Sultan Alnawmasi
08 Dec 2012
Death Penalty
The
worst punishment in the world is being given a death penalty, according to a personal
opinion. The definition of the term death penalty is ‘putting a condemned
person to death’. This means that if a person kills someone, in most cases, he
himself will get adjudged to death. The issue of death penalty has been of
concern since times immemorial; however, people all over the world have
different ideas of what a death penalty actually is. At the same time, it is
pertinent to note that many countries around the world have abolished the
charge of a death penalty to their citizens despite the heinous acts that they
may commit. Other countries, for example, India, still make use of the death
penalty in the rarest of rare cases. Modern society should do away with the
death penalty because in some cases, an innocent person may be charged with
death, and furthermore, it is not considered ethically correct in order to
deliver a death punishment on anyone. This essay helps in unravelling the
mystery behind the ethics, as well as the use of the death penalty, and also
focuses on the main causes of concern related to a death penalty.
Death penalty, also known as capital punishment, is a legal
process that takes place under the purview of a state, for putting a criminal
to die as a punishment for a crime committed by him. These crimes may be
regarded as capital crimes or capital offences, and the term “capital” has been
used because it refers to ‘the head’ in Latin. 58 nations around the world till
date practice the grant of a death penalty whereas others have successfully
abolished its use. Amnesty International considers the death penalty to be “the
ultimate denial of human rights.” According to the organisation, “It is the
premeditated and cold-blooded killing of a human being by the state. This
cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment is done in the name of justice.” (“Death
Penalty in 2011”) The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that
awarding a death penalty to any human being violates the right to life and
Amnesty International, thus, holds absolutely no exceptions for awarding the
death penalty, despite the heinous acts that the criminal might have committed.
One of the main reasons behind abolishing the death penalty
is that in many cases, an innocent person just might be executed. For example,
in India, when the terrorist Afzal Guru had attacked the Indian Parliament, he
was caught and sentenced to prison. He has been condemned by the courts and
slapped with a death penalty. However, it is only the delay in the execution of
the same that has still kept him alive. Guru had written numerous letters to
various lawyers, the Supreme Court, as well as other eminent personalities in
the Indian nation. Journalists and writers, like Praful Bidwai and Arundhati
Roy, have helped his case by stating that he just might be an innocent
bystander – a mere scapegoat caught in the entire rift of the attack and blamed
for its happenings. According to his personal plead, he states that it was not
his fault and that he is an innocent man. (Chandra)
This has put the Indian judiciary in a dilemma whether or
not to go ahead with the death sentence granted to him. The delay has been
taking place because of conservative jurists in the country, taking their time
out in order to make a final decision which will not be regretted later. If the
man turns out to be innocent, there will be a lot more like him that might stand
up and actually take revolutionary actions against the nation. The country may
turn against its judiciary and ten more terrorists may be given birth to.
Putting condemned people in a death row or a kind of waiting line for their
execution is also quite unethical, according to the Amnesty International, as
well as other nations around the world. This is because the death row is as
good as a convict being put in prison and, thus, why would that individual have
to serve both time in prison as well as be hanged as per a death sentence?
Since a long time ago, capital punishment has been awarded
to those that have committed terrifying crimes that have shaken the conscience
of society on the whole; for example, murder, espionage, treason etc. The death
penalty has definitely been regarded as one of the cruellest forms of
punishment; in countries around the world methods like injecting lethal
poisonous substances, putting the convict on an electric chair, suffocation in
a gas chamber, as well as hanging till the spinal cord gets cut and the person
is asphyxiated have been used. The last country in the world to abolish the
death penalty was Gabon, in the year 2010.
Capital punishment should be used only in the rarest of
rare cases; for example, Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist behind the 26/11 attacks in
Mumbai awaits his execution. The Robert Pickton case, where a serial killer
committed second degree murders of six women was extremely terrifying, yet the
murderer was granted life imprisonment and not a death penalty. Human dignity
is a right of every individual and despite the wrongful doings of people; they
still deserve a right to life. Furthermore, it is the media that fuels the
minds of people and makes them believe that living in a society where everyone
is granted a death penalty for their wrongdoings will help in creating a better
world. If this were true, then killing people would lead to a Utopian
destination, however, capital punishment is still wrong and should only be
granted to the worst kind of criminals, and that too after a good amount of
deliberation.
References
"Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries / Amnesty
International." Amnesty.org.
Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries>.
Chandra, Rina. "Is It Time to End the Death Penalty in
India?" Reuters. 20 May 2010. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
<http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2010/05/20/is-it-time-to-end-the-death-penalty-in-india/>.
"Death penalty”.
Audioenglish.net. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/death_penalty.htm>.
Ornellas, L. “Death penalty arguments”. Pro-death
Penalty.com. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/ornellaspaper.htm>.
"Pro-death Penalty". Pro-death Penalty.com.
Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/>.
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