Euthanasia for prisoners is the wrong way out for everyone

A Belgian prisoner, Frank Van Den Bleeken, serving a life sentence for murder and rape, has won the right to an assisted suicide under the country’s euthanasia law. This widens the scope of the law. It has also encouraged 15 further prisoners to ask for the same option.

I have worked for Inside Time, the UK-wide newspaper for prisoners, since it was founded in 2001. In that time I have seen the tariff – the minimum length of time that has to be served – for prisoners handed life sentences, continually rise. So, although it is tempting, particularly from the Catholic perspective, to see this Belgian development as an argument about the right to die – or not – I think it is just as important to approach it from the point of view of the prisoners’ situation and consider how society treats the men and women behind bars.

Erwin James, now a successful writer who spent 20 years in prison, told me, ‘Tariffs in life sentences are getting so long that hopelessness has become prevalent. Perhaps we should offer a way out.’ He added, ‘In 2007, 18 lifers took their own lives.’ That of course is already an option in countries where assisted suicide is not legal. As Noel Smith, my colleague at Inside Time and an ex-prisoner, commented, ‘All those who want to bring back the rope for offenders might be cheered to realised that a large percentage of prison suicides are by hanging.’

I also talked to Juliet Lyons, Chief Executive of the Prison Reform Trust. ‘This raises important questions about the nature of punishment. Is a whole tariff, a whole sentence of life without parole, any kind of humane alternative to the death penalty? For those who believe in redemption, can a sentence of such hopelessness ever be acceptable? This case highlights the ethical dilemma faced by those who imprison as well as those who are imprisoned.’

In Belgium the sister of the woman who was raped and murdered by Frank Van Den Bleeken asked why he should be allowed to die with dignity when her sister was not. Van Den Bleeken argues that after three decades in prison he deserves permission to die because of the mental anguish he suffered due to the violent sexual impulses he could not overcome.

The attitude of the sister reflects many relatives of victims who can neither forgive nor forget. The law has recently taken more account of their attitudes, although they are understandably based on a high level of emotional pain and unlikely to represent a fair-minded point of view. There are exceptions, of course. A charity called The Forgiveness Project, which has now in business for more than ten years, has found notable examples where victims or relatives of victims have the courage or grace to forgive perpetrators, thus finding some sort of peace for both sides. Such reconciliation is remarkable to witness.

It is worth noting that in Belgium, Dr Wil Distelmans, head of the commission that reviews euthanasia applications, spoke against granting euthanasia to prisoners who could be medically treated for their conditions.

Euthanasia for prisoners is a judgement on a society’s failure to find an appropriate punishment for men or women who are convicted of serious crimes. That is where our attention should be directed.

Rachel Billington is a novelist whose next book, Glory, a story of Gallipolli, will be published early next year (Orion Books)