The committee behind a people’s initiative to restore capital punishment for murders involving sexual violence have decided to withdraw it. On their website, the group said that the initiative, which caused intense debate in Switzerland over the past week, had been the only way for them to make the population aware of problems in the justice system. The surprising turn in the story comes a day after the Federal Chancellery said the initiative met formal legal requirements. Its supporters would have had until February 24, 2012 to collect the 100,000 signatures needed to force a nationwide vote on the issue. Switzerland outlawed the civil death penalty in the 1940s.