Forced suicide
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Forced suicide is a method of execution where the victim is given the choice of committing suicide or facing an alternative they perceive as worse, such as suffering torture; having friends or family members imprisoned, tortured or killed; or losing honor, position or means.
Historical Perspective
Ancient Greece & Rome
Forced suicide was a common means of execution in ancient Greece and Rome. As a mark of respect it was generally reserved for aristocrats sentenced to death; the victims would either drink hemlock or fall on their swords. Economic motivations promoted some suicides in ancient Rome. A person who was condemned to death would forfeit property to the government. People could evade that provision and let the property pass to their heirs by committing suicide prior to arrest.
Probably the most famous forced suicide is that of the philosopher Socrates, who drank hemlock after his trial for corrupting the youth of Athens. Seneca also killed himself in response to a request by the Roman Emperor Nero, who was also forced to perform the suicide at a later date. Other famous forced suicides include that of Brutus, Mark Antony and Otho the Roman Emperor and it was quite common in the Roman Imperial Court.
Asia
Forced suicides have occurred in ancient China, where generals who were responsible for major debacles that seriously brought a downfall in the course of a state's history would be held liable and were given orders to commit suicide.
In some cases Japanese seppuku could fall into this category, since failing to commit seppuku could in some situations lead to great dishonor for a samurai and his family; it was especially the case in the Edo period, and Asano Naganori is a clear example.
Modern times
Another famous example is the forced suicide of Erwin Rommel, a field marshal in the Second World War German army. After Rommel lost faith in Germany's ability to win the war, and came under suspicion for having taken part in the July 20, 1944 plot to kill Adolf Hitler, he was forced to commit suicide. Due to Rommel's popularity with the German people, Hitler gave him an option to commit suicide with cyanide or face dishonor and retaliation against his family and staff. Since the guilty verdict had already been entered, the option of facing trial was hopeless, and thus, in order to save his family and his honor, he was forced to take cyanide.
As a substitute for honour killings
A forced suicide may be a substitute of an honor killing when a woman violates the namus in conservative Islamic societies. According to a BBC report [2] the United Nations is, as of 2006, investigating reports of forced suicides of women in Turkey.