Brother of murder victim fights for abolition of death penalty

MANILA, Philippines - A man whose brother was killed 15 years ago has been campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States.

Arthur Laffin founded the Association of Murder Victims’ Families for Reconciliation in the US after his brother Paul was stabbed to death by a mentally ill person in 1999.

He was the guest speaker during the opening of the 1st Asia Pacific Dialogue on Human Rights and Respect for the Dignity of Life, with the theme “No justice without life,” held Monday at the Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong City.

Laffin said his family eventually managed to show compassion for the man who killed his brother.

“My brother’s assailant had been suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, which is the most severe type of paranoia. After what had happened, our family still showed concern that this person might not just be dangerous to others but to himself as well,” he said. “Even during the eulogy for my brother, I asked for the people to pray for Paul’s killer, and show him mercy and compassion.”

Paul’s killer has been serving time at a hospital in Connecticut.

Laffin said he did not seek death for the killer because “it will never bring healing and closure.” 

He added that the death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights.

“It violates the right to life as contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have to remember that it is important to uphold the preservation of life,” he said.

“We just have to remember violence ends where love begins,” he added.

Since 1973, 146 people were put on death row across the United States. There are 25,000 people on death row around the world, Laffin said.

George Kain, a professor at the Division of Justice and Law Administration and a police commissioner in Ridgefield, Connecticut, was also a speaker in the event.

“There is no true justice when you abide by the culture of death, which is destroying our world,” he said.

Kain said innocent people are sentenced to death because of wrong judgment.

The dialogue was organized by the Mandaluyong government, Department of Justice and the Community of Sant’Egidio, which is an organization of lay people in Italy with more than 60,000 members throughout the world.