Execution by firing squad

Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment, especially in times of war. A firing squad is a group of people (usually soldiers) who are ordered to shoot at the condemned person simultaneously. No single member of the firing squad can save the condemned person's life by not firing, reducing the moral incentive to disobey the order to shoot (see diffusion of responsibility).

Related Topics:
Capital punishment - War - Squad - Soldier - Diffusion of responsibility

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Executions are usually carried out with high-caliber rifles to facilitate a quick death. The condemned may be seated or standing but is usually restrained. The condemned is often hooded or blindfolded.

Related Topics:
Executions - Hooded - Blindfold

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In some cases, one member of the firing squad is issued a gun containing a blank cartridge instead of one with a bullet, without telling any of them whom it was given to. There are two theories supporting this practice. First, each can hope beforehand that he will not be one who contributes to the killing. This is believed to reduce flinching and to make the execution proceed more reliably. Second, it allows each of the soldiers a chance to believe afterward that he did not personally fire a fatal shot. While an experienced marksman can tell the difference between a blank and a live cartridge based on the recoil (the blank will have much lower recoil), there is a significant psychological incentive not to pay attention and, over time, to remember the recoil as soft.

Related Topics:
Blank - Cartridge - Bullet - Recoil

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The firing squad is commonly used to execute spies. It is often considered a particularly honorable method of execution, and as such is intentionally not used for war criminals, who are often hanged—a penalty associated with common criminals. Firing squads were, however, used by some countries to execute war criminals after World War II, most notably by Poland and Russia.

Related Topics:
Spies - War criminal - Hanged - Criminal - World War II - Poland - Russia

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The method is also the supreme punishment employed by courts martial for crimes such as desertion or mutiny such as in the execution of Private Eddie Slovik by the U.S. Army in 1945 (Slovik was the first US soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War). It has also been applied for ordinary crimes carried out by soldiers, such as murder or rape. It may also be applied to other crimes committed by military personnel; as an example, French military engineer Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry was executed by firing squad for his participation in an assassination attempt on President Charles de Gaulle.

Related Topics:
Courts martial - Desertion - Mutiny - Eddie Slovik - U.S. Army - 1945 - Civil War - Murder - Rape - French - Jean-Marie Bastien-Thiry - President - Charles de Gaulle

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Firing squads may also be used for political crimes. Romanian Communist leader Nicolae Ceau?escu was executed by this method on 25 December, 1989.

Related Topics:
Political crime - Romania - Communist - Nicolae Ceau?escu - 25 December - 1989

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Execution by firing squad is distinct from other forms of execution by firearms such as the "single shot from a handgun to the back of the neck". See execution by firearms.

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