An anachronism in the world's most advanced civilisation

As I write these words Ronnie Lee Gardner has just 45 minutes left to live; by the time you read them he will be dead.  At precisely 0605GMT he will be shot by a five-man firing squad after having been tied to a chair, hooded and having had a target pinned to his chest.



Firing squad executions have been illegal in the US state of Utah since 2004, however those sentenced to death before then still have the right to choose this method of execution.  In fact, only US two prisoners have been put to death in this manner since 1972.  Nobody knows why Mr. Gardner opted for this method but for me his reasons are unimportant.  What is more important is that in 2010, in the shining beacon of western democracy, a man should be forced to choose the manner in which he is to be put to death by the state.

Gardner was convicted in 1985 of fatally shooting a lawyer during an attempt to escape from a court where he was facing another murder charge dating from 1984.  In the intervening 25 years Gardner will have lived a life in limbo, never being sure of his fate as a charade of countless appeals is played out in the background.

This is all part and parcel of the torture that is a US death sentence.  Whilst it is highly unlikely to happen in Gardner's case, there are numerous incidents of prisoners receiving last-minute stays of execution just seconds before the current is sent into the electric chair.  To prepare for one's death, knowing that there is a finite time left for one's time on earth, only to be offered a reprieve is almost as inhumane as the outdated act of killing a man for the crimes he has committed.

One could well argue that Gardner acted out of fear of the consequences of his initial trial.  Had he been faced with a life sentence, as he would have been in the UK, then maybe Michael Burdell would still be alive today. This appears to be a point of view with which his family agree, arguing that it is not what he would have wanted.

Whatever happens, I know that no pressure will be brought to bear on the US; their standing in the international community will make sure of that.  But that does not change the fact that the world's greatest promoter of democracy still acts in such an anachronistic and inhumane way.