Editorial
Zacarias Moussaoui:
master of his fate and captain of his soul?
By Philip Baum
T
he government of the United States Moussaoui’s actions were not those of a goes off the scale), the vast majority of
looks likely to achieve the satisfac- sane individual. We will hear stories about the world’s executions take place in Iran,
tion it so yearns for. Unless the his childhood, his alienation from society and Saudi Arabia and the United States – strange
defence team manage to convince the jury his suffering from schizophrenia. If they can bedfellows!
that Zacarias Moussaoui is too mentally prove that he is mentally ill, he will not be put According to Amnesty International, “60
unstable to warrant execution, he will be to death. Most legal experts contend that this prisoners were executed in the USA in 2005,
put to death. is an unlikely scenario. bringing the year-end total to 1004 executed
With that lethal injection, America will feel Most rational people regard the actions of since the use of the death penalty was
that it has gone some way towards avenging suicidal terrorists, be they unsophisticated resumed in 1977 “. Meanwhile, “over 40 coun-
the deaths of all those who died on 11 bombers who walk in to densely populated tries have abolished the death penalty for all
September 2001. “Closure”, the word one city centres and detonate their lethal belts or crimes since 1990. They include countries in
often hears uttered, will be at hand. those who undergo lengthy training to pilot Africa (recent examples include Côte d’Ivoire,
Or perhaps it could just be the latest in aircraft and turn them into weapons of mass Senegal), the Americas (Canada, Paraguay,
the catalogue of post- and pre-911 errors of destruction, as being attributable to some Mexico), Asia and the Pacific (Bhutan, Samoa,
judgement? Sentencing Moussaoui to death form of mentally instability. That, however, is Turkmenistan) and Europe and the South
affords him exactly what he wants – the right a far cry from diagnosing somebody as men- Caucasus (Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
to be regarded by his people as a martyr. tally ill. And, whilst Moussaoui’s courtroom Cyprus, Greece, Serbia and Montenegro,
If his testimony is to be believed, death behaviour may leave many questioning his Turkey)”.
would have been his chosen route had he not mental health, his “rational” identification with The key argument against the death penalty
been arrested whilst attending flying school a the al Qaeda philosophy is unquestionable. is that it is a punishment contravening the
month prior to 911. He claims he was to have He believes that what happened on 911 was Universal Declaration of Human Rights (10
piloted a fifth aircraft and crashed it into the the correct course of action. His only regret December 1948). Article 3 states that “Every
White House. Perhaps he dreams that he had may be that he failed to actively participate person is entitled to life, to freedom and
been so selected – other al Qaeda sources in the mission. to his own safety”. That includes Zacarias
have certainly questioned his suitability – or So are we set to provide this troubled man Moussaoui. Yet even if one sets aside the
perhaps that was the plan? It matters little. with peace at last? Are we ready to afford Declaration (before somebody starts arguing
Either way, with the world as his audience, him the accolade of “martyr”? Many may that it also means that we should set
martyrdom beckons. contend that it is an insult to those who died Moussaoui free!), the use of the death penalty
As the prosecutors move on to the next to afford him the rank of “martyr”. However, in this case can only play into al Qaeda (and
stage of the trial, they will attempt to convince they forget that such a rank is not bestowed their supporters) hands.
the jury of nine men and three women that his upon an individual by us. Are we not, by killing We have so little to gain by sentencing him
failure to inform the FBI of his involvement in him, setting him upon a pedestal for future al to death, yet so much to lose. The concept of
the 911 plot, or his knowledge of it, makes him Qaeda operatives? imprisonment without parole is a far harsher
culpable for the deaths of the 2,972 people The death penalty is regarded by nearly the punishment.
who died that day. In fact, the jurors had only entire developed world as abhorrent. It is the Compare the cases of Timothy McVeigh
to be satisfied that he was responsible for the punishment of yesteryear. It has no proven and Rudolf Hess.
death of one person. The prosecuting team deterrent factor. It simply panders to the McVeigh was executed in Terre Haute,
will be aided by Moussaoui himself, who desire for blood in return for blood. Indiana, three months to the day before the
has repeatedly demonstrated his loyalty to The United States of America, supposedly 911 attacks, a little more than six years after
Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda network a symbol of the free world, is the only member he had driven his rented Ryder truck, packed
and is likely to continue to do so. There will state of the Organisation for Economic Co- with 55 gallon drums of ammonium nitrate,
be little need for the parade of victims who operation and Development (OECD – those and detonated it outside the Alfred P. Murrah
will testify as to the hurt, both physical and states that share a commitment to democratic Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Did he
emotional, that they have to endure as a government and the market economy) that express remorse? No. Did he get what he
result of his actions. still sanctions capital punishment, aside from wanted? Yes. Following the macabre execu-
Meanwhile, the defence team will have Japan where executions are rare. Indeed, tion which relatives of those killed were able
to conjure up a case demonstrating that China aside (whose use of the death penalty to watch on a closed-circuit TV broadcast,
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