Killers with ‘excellent moral character’ sought Sri Lanka

If you’re a man aged between 18 and 45 with a ‘‘very good mind and mental strength’’, the Sri Lankan prison system may have just the right job for you.

The state-run Daily News paper has published an advertisement from the country’s Department of Prisons, calling for all interested executioners to apply.

According to the job description, applicants should be young to middle-aged, and have ‘‘an excellent moral character’’ and adequate physical strength to carry out the task. The pay is US$203 (NZ$300) a month.

Until now, executioners in Sri Lanka haven’t had much work to do. The death penalty, while technically legal, has not been carried out since 1976, even with more than 1000 people on death row.

But last week President Maithripala Sirisena announced that he wanted to bring back capital punishment, particularly for drug offenders. He praised Philippine President Roderigo Duterte’s violent crackdown on drugs during a visit to that country in January.

The government has a shortage of qualified people to carry out executions, however.

According to the BBC, Sri Lanka has a history of recruits dropping out of hangman work. In 2014, one executioner resigned because he was ‘‘shocked and afraid’’ by the sight of the gallows. Since then, the country has not been able to find a permanent executioner.

This week’s job posting wasn’t entirely well received, sparking outrage among human rights activists in the region.

‘‘This is one job advert that should never have been put out,’’ Biraj Patnaik, South Asia director for Amnesty International, wrote on Twitter. "There is no place for the death penalty in a civilised society."

– Washington Post