Death Penalty: A Cruel and Unusual Punishment

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One hundred and ninety-eight countries have abolished the cruel punishment of death penalty in law by 2012 (Valeontis, 2012, para. 5). The capital punishment is cruel and cannot be said as a viable form of punishment for crime control. Taking away someone’s life cannot be justified in any way as a form of punishment. Death penalty is cruel and should be abolished because it violates right to life, it is cruel to humankind or gives birth to brutalization and it cannot be reversed. Life is a right to every living being and to kill anybody is violating the right of the respective person. United Nation General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in year 1945 which identifies the right to life for every human being (Death Penalty in International Law, n.d.). The law was adopted to protect the life of the convict and recognized that no one should have right to take away anyone’s life. Furthermore, in 2007 and 2008, UNGA once again passed resolution to call the death penalty as moratorium and this resolution was advocated in all countries of world (Death Penalty in International Law, n.d.). Although this is not a legal law accepted by all countries but most countries did adopt it as a law by abolishing capital punishment in law. Additionally, there is one more law in the Statue of the International Criminal Court which has eliminated death penalty from its jurisdiction since 1998 (The Death Penalty, 2007). Every government of the world need to understand the severity of the death punishment and must realize the value of life for each human being. Governments should respect life and safeguard it for its citizen. Death sentencing is cruel and gives birth to brutalization. Valeontis (2012) found that “The 2006 ... ... middle of paper ... ...fficient punishments like life imprisonment to replace death penalty which will keep the anti-social elements away from the society. Works Cited Bedau, H. A. (2012). The case against the death penalty. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment/case-against-death-penalty Death penalty in international law. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/international-law Hance, B.S, Kay, K.D., Larson, J., & Lewis, V. (2013). Death of the death penalty? An examination of California’s capital punishment system. Journal of Legal Issues & Cases in Business, 21-10. The death penalty. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ACT50/010/2007/en/f14c87db-d3a2-11dd-a329-2f46302a8cc6/act500102007en.pdf Valeontis, J. (2012). 5 reasons to abolish the death penalty. Retrieved from http://www.amnesty.org.au/adp/comments/29959/

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