: "Lubyanka Prison, Moscow, 1950"

Inside, first left, they troop down a Soviet-green hallway, past a propaganda poster on the wall - the face of a stern man pointing to a big star in yellow and red.

INT. LUBYANKA PRISON -DAY

The men sit at a long table, no talking, very glum. Their meal consists of potatoes and a hunk of bread. Frederic looks down at a small glass of clear liquid; he takes a sip. Eyes light up, he turns to the man next.

FREDERIC

Vodka.

(German with subtitles)

All we need is wiener schnitzel and a little J.S. Bach in the background.

The man nods with a small laugh.

INT. LUBYANKA PRISON -DAY

Frederic's "guest room" resembles a prison cell - a sink and a toilet under a picture of Stalin. He lies in a small bed, a raw ugly reading light goosenecks over his head. He closes his book - Turgenev's "Torrents of the Spring," in English.

IMAGININGS - A WOMAN NEXT TO HIM IN BED

She's part Japanese, very beautiful, her bare arm comes over his shoulder, she puts her hand on his book. He turns to her.

END OF IMAGINING

Room in black, there's a loud rap on the door. Frederic clicks on the light, opens up (in his underwear). A young SOLDIER speaks to him in very broken English.

SOLDIER

Morning - come with me. Must come now.

Frederic looks indignant, but follows him out the door.

INT. LUBYANKA PRISON -DAY

The ten sit on a long wooden bench - each man differentiated by facial structure and style of underwear. No one speaks. The room is very hot - perspiration increasing. A uniformed KGB COLONEL with a square face, comes into the room, followed by his young ASSISTANT in uniform - eyebrows running together. He hands his superior a manila folder. The colonel thumbs through pages in Cyrillic, photos matching the 10 men. He speaks in a demanding voice in English.

COLONEL

Pay attention, all of you. Be loyal to Mother Russia - always. If you betray us, this will happen to you.

The officer directs a burrowing stare at the other American, then walks over to Frederic.

COLONEL (CONT'D)

Having a good trip?

He's up into Frederic's face - stoic with sarcasm. Then turns to the other guests.

COLONEL (CONT'D)

It could be any of you in there.

One of Frederic's eyebrows twitches. The colonel repeats his warning in Russian. All ten nod, unsure why.

INT. HALLWAY -DAY

Heated cloud particles cluster, then disperse. The ten pass through the clouds, huddled together - fear on their faces. Two burly SOLDIERS and the colonel usher them toward heavy doors which automatically open as the group gets close, and quickly close behind them. Puffs of heat increase, as does the men's sweat - sticky and glistening. Three TECHNICIANS stand next to a conveyer belt. The colonel walks up - he glares directly at Frederic. The soldiers step up to grab the other American, hold his arms tight at his elbows. He struggles. His voice grows to a desperate SHRIEK as they lift him inches off the floor.

Up front, a wall slides back. Everyone jumps back from the intense heat. In front of them is an oven...red-hot inside. The American is SCREAMING -- The colonel stuffs a white tennis ball in his mouth. Behind them, there's a WOOSHING sound as a gurney comes down the conveyer belt. The soldiers throw the man on the rack - try to strap him down. He thrashes, fights them, anguish, fear hysteria on his face.

The watchers are now a group of 9, frozen in fear. They watch the gurney roll forward to the oven - reddest red to white orange.

THE GROUP

(each in their own language) No, no, stop - help - don't.

The man goes in. The very second between life and death - no reprieve, no turning back, the man is cooked. Frederic shakes his head, perspiration flying off in every direction. His shoulders twitch. He screams.

FREDERIC

My God...Oh my God...no - no.

His eyes and mouth reduce into tight lines - wrinkles on a young man's face.

"Blue Group" screenplay copyright protection 2008

In real life, Frederic had no idea who the man was. The group of visitors clustered in front of the oven door. An automated gurney rolled in from behind them; a naked man was strapped to the gurney, tennis ball in his mouth.

Extreme anguish on his face, trying to twist out of the restraints, trying to fight - the prisoner's little penis uncontrollably erect with fear. Frederic told me he would never forget that image of personal human horror.

My Hollywood script-writing coach told me to take the penis image out, that an audience was already getting enough realism. But I think it makes a memorable comment on extreme fear-and the intimacy of death. The group of ten was together at the very moment of a death - the separation point - one was taken, while the others walked away.

Still the controversy goes on and on - to kill or not to kill. Is prison a place of rehabilitation or only storage space. We are still seeking the answer to the final question - what is it to be human. "How can we be absolutely sure of a person's guilt?" And what is the value of human life, since every life is just like ours?

Authors Website: www.worldviewopinion.com

Authors Bio:
As well as being a publicist, I am an artist (primarily a painter), and a writer (one book and 2 screenplays, as well as articles on my website). I am most interested in unusual people, what they have to say and what they do (what you do is not necessarily your occupation). For me, what I do is the measure of my worth. I don't insist upon that from others but I do appreciate it. My late husband was an officer and operator in the NSA, and also a physicist so I do have a different take on the world scene than most individuals. A subject I am most interested in is New Energy, so we can step out of the old ways of generating power. I champion the inventor's mind - a mirror of the artist's mind in a different medium.