Judicial corporal punishment

Judicial corporal punishment ("JCP") is the formal application of flogging, caning, birching, whipping, strapping or spanking as an official sentence by order of a court, as laid down for specified offences under the law of the country concerned. Once commonplace in many countries, it has now been abolished in nearly all the Western world, but remains a standard penalty in some Asian, African and Middle Eastern countries. These are mostly either former British colonies (now members of the Commonwealth) such as Malaysia,^[1] Singapore and Tanzania,^[2] or Muslim countries with a system of Islamic (Sharia) law.

The Singaporean official punishment of caning became much discussed around the world in 1994^[3] when American teenager Michael P. Fay was sentenced to six strokes of the cane for vandalism.^[4] Since that time, the number of caning sentences handed down each year in Singapore has doubled.^[5]

Other ex-British territories with judicial caning currently on their statute books include Barbados,^[6] Botswana,^[7] Brunei,^[8] Swaziland,^[9] Tonga,^[10] Trinidad & Tobago,^[11] and Zimbabwe.^[12] It has been abolished in recent decades in Hong Kong,^[13] the Isle of Man,^[14] Jamaica,^[15] Kenya,^[16] South Africa,^[17] Sri Lanka, and Zambia.^[18]

In the United Kingdom itself, JCP was abolished in 1948.^[19] It was removed from the statute book in Canada in 1972,^[20] in India in the 1950s, in New Zealand in 1941,^[21] and in Australia at various times in the 20th century according to State.^[22]

Many countries with an Islamic legal system, such as Iran,^[23] northern Nigeria,^[24] Saudi Arabia,^[25] Sudan^[26] and Yemen^[27] employ judicial whipping or caning for a range of offences. In Indonesia (Aceh province only) it has recently been introduced for the first time.^[28]

Other countries that were neither British nor Islamic that have used JCP in the more distant past include China,^[29] Germany,^[30] Korea,^[31] Sweden^[32] and Vietnam.^[33] In the United States it was last used in 1952 in Delaware.^[34]

Countries where JCP is used

     Countries with judicial corporal punishment

A list of 32 countries that use lawful, official JCP today is as follows:

1.  Afghanistan (men and women - whip or strap, no target specified; public or private)^[35][36]
2.  Antigua and Barbuda (boys only - details unclear)^[37][38]
3.  Bahamas (men - cat on bare back; boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)^[39][40]
4.  Barbados (boys only - details unclear)^[6]
5.  Botswana (males aged 14 to 40 - cane on bare buttocks; in private)^[41][42]
6.  Brunei (men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)^[43][44][8]
7.  Dominica (boys under 16 - details unclear)^[45]
8.  Grenada (men and boys - details unclear)^[46]
9.  Guyana (men and boys - details unclear)^[47]
10.  Indonesia, Aceh State only (men and women - cane on clothed back; in public)^[28]
11.  Iran (men, women, boys, girls - whip or strap, no target specified; public or private)^[23]
12.  Lesotho (men and boys - details unclear)^[48]
13.  Malaysia (Criminal law: men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)^[1] * (Sharia law, Muslims only: men and women - cane on clothed back; in private)^[49]
14.  Maldives (men and women - details unclear)^[50]
15.  Nigeria (men, women, boys, girls - cane on clothed buttocks or whip on bare back; in public)^[24][51]
16.  Pakistan (men and boys - cane or strap on clothed buttocks; public or private)^[52]
17.  Qatar (men and women - details unclear; in private)^[53]
18.  Saint Kitts and Nevis (boys and men - details unclear)^[54][55]
19.  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (boys only - cane on bare buttocks)^[56]
20.  Saudi Arabia (men and women - whip or cane over clothes, no target specified; public or private)^[57]
21.  Sierra Leone (boys only - cane or birch on bare buttocks)^[58]
22.  Singapore (men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private). See Caning in Singapore.
23.  Somalia (men and women - cane on clothed buttocks)^[59]
24.  Sudan (men, women, boys, girls - whip on clothed back)^[26]
25.  Swaziland (boys only - cane on bare buttocks)^[9]
26.  Tanzania (men and boys - cane on bare buttocks; in private)^[2]
27.  Tonga (men - cat on bare buttocks; boys - birch or cat on bare buttocks)^[10]
28.  Trinidad and Tobago (men only - cat on bare back or birch on bare buttocks; in private)^[60]
29.  Tuvalu (details unclear)^[61]
30.  United Arab Emirates (Muslims only: men - whip on bare back; women - whip on clothed back; public or private)^[62]
31.  Yemen (details unclear)^[27]
32.  Zimbabwe (boys only - cane on bare buttocks; in private)^[63]

The above list does not include countries where a "blind eye" is sometimes turned to unofficial JCP by local tribes, authorities, etc. including Bangladesh, Bolivia, Guatemala, India, Russia, and the Palestinian territories.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Pudu Prison exhibition, Kuala Lumpur, 1998.
2. ^ ^{a b} Tanzania State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
3. ^ "What US columnists say about Fay's caning", The Straits Times, Singapore, 8 April 1994.
4. ^ Wallis, Charles P."Ohio Youth to be Flogged in Singapore", Los Angeles Times, 4 March 1994.
5. ^ Singapore Human Rights Practices, 1994, US Department of State; and Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2007, US Department of State.
6. ^ ^{a b} Barbados State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
7. ^ Nomsa, Ndlovu."A village choking under crime", Mmegi, Gaborone, 11 May 2006.
8. ^ ^{a b} Brunei Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004, US Department of State.
9. ^ ^{a b} Report 2007 for Swaziland, Amnesty International.
10. ^ ^{a b} Laws of Tonga, Chapter 18.
11. ^ Swamber, Keino. "Twelve strokes for sex with girl, 12", Trinidad Express, Port of Spain, 1 June 2006.
12. ^ "Boy to receive 2 cane strokes", Sunday Mail, Harare, 21 May 2006.
13. ^ Thomas, Hedley."Patten may appeal for clemency on sentence", South China Morning Post, Hong Kong, 22 April 1994.
14. ^ "Isle of Man to scrap birch at a stroke", The Guardian, London, 6 March 1993.
15. ^ "Jamaican court abolishes flogging", CNN, 18 December 1998.
16. ^ Bowry, Pravin. "Changes in criminal law significant", Daily Nation, Nairobi, 16 September 2003.
17. ^ Abolition of Corporal Punishment Act, 1997.
18. ^ "Parliament supports repeal of corporal punishment", Zana (Zambia News Agency), Lusaka, 13 November 2003.
19. ^ "Power to order flogging: Abolition approved in Committee", The Times, London, 12 December 1947.
20. ^ The Canadian Prison Strap, World Corporal Punishment Research.
21. ^ "The Fall and Fall of Corporal Punishment", November 1999 Newsletter, EPOCH New Zealand.
22. ^ Australia: Judicial CP, World Corporal Punishment Research.
23. ^ ^{a b} Iran Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004, US Department of State.
24. ^ ^{a b} Finkel, David. "Crime and Holy Punishment: In Divided Nigeria, Search for Justice Leads Many to Embrace Islamic Code", Washington Post, 24 November 2002.
25. ^ Nourah Abdul Al-Khereiji, "Government Must Codify Taaziri Punishment Rules", Arab News, Jeddah/Riyadh, 25 May 2008.
26. ^ ^{a b} Sudan Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
27. ^ ^{a b} Yemen State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2007.
28. ^ ^{a b} "Aceh gamblers caned in public", BBC News Online, London, 24 June 2005.
29. ^ Xing Bao, "Citizen Cane", Shanghai Star, 9 October 2003.
30. ^ "Judicial and Prison Flogging in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century Germany", World Corporal Punishment Research.
31. ^ Old photographs of judicial floggings in Korea at World Corporal Punishment Research. Accessed 2009-05-30.
32. ^ Penal Code 1809 at The Early History of Data Networks. Accessed 2009-05-30.
33. ^ "La loi de l'époque" at Les images d'autrefois du Vietnam. Accessed 2009-05-30.
34. ^ Red Hannah: Delaware's Whipping Post.
35. ^ Reuters, "Afghan charity workers receive lashing, set free", Jakarta Post, 8 April 1997.
36. ^ "Reporters on the Job: Sharia but No Sword", Christian Science Monitor, Boston, 21 February 2006.
37. ^ Antigua State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
38. ^ Weston, Tahna. "Court orders 12 lashes for juvenile offenders", Antigua Sun, 15 February 2007.
39. ^ Criminal Law (Measures) Act 1991, The Bahamas Laws On-line.
40. ^ Bahamas Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
41. ^ Botswana State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2008.
42. ^ Botswana Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004, US Department of State.
43. ^ Mahathir, Helena M. & Kon, James. "Anti-drugs campaign held in Tutong", Borneo Bulletin, 19 May 2005.
44. ^ Brunei State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
45. ^ Dominica State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
46. ^ Grenada State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
47. ^ Guyana State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
48. ^ Lesotho State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2007.
49. ^ Damis, Aniza. "The pain is in the shame", New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur, 27 June 2005.
50. ^ Evans, Judith."Lashings Punishment Resumes", Minivan News, Malé, 1 June 2008.
51. ^ Hamid, Ruhi. Video clips from "Inside a Sharia Court", This World, BBC Two, London, broadcast 1 October 2007.
52. ^ Pakistan: Judicial corporal punishment by flogging at World Corporal Punishment Research. Accessed 2009-05-30.
53. ^ Qatar State Report, GITEACPOC, December 2008.
54. ^ St Kitts & Nevis State Report, GITEACPOC, February 2009.
55. ^ Smithen, Corliss. "Convicted men get strokes, jail sentence", Sun St Kitts, Basseterre, 21 February 2006.
56. ^ NGO Initial Report, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association, January 2002.
57. ^ Saudi Arabia Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
58. ^ Sierra Leone State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2008.
59. ^ Somalia Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2006, US Department of State.
60. ^ Heeralal, Darryl. "Jail, strokes for 'dirty old man'", Trinidad Express, Port of Spain, 4 June 2005.
61. ^ Tuvalu Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2001, US Department of State.
62. ^ Awad Mustafa. "Out With The Lash", Xpress, Dubai, 25 April 2007.
63. ^ Zimbabwe State Report, GITEACPOC, June 2007.