Death penalty Essay -- essays research papers

Fifty days after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of homophile Rights, the trend towards planetary abolition of the stopping point penalization is unmistakable. When the Declaration was adopted in 1948, octad countries had abolished the finis penalty for all crimes today, as of November 1998, the number stands at 63. much than than half the countries in the world abide abolished the wipe forth penalty in justness or practice, and the numbers continue to grow.Amnesty International opposes the death penalty as a violation of fundamental human honests - the right to behavior and the right non to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrade punishment. Both of these rights atomic number 18 recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, other international and regional human rights instruments and national constitutions and laws.Defense of life and defense of the state may be held to justify, in some cases, the victorious of life by state officials for e xample, when law-en business leaderment officials must act immediately to return their own lives or those of others or when a country is engaged in armed conflict. Even in such situations the use of lethal force is surrounded by internationally accepted standards of human rights and humanitarian law to inhibit abuse.The death penalty, however, is not an act of defense against an immediate terror to life. It is the premeditated killing of a prisoner for the purpose of punishment - a purpose that nates be met by other means.The cruelty of the death penalty is manifest not only in the execution merely in the time spent under sentence of death, during which the prisoner is ceaselessly contemplating his or her own death at the hands of the state. This cruelty cannot be justified, no matter how cruel the crime of which the prisoner has been convicted.The cruelty of the death penalty extends beyond the prisoner to the prisoners family, to the prison guards and to the officials who hav e to carry out an execution. Information from various parts of the world shows that the role of an executioner can be deeply disturbing, even traumatic. The right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment are the twain human rights most often cited in debates about the death penalty. however the death penalty also attacks other rights.In many cases prisoners are sentenced to death in trials which do not conform to int... ...ting the mankind on the uncertainty of the deterrent effect of capital punishment. A better public understanding of crime prevention and criminal justice would produce more support for anti-crime measures which are genuine and not merely palliative. At the very least, politicians should not make demagogic calls for the death penalty, misleading the public and obscuring the use up for genuine anti-crime measures.Often the national debate on the death penalty is conducted in purely national terms. The international d imension needs to be brought in. Countries can learn from other countries experience.Over the centuries, laws and public attitudes relating to torture have evolved. It is no longer permissible to use thumbscrews or the rack as legally sanctioned means of interrogation and punishment. Attitudes toward the death penalty are also changing, and bringing about abolition requires courageous political lead, leadership that will be exercised in the defense of human rights. The requirement of gaze for human rights has to include the abolition of the death penalty. It is not possible for a government to respect human rights and retain the death penalty at the same time.