Capital Punishment And The Death Penalty: Basic Human Rights

Improved Essays
Capital punishment is a denial of the most basic human rights; it violates one of the most fundamental principles under widely accepted human rights law, in which that states must recognize the right to life. The UN General Assembly has called for an end to capital punishment and human rights organizations agree that it breaks fundamental human rights standards. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, under Article 3 life is said to be a human right. This makes the death penalty our most significant human rights violation. If governments have the right and power to extinguish lives, they also have the ability to deny access to every other right stated in the Declaration. This first most imperative right provides foundation to every other human right. The beginning and ending point for a human right based analysis must be that capital punishment is never steady with crucial human rights standards.
Besides denying the right to life, other basic rights are frequently breached in capital punishment’s application. The death penalty has been found to break the denial against cruel, inhumane, and degrading
…show more content…
This comprehension has prompted progress in the nullification of capital punishment around the world. 35 years ago, just 16 nations had put an end to capital punishment for all crimes, while today that number has grown to 104. In addition, of those that still have capital punishment in their law, 35 are abolitionist by practice and have not executed anybody in at least 10 years. In 2010, just 23 nations were known to have executions. Consistently, a large portion of the world 's executions occur in just a couple of nations, and the United States is among those countries. From 2007 to 2011, the United States executed 220 individuals. America’s frequency of executions is met only by Saudi Arabia, Yemen, North Korea, Iran, and

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Capital punishment has a long and gruesome history, regrettably that history is not all in the past. Capital punishment, the practice of putting someone to death as punishment for a crime, is still exercised within fifty-eight countries and thirty-one American states. Although today’s methods of government sanctioned executions are more humane and less violent than our days past; when to be put to death meant to be hanged, flayed, burned alive or worse, it should still be considered by all, as a grave injustice to humanity. If killing is so wrong that it is considered one of the worst crimes a person could commit, why should the government be able to do exactly that. Capital punishment should not be executed…

    • 727 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Death Penalty Texas

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Not all the cases with death sentences is right, “I don't want to put one innocent person to death to put 99 that are guilty to death,” said Gary Johnson (Johnson 1). In addition, the cost of it is also excessively expensive; therefore, this solution is not as good as its definition. The death penalty has its impacts to the criminal behavior of people as the result of reducing crime rates since it was re-instituted. One can say keep it but only for a symbol. Life is precious, and no one has the right to end other’s…

    • 1001 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this paper I have presented both an argument in favor of the death penalty and against the death penalty. To start with there is a brief history of capital punishment including some important legal cases. Many arguments can be made as to the morality of execution, below I describe the deterrent effects as well as a common view held by Immanuel Kant in support of capital punishment. Both of these views are shared by many people. In opposition to capital punishment I have considered the fundamental view that killing, even a murderer, is wrong and the morality of charging juries with understanding the laws that govern sentencing. All of these points have support and should be considered when deciding where you stand on this issue. Citizens…

    • 1862 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    ‘Killing people is wrong’, a statement everyone can stand behind, however, in some arguments, would depend on who did the killing (Koch 483). The death penalty has been under the watchful eye of the United States population for some time now, and has developed an audience on both sides of the argument. Many believe the death penalty is morally wrong, alluding to scriptures from the Bible. Others would argue the death penalty is a way of justice for the murderers and ultimately for the victims. The light shed from opposing views could help reach a resolve and put the issue at rest, however, in the meantime, one must pull from both sides to decide for themselves.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The death penalty has been a topic of controversy for centuries, known for its inhumane brutality methods which have evolved over the years from lynching to gassing, electrocuting and now the lethal injection; it is in fact the sentencing of those who have committed a heinous crime. On the other hand, justice has been served when the death penalty has finally been executed on the prisoner, bringing a sense of retribution to those who have lost a loved one due to the crime committed. Although many people might think it is a working system, others land in the mixture of controversy for various reasons. Over the course of time, the death penalty has started to become obsolete and is slowly making a turnover…

    • 1158 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Necessary measures need to be taken. Capital punishment is the execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense (Hood). Since the beginning of human civilization, punishments have kept control and thus making a stable society. However, capital punishment is the greatest punishment known to man and can only be used in extreme measures regarding an absolute crime such a murder, rape, and in some cultures, breaking sacred laws. With changing times comes changing people and their ways of judgment. Humanity has become less accepting to the punishment, however, over 55% of Americans favor the death penalty. Percentages have dropped by about 23% since 1996; some countries are even abolishing the punishment for good (Lipka). People do not realize they are only hurting the world by allowing more crimes to occur; sometimes using the heart hurts the brain. Incarceration is another way of punishment but it does not show true judgment. Judgment is justice, and even though no man has the divine right to take a person’s life away, those that “Live by the sword, die by the sword” said the God of the world; meaning those that kill, will eventually and shall, be…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the National Academy of Sciences (2014), 1 out of every 25 criminals are wrongfully convicted, yet despite this horrific fact, many countries still impose the death penalty on those found guilty of a serious crime, a punishment that is inhumane, horrible, and goes against all human rights. 140 countries have abolished the death penalty because, it does not serve justice, and it only serves as revenge. Amnesty (International. 2016). Unfortunately, many countries have yet to be convinced and continue to use this ultimate retribution. Perhaps understanding just what capital punishment is, how it affects the inmates, why capital punishment should be abolished might lead to a reconsideration of this practice.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today's world many people are being murdered for things they did not do. Innocent people go to jail and criminals get away, and it is all about power and money. So in some countries they use the capital punishment which is killing the murderer instead of putting him in jail. Authors Laurie Barton and Carolyn Dupaquier Sardinas have written two articles explaining the arguments on both sides of the debate on capital punishment. The two sides of article are based on justice, cost and effectiveness.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Like myself, the author of the academic journal “Capital Punishment: The Great American Paradox”, A.M. Stroud III, both agree that the concept of capital punishment is not one to be seen as something to be pushed for onward towards the future but instead act as a memory of our nation’s past effectively leaving it behind where it truly belongs. With the mention of the reintroduction of the death penalty in the year 1974, Stroud effectively utilizes the words of the “exonerated innocent who spent years living in…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The word “death” is adept at sending a cold, frightening shiver down the spine of any human. It is a major fear factor that has been lurking around the corner since the beginning of time, for governments have been using death to their advantage to threaten and bend people to their own will since the eighteenth century B.C. The threat towards one life for not adhering to government laws is called capital punishment, and it is still very much active in present day society. In fact, the death penalty has been in America since the colonial times, 31 US states still use capital punishment, and there has been numerous controversies surrounding the death penalty on whether it is being disproportionately subjected onto minority groups.…

    • 924 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The bill of human rights, that was published in 1948, is a list of thirty rights that all humans are entitled to. In Article three of the bill of human rights it states that “Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.” (Bill of human rights, 1948) The death penalty breaches the bill of human rights by taking away criminals right to life by killing them. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon further supports that the death penalty disregards the bill of humans rights by stating that “We must continue to argue strongly that the death penalty is unjust and incompatible with fundamental human rights.” Along with being incompatible with the bill of human rights the death penalty can also wrongly sentence someone to death. The sentencing of innocent people is a major flaw in the death penalty as 4.1% of people executed are innocent. Thats one in every twenty five peoples death sentences that were wrongly carried out (Gross, 2014). Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington State, supports this by stating “There are too many flaws in the system. And when the ultimate decision is death there is too much at stake to accept an imperfect system.”…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “For centuries the death penalty, often accompanied by barbarous refinements, has been trying to hold crime in check; yet crime persists. Why? Because the instincts that are warring in man are not, as the law claims, constant forces in a state of equilibrium” (Camus). In America, capital punishment has been a growing issue; it continues to be in the news when a high profile case comes up, or when laws on capital punishment are argued in court. To date 32 states in America have capital punishment, and 18 states don’t. For many years concerns about the death penalty have come up, and many authors argue whether America should or should not have capital punishment.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    cover the topic of the death penalty, or capital punishment, giving a broad overview of the topic. The article covers the debate on both sides for capital punishment, primarily in America, but references other countries for comparison. The article further helps the readers understand the death penalty as the authors define keywords in the article often used when discussing the death penalty and gives a brief, but an eye-opening history that is not common knowledge. The article further delves into the death penalty as it stands today along with the issues and concerns that arise on both sides mostly covering a non-biased stand throughout the article. This…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Controversial topics have been in our nations politics since the beginning of our government’s creation. One of these that still comes up today is that regarding the death penalty and if it should be legal or not, even more so if it is humane or inhumane. Almost all death penalty cases involve the execution of murderers although capital punishment can also be applied to a variety of crimes, the list just goes on for other crimes. Ultimately we should be asking ourselves the moral question surrounding capital punishment in the United States, which has to do with whether a convicted criminal of certain crime deserve to die or not, which crimes we deem permissible, and whether government or us as people in general deserve to kill those who have to spend the rest of their lives behind bars.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One of the most debated ethical issues throughout the entire history of man, has been capital punishment (death penalty). Is it necessary, and more importantly, is it moral to put someone to death for a crime which they have committed? This questions has been raised and debated in every country and at every period of time, as far back as known history will allow us to observe. This paper will present and discuss the dilemma of capital punishment on ethical grounds and present arguments both for and against capital punishment. This paper will also look at the history and evolution of capital punishment, as well as attempt to gauge what will become of the practice in the foreseeable future.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays