Capital Punishment and why it should be abolished, with particular regard to the Human Declaration of Rights

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Moral and Ethics

Capital Punishment and why it should be abolished, with particular regard to the Human Declaration of Rights

Capital punishment is defined as the execution of a person by the state as punishment for a crime. It is said that capital punishment is inhumane as it involves the killing of people. It concerns a life created by God and raises the question on the value of life and human rights. That is why several countries have started to abolish the aforementioned rule and have used the life sentence for the same cases as that of capital punishment. Countries that still wish to use the death penalty use it for very severe crimes/offences and are likely to be less economically developed countries such that of Ethiopia, Nigeria and Malaysia.Compared to the previous times, the death penalty is now reserved as a punishment for severe crimes such as murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, sexual crimes such as rape, adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy. In many countries that use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. Most economically developed countries have abolished the death penalty; an example would be countries in the European Union such as Greece, The United Kingdom and Germany. Countries such as the USA are also abolishing the death penalty. As of now, only 38 of the 50 states have abolished it. I would say that capital punishment has its disadvantages and advantages but overall, I would support the abolishment of capital punishment. This act of murder has been popular along the years but must be stopped now.

According to me, execution of a person is just like legal murder and devalues the respect we place on human life. Along with respect, capital punishment also takes away human rights of the convicted. Capital punishment violates articles 2, 3 and 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Capital punishment mostly violates section 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which proclaims that everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. This is clearly violated as capital punishment takes away the life and liberty of the sentenced. Article 2 states that Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. That is too predictably violated by capital punishment and will be explained at a later stage. Lastly, capital punishment violates section 5 of the Universal Declaration of Rights as it brings the victim an inhumane punishment as it kills them and that treatment is not only inhumane but is also degrading due to the fact that the person and their family will be under constant attention. Moreover, it is inhumane to cause a certain family much grief over something that is formidable. Capital punishment can be termed inhumane due to the various types of penalty applied to the convicted and by the stress and pain it causes the family of the convicted. Capital punishment can be applied by the following ways, namely; beheading, electrocution, injection and gun fire. These methods represent painful ways to kill an individual. Not only physically, but the convicted would feel so much emotional stress leading to their death and in thinking of their family. I therefore believe that even though people may claim that it’s better for criminals to be executed as they did harm, a life sentence is more viable as the emotional grief experienced by innocent families, especially ones who don’t have support financially is not necessary.

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The aforementioned matters raise the moral issue of taking lives. Everyone believes that it is wrong to kill a person, but how can we possibly say killing is wrong if the government allows us to kill criminals? By the government killing people, individuals get the message that violence is endorsed and that it is the answer to problems. Death penalty merely appears to encourage violence. Another side that is against capital punishment is the religious side; religions such as Buddhism oppose capital punishment. Buddhism teaches that if capital punishment is administered, it will have compromising effects on the souls of ...

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