Capital Punishment

Capital Punishment

Introduction

Capital punishment, a subject of considerable international action, refers to punishment by death. It is currently one of the most vexing issues in the international human rights movement, with the controversy centered on the question of whether this form of punishment should be abolished. Those who argue for its retention say it protects society in that it serves as a deterrent to potential criminal offenders and provides a sense of atonement, which, especially in cases of the most heinous crimes, might make society ungovernable. The argument continues that taking a criminal's life places a reasonable limit on the economic cost to society, which would otherwise have to offer indefinite support for his or her maintainance.

Arguments for those who seek its abolition are equally forceful. Abolition advocates contend that human life is sacred, and the state should, by its conduct, set an example of respect for the sanctity of human life, not repeat the crime by indulging in capital punishment, which degrades life as well. The death penalty is not a social deterrent, since crime statistics demonstrate that where there has been abolition, there have not been increases in crime.

Capital punishment is administered unequally, especially against the poor who are the most powerless in society. Abolitionists also argue that capital punishment constitutes a form of cruelty and inhumanity that contradicts the moral and spiritual norms that define civilized conduct. The above-mentioned arguments were some of those offered during the period when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was being formulated. Then, Yugoslavia, Poland and the USSR proposed the universal repeal of capital punishment in peacetime; a majority of states voted against that proposal, however, giving advocates of the death penalty an apparent victory. When Article 3 of the UDHR recognized everyone's “right to life,” therefore, that recognition did not bear with it support for abolition.

However, since 1948—the date of the Universal of Human Rights Declaration—human rights advocates have been gaining support for the abolition of the death penalty. By 1966, when the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) was adopted by the UN, the momentum had clearly shifted. States—through Article 6 of the covenant—agreed that in countries where abolition had not yet come into force, the death penalty should apply only in cases of the most serious crimes; that no person under the age of eighteen or pregnant should be legally sentenced to death; and that nothing in the covenant should be interpreted to delay or prevent the abolition of capital punishment.

Article 6 of the ICCPR strengthened the argument that the death penalty is inconsistent with the right to life. And since 1976, when that covenant came into force, the number of countries that have abolished the death penalty has grown to become a majority, although a considerable number, including China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the United States continue the practice. Among the countries that have abolished capital punishment, fifty-eight (including Australia, Germany, and Venezuela) have abolished it for all crimes; fifteen (including Canada, ...