28 March 2004 :

The need for abolishing the death penalty was emphasised at a meeting organised by the Society for Community Organisation Trust (SOCO). Speakers representing different human rights and advocates associations said the crime rate was lower in countries where the death penalty had been abolished. In his address, the former State Human Rights Commission member, R. Rethinasamy, said the death penalty was no solution to end violence. He added that appropriate legislative amendments should be moved to abolish the "uncivilised" practice of awarding death sentences. T. Lajapathi Roy, secretary for 'Lawyers for Human Rights', said that a majority of people sentenced to death belonged to the lower casts, stating that even in United States, 61 per cent of those executed were from racial minorities. The SOCO Trust Managing Trustee, A. Mahaboob Batcha, described the death penalty as "State sponsored killing," which, in the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Gautama Buddha, should be given up.