Capital punishment in Romania
Encyclopedia
Capital punishment in Romania was abolished in 1989, and has been prohibited by the Constitution of Romania
since 1991.
. Vlad III the Impaler
(reigned in Wallachia
, principally 1456–62) was notorious for executing thousands by impalement
. One of his successors, Constantine Hangerli
, was strangled, shot, stabbed and beheaded
by the Ottomans
in 1799. Two of the leaders of the Revolt of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan
were broken on the wheel
by the Imperial Austrian authorities (which then controlled Transylvania
) in 1785. And Liviu Rebreanu
's 1922 novel Pădurea spânzuraţilor ("Forest of the Hanged
"), as well as its 1965 film adaptation, draws upon the experience of his brother Emil, hanged
for desertion
in 1917, shortly before Austria-Hungary
dissolved and Transylvania joined Romania.
, and a Penal Code was enacted in 1864 that did not provide for the death penalty except for several wartime offences. The 1866 Constitution
, inspired by the liberal Belgian model of 1831
, confirmed the abolition of capital punishment for peacetime crimes. By the end of the 19th century, just six other European countries had abolished the death penalty: Belgium
, Finland
, Italy
, Luxembourg
, the Netherlands
and Portugal
.
Abolition with respect to peacetime crimes was reaffirmed by article 16 of the 1923 Constitution
. However, the rising crime rate had produced a shift in favour of capital punishment. In 1924 a special statute (the Mârzescu Law) allowed communist
agitators to be executed. The new Criminal Code of 1936 incorporated some sections of the Law despite the drafters' opposition to capital punishment. The 1938 Constitution
, which established a royal dictatorship, expanded the scope of capital crimes by authorizing the death penalty for offences against the royal family, against high-ranking public figures, for politically-motivated murders, and for killings caused during burglaries. The Penal Code was subsequently amended to implement the constitutional mandate. Some of these executions were quite summary: for instance, after Prime Minister Armand Călinescu
was assassinated in September 1939, 253 Iron Guard
activists were killed without trial in the next few days; members of the Guard would themselves carry out the Jilava Massacre
a year later. During World War II
, under the dictatorship of Ion Antonescu
, criminal laws became even more repressive. Burglary, theft of weapons, arson, smuggling, and several other crimes were made capital; the Iron Guard was targeted after its violent suppression
, with the Jilava executioners and participants in the Legionnaires' rebellion figuring among those executed by firing squad
. Also during the period, capital punishment was used as a tool of political repression against some Romanian Communist Party
members and anti-German resistance fighters. Examples include Francisc Panet
and Filimon Sârbu
. According to writer Marius Mircu, thirty anti-fascists
were executed during the war, of whom all but three were Jews
.
, 137 people were executed in Romania, including Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
, Eugen Ţurcanu
, the Ioanid Gang
, the Berne group
, members of the anti-communist resistance movement
and protesters during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. These executions came following a 1949 law providing the death penalty for offences against the communist state and the planned economy. The amended 1936 Code provided for the death penalty for some crimes against the state, peace and humanity, for aggravated murder and for burglary resulting in death; in 1957, large-scale embezzlement causing serious damage to the national economy was added to the list. In 1958, the act of contacting foreigners in order to provoke the state into neutrality or an act of war was made subject to the death penalty; this was a clear reference to measures taken by Imre Nagy
during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and was made more urgent by the withdrawal of Soviet occupying forces
that summer, which led the regime to clamp down on internal dissent. The definition of "economic sabotage" and "hooliganism" was broadened, and the first executions under the new measures took place that autumn. Under Nicolae Ceauşescu
, a new Penal Code adopted in 1969 featured 28 capital offences, including economic and property crimes. This number was substantially reduced in the 1970s; in particular, the death penalty for economic crimes was abolished. Among those executed during this period were Ion Rîmaru
and Gheorghe Ştefănescu
. From 1980 to 1989, 57 death sentences were passed, and at least fifty executions carried out. Most convictions involved murder, but some were for large-scale theft of state property. For instance, in 1983, five individuals were sentenced to die for organized and systematic stealing of large quantities of meat.
During Ceauşescu's entire time in power (1965–89), 104 people were executed by firing squad at Jilava
and Rahova
prisons, with commutations reinforcing his image as a stern but kind father to the nation. At Jilava, prisoners were taken outside, to the right side of the prison, tied to a post and shot by six, ten or even twelve junior officers, while at Rahova, they were shot in an underground room; the entire process was shrouded in secrecy. Executions normally happened days after an appeal was rejected, and those shot at Jilava were usually buried in the village cemetery. Minors, pregnant women and women with children aged under 3 were exempt from the death penalty. Romania's last executions came during the Romanian Revolution of 1989
— those of Nicolae
and Elena Ceauşescu
.
(Law nr. 7/1991). The new Constitution, ratified that December, explicitly prohibits the death penalty. The Constitution provides that no amendment is allowed if it were to result in the suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms, which has been interpreted to mean that the death penalty may not be reinstated as long as the present Constitution is in force. Romania is also subject to the European Convention on Human Rights
(since May 1994) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
(since January 2007), both abolitionist documents.
Constitution of Romania
The 1991 Constitution of Romania, adopted on 21 November 1991, voted in the referendum of 8 December 1991 and introduced on the same day, is the current fundamental law that establishes the structure of the government of Romania, the rights and obligations of the country's citizens, and its mode...
since 1991.
Antecedents
The death penalty has a long and varied history in present-day RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
(reigned in Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
, principally 1456–62) was notorious for executing thousands by impalement
Impalement
Impalement is the traumatic penetration of an organism by an elongated foreign object such as a stake, pole, or spear, and this usually implies complete perforation of the central mass of the impaled body...
. One of his successors, Constantine Hangerli
Constantine Hangerli
Constantine or Constantin Hangerli was a Prince of Wallachia between 1797 and the time of his death. He was the brother of Alexander Hangerli, who served as Prince of Moldavia in 1807....
, was strangled, shot, stabbed and beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
by the Ottomans
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
in 1799. Two of the leaders of the Revolt of Horea, Cloşca and Crişan
Revolt of Horea, Closca and Crisan
The Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan began in Zarand County, Transylvania, but it soon spread all throughout the Apuseni Mountains...
were broken on the wheel
Breaking wheel
The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death...
by the Imperial Austrian authorities (which then controlled Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
) in 1785. And Liviu Rebreanu
Liviu Rebreanu
Liviu Rebreanu was a Romanian novelist, playwright, short story writer, and journalist.- Life :Born in Târlișua , Transylvania, then part of Austria-Hungary, he was the second of thirteen children born to Vasile Rebreanu, a schoolteacher, and Ludovica Diuganu, descendants of peasants...
's 1922 novel Pădurea spânzuraţilor ("Forest of the Hanged
Forest of the Hanged
Forest of the Hanged is a 1964 Romanian drama film directed by Liviu Ciulei, and based on the eponymous novel by Liviu Rebreanu. Ciulei won the award for Best Director at the 1965 Cannes Film Festival...
"), as well as its 1965 film adaptation, draws upon the experience of his brother Emil, hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
for desertion
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
in 1917, shortly before Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
dissolved and Transylvania joined Romania.
Kingdom of Romania
The modern Romanian state was formed in 1859 after the unification of the Danubian PrincipalitiesDanubian Principalities
Danubian Principalities was a conventional name given to the Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which emerged in the early 14th century. The term was coined in the Habsburg Monarchy after the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca in order to designate an area on the lower Danube with a common...
, and a Penal Code was enacted in 1864 that did not provide for the death penalty except for several wartime offences. The 1866 Constitution
1866 Constitution of Romania
The 1866 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that capped a period of nation-building in the Danubian Principalities, which had united in 1859. Drafted in a short time and using as its model the 1831 Constitution of Belgium, then considered Europe's most liberal, it was substantially...
, inspired by the liberal Belgian model of 1831
Constitution of Belgium
The Constitution of Belgium dates back to 1831. Since then Belgium has been a parliamentary monarchy that applies the principles of ministerial responsibility for the government policy and the Trias Politica. The Constitution established Belgium as a centralised unitary state...
, confirmed the abolition of capital punishment for peacetime crimes. By the end of the 19th century, just six other European countries had abolished the death penalty: Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
.
Abolition with respect to peacetime crimes was reaffirmed by article 16 of the 1923 Constitution
1923 Constitution of Romania
The 1923 Constitution of Romania, also called the Constitution of Union, was intended to align the organisation of the state on the basis of universal male suffrage and the new realities that arose after the Great Union of 1918. Four draft constitutions existed: one belonging to the National...
. However, the rising crime rate had produced a shift in favour of capital punishment. In 1924 a special statute (the Mârzescu Law) allowed communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
agitators to be executed. The new Criminal Code of 1936 incorporated some sections of the Law despite the drafters' opposition to capital punishment. The 1938 Constitution
1938 Constitution of Romania
The 1938 Constitution of Romania was the fundamental law that established the authoritarian monarchic regime of King Carol II. It was drafted by a university professor, Istrate Micescu, based on suggestions given by the king, and made public on February 20, 1938. Four days later, voters were...
, which established a royal dictatorship, expanded the scope of capital crimes by authorizing the death penalty for offences against the royal family, against high-ranking public figures, for politically-motivated murders, and for killings caused during burglaries. The Penal Code was subsequently amended to implement the constitutional mandate. Some of these executions were quite summary: for instance, after Prime Minister Armand Călinescu
Armand Calinescu
Armand Călinescu was a Romanian economist and politician, who served as Prime Minister between March 1939 and the time of his death.-Early life:...
was assassinated in September 1939, 253 Iron Guard
Iron Guard
The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given to a far-right movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II. The Iron Guard was ultra-nationalist, fascist, anti-communist, and promoted the Orthodox Christian faith...
activists were killed without trial in the next few days; members of the Guard would themselves carry out the Jilava Massacre
Jilava Massacre
The Jilava Massacre took place during the night beginning on November 26, 1940, at Jilava penitentiary, near Bucharest, Romania. 64 political detainees were killed by the Iron Guard , with further high-profile assassinations in the immediate aftermath...
a year later. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, under the dictatorship of Ion Antonescu
Ion Antonescu
Ion Victor Antonescu was a Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal. The Prime Minister and Conducător during most of World War II, he presided over two successive wartime dictatorships...
, criminal laws became even more repressive. Burglary, theft of weapons, arson, smuggling, and several other crimes were made capital; the Iron Guard was targeted after its violent suppression
Legionnaires' Rebellion and Bucharest Pogrom
The Legionnaires' rebellion and the Bucharest pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between 21 and 23 January 1941.As the privileges of the Iron Guard were being cut off by Conducător Ion Antonescu, members of the Iron Guard, also known as the Legionnaires, revolted...
, with the Jilava executioners and participants in the Legionnaires' rebellion figuring among those executed by firing squad
Execution by firing squad
Execution by firing squad, sometimes called fusillading , is a method of capital punishment, particularly common in the military and in times of war.Execution by shooting is a fairly old practice...
. Also during the period, capital punishment was used as a tool of political repression against some Romanian Communist Party
Romanian Communist Party
The Romanian Communist Party was a communist political party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania. The PCR was a minor and illegal grouping for much of the...
members and anti-German resistance fighters. Examples include Francisc Panet
Francisc Panet
Francisc Panet or Paneth was a Romanian chemical engineer and communist activist executed by the pro-Nazi authorities during the Second World War. He was active in the Romanian Communist Party and in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.Panet was born in a wealthy family in Târgu Mureş...
and Filimon Sârbu
Filimon Sârbu
Filimon Sârbu was a Romanian communist activist and anti-fascist militant executed by the pro-Nazi authorities during World War II. After the war, he was acclaimed as a hero by the communist government....
. According to writer Marius Mircu, thirty anti-fascists
Anti-fascism
Anti-fascism is the opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals, such as that of the resistance movements during World War II. The related term antifa derives from Antifaschismus, which is German for anti-fascism; it refers to individuals and groups on the left of the political...
were executed during the war, of whom all but three were Jews
History of the Jews in Romania
The history of Jews in Romania concerns the Jews of Romania and of Romanian origins, from their first mention on what is nowadays Romanian territory....
.
Communist Romania
Two statutes dealing with war crimes were passed in 1945; the following year, Antonescu and a number of his followers were executed by firing squad. Between 1945 and 1964, largely corresponding with the rule of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-DejGheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej was the Communist leader of Romania from 1948 until his death in 1965.-Early life:Gheorghe was the son of a poor worker, Tănase Gheorghiu, and his wife Ana. Gheorghiu-Dej joined the Communist Party of Romania in 1930...
, 137 people were executed in Romania, including Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu
Lucretiu Patrascanu
Lucreţiu Pătrăşcanu was a Romanian communist politician and leading member of the Communist Party of Romania , also noted for his activities as a lawyer, sociologist and economist. For a while, he was a professor at Bucharest University...
, Eugen Ţurcanu
Eugen Turcanu
Eugen Ţurcanu , Romanian political prisoner, was executed for his role in the Piteşti Experiment. Initially sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for his membership in the Iron Guard , Ţurcanu became the leader of a group of detainees whose role was to...
, the Ioanid Gang
Ioanid Gang
The Ioanid Gang was a group in Communist Romania named after two of its members, Alexandru and Paul Ioanid. On July 28, 1959, they allegedly carried out the most famous bank robbery ever to have occurred inside a Communist state.-Timeline:...
, the Berne group
Berne incident
The Berne incident consisted in the brief seizure of the Romanian embassy in Bern, Switzerland, by a group of Romanian émigrés who opposed the communist regime. It occurred between February 14 and February 16, 1955.-Events:...
, members of the anti-communist resistance movement
Romanian anti-communist resistance movement
An armed resistance movement against the communist regime in Romania was active from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, with isolated individual fighters remaining at large until the early 1960s. Armed resistance was the first and most structured form of resistance against the communist regime...
and protesters during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. These executions came following a 1949 law providing the death penalty for offences against the communist state and the planned economy. The amended 1936 Code provided for the death penalty for some crimes against the state, peace and humanity, for aggravated murder and for burglary resulting in death; in 1957, large-scale embezzlement causing serious damage to the national economy was added to the list. In 1958, the act of contacting foreigners in order to provoke the state into neutrality or an act of war was made subject to the death penalty; this was a clear reference to measures taken by Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy was a Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary on two occasions...
during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and was made more urgent by the withdrawal of Soviet occupying forces
Soviet occupation of Romania
The Soviet occupation of Romania refers to the period from 1944 to August 1958, during which the Soviet Union maintained a significant military presence in Romania...
that summer, which led the regime to clamp down on internal dissent. The definition of "economic sabotage" and "hooliganism" was broadened, and the first executions under the new measures took place that autumn. Under Nicolae Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
, a new Penal Code adopted in 1969 featured 28 capital offences, including economic and property crimes. This number was substantially reduced in the 1970s; in particular, the death penalty for economic crimes was abolished. Among those executed during this period were Ion Rîmaru
Ion Rîmaru
Ion Rîmaru was a Romanian serial killer dubbed "The Vampire of Bucharest". He terrorized Bucharest in 1970-1971.-Early life:...
and Gheorghe Ştefănescu
Gheorghe Stefanescu
Gheorghe Ştefănescu , Romanian businessman, was at the centre of one of the largest corruption scandals during the Communist period....
. From 1980 to 1989, 57 death sentences were passed, and at least fifty executions carried out. Most convictions involved murder, but some were for large-scale theft of state property. For instance, in 1983, five individuals were sentenced to die for organized and systematic stealing of large quantities of meat.
During Ceauşescu's entire time in power (1965–89), 104 people were executed by firing squad at Jilava
Jilava
Jilava is a commune in Ilfov county, Romania, near Bucharest. It is composed of a single village, Jilava.The name derives from a Romanian word of Slavic origin meaning "humid place". Jilava was the location of a fort built by King Carol I of Romania, as part of the capital's defense system...
and Rahova
Rahova
Rahova is a neighbourhood of southwest Bucharest, Romania, situated in Sector 5, west of Dâmboviţa River. It is named after the Bulgarian town Rahovo , site of a battle in the Romanian War of Independence....
prisons, with commutations reinforcing his image as a stern but kind father to the nation. At Jilava, prisoners were taken outside, to the right side of the prison, tied to a post and shot by six, ten or even twelve junior officers, while at Rahova, they were shot in an underground room; the entire process was shrouded in secrecy. Executions normally happened days after an appeal was rejected, and those shot at Jilava were usually buried in the village cemetery. Minors, pregnant women and women with children aged under 3 were exempt from the death penalty. Romania's last executions came during the Romanian Revolution of 1989
Romanian Revolution of 1989
The Romanian Revolution of 1989 was a series of riots and clashes in December 1989. These were part of the Revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several Warsaw Pact countries...
— those of Nicolae
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
and Elena Ceauşescu
Elena Ceausescu
Elena Ceaușescu was the wife of Romania's Communist leader Nicolae Ceaușescu, and Deputy Prime Minister of Romania.-Background:She was born Elena Petrescu into a peasant family in Petrești commune, Dâmboviţa County, in the informal region of Wallachia. Her family was supported by her father's job...
.
Romania since 1989
Right after the Ceauşescus were summarily shot, the leaders of the National Salvation Front abolished the death penalty by decree; some Romanians saw this as a way for former Communists to escape punishment and demanded reinstatement of the death penalty in a series of protests in January 1990. On 27 February 1991, Romania ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International CovenantSecond Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty is a side agreement to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It was created on 15 December 1989, and entered into force on 11 July 1991. As of...
(Law nr. 7/1991). The new Constitution, ratified that December, explicitly prohibits the death penalty. The Constitution provides that no amendment is allowed if it were to result in the suppression of fundamental rights and freedoms, which has been interpreted to mean that the death penalty may not be reinstated as long as the present Constitution is in force. Romania is also subject to the European Convention on Human Rights
European Convention on Human Rights
The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms is an international treaty to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the then newly formed Council of Europe, the convention entered into force on 3 September 1953...
(since May 1994) and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union enshrines certain political, social, and economic rights for European Union citizens and residents, into EU law. It was drafted by the European Convention and solemnly proclaimed on 7 December 2000 by the European Parliament, the Council of...
(since January 2007), both abolitionist documents.