Human Rights and the Death Penalty
Human rights makes for one of the most convincing arguments regarding capital punishment. As stated on the page discussing the effects of deterrence and retribution regarding the death penalty, and more notably the Declaration of Independence, humans are born with the rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” These are unalienable rights that cannot be taken away from any one person, and are supposed to be protected by the government. However, the government does not do this by ordering the death penalty and taking away one’s right to life. One might say that if someone commits a capital offense, then they deserve to have their life taken from them. Regardless of the crime, a human should not be killed if it can be prevented, and in all the cases of the death penalty it can be. Imposing the death penalty on someone seems to be as “cruel and unusual” as any punishment can be.
“Every human being has certain basic human rights, the most fundamental of which is the right to life. The death penalty, however, brings into question whether a government has the authority to deprive a person of this fundamental right to life.” (Amnesty). It is unfortunate that solely because a person is elected to be a judge, they are given the right to take someone’s unalienable right to life away from them. The person may have committed a crime that seems to justify this, but the point of an unalienable right is that it cannot be taken away from them. In addition to this is the fact that the implementation of capital punishment is unbelievably biased. For example, historically African Americans are much more likely to be sentenced to death then white people are. This is just one example of how flawed this system is. Solely because of ones race, they are subjected to becoming a victim of the death penalty. This inevitably leads to people being executed for crimes they did not commit, crimes they would have never dreamed of committing. It is one thing for someone to receive this sentence for committing a capital offense, even though this still violates the most important aspect of human rights, but for an innocent person to have their life taken from them because of their skin color is absurd.
“Every human being has certain basic human rights, the most fundamental of which is the right to life. The death penalty, however, brings into question whether a government has the authority to deprive a person of this fundamental right to life.” (Amnesty). It is unfortunate that solely because a person is elected to be a judge, they are given the right to take someone’s unalienable right to life away from them. The person may have committed a crime that seems to justify this, but the point of an unalienable right is that it cannot be taken away from them. In addition to this is the fact that the implementation of capital punishment is unbelievably biased. For example, historically African Americans are much more likely to be sentenced to death then white people are. This is just one example of how flawed this system is. Solely because of ones race, they are subjected to becoming a victim of the death penalty. This inevitably leads to people being executed for crimes they did not commit, crimes they would have never dreamed of committing. It is one thing for someone to receive this sentence for committing a capital offense, even though this still violates the most important aspect of human rights, but for an innocent person to have their life taken from them because of their skin color is absurd.
On average, throughout the early 2000’s, three countries a year abolished the death penalty (Amnesty). This shows that some countries around the world are realizing the effect it has on their population and that they understand the right to life that all humans have. Conversely, the United States still refuses to do so. Taking the lives of people does not influence criminals in today’s world. If someone wants to commit a crime that could get them a death sentence, they will do so with no thought of the consequences. It makes the country seem barbaric because they take the lives of people, regardless of if it makes any change to the population, namely the criminals who commit these crimes. While they try to rationalize this by saying that it does, there is no evidence that it ever has because it does not.
Another example of the violation of human rights by capital punishment is the use of this practice on those that suffer from a mental illness. When someone of this nature commits a capital crime, it is very possible that they do not understand what it is that makes what they did wrong. For example, a man named Andrew Goldstein fatally assaulted a young woman by the name of Kendra Webdale in a New York City subway station. What the family later found out was that Goldstein suffered from schizophrenia, and that he had also assaulted 13 people prior to when he killed Webdale. After researching the illness, the family quickly realized that their thirst for revenge was taken away when they understood that Goldstein did not truly want to kill her, only that he did not know what he was doing (Sheffer). People suffering from illnesses like this have been executed before, and it is unfortunate that this happens in today’s world. It is not that they should just not be subject to the death penalty, but also that help needs to be given to these people. Those suffering from a mental illness do not understand that what they did was wrong, and it is even more wrong that their lives are taken from them even though they cannot comprehend the situation.
Human rights are one of the strongest reasons why capital punishment needs to be abolished. It is ludicrous that the state has the right to take a persons life from them. What gives them the right to do such a thing? The answer is nothing. These people should not be in charge of someone’s life, because every person on this earth has the right to live, regardless of their past actions.
Another example of the violation of human rights by capital punishment is the use of this practice on those that suffer from a mental illness. When someone of this nature commits a capital crime, it is very possible that they do not understand what it is that makes what they did wrong. For example, a man named Andrew Goldstein fatally assaulted a young woman by the name of Kendra Webdale in a New York City subway station. What the family later found out was that Goldstein suffered from schizophrenia, and that he had also assaulted 13 people prior to when he killed Webdale. After researching the illness, the family quickly realized that their thirst for revenge was taken away when they understood that Goldstein did not truly want to kill her, only that he did not know what he was doing (Sheffer). People suffering from illnesses like this have been executed before, and it is unfortunate that this happens in today’s world. It is not that they should just not be subject to the death penalty, but also that help needs to be given to these people. Those suffering from a mental illness do not understand that what they did was wrong, and it is even more wrong that their lives are taken from them even though they cannot comprehend the situation.
Human rights are one of the strongest reasons why capital punishment needs to be abolished. It is ludicrous that the state has the right to take a persons life from them. What gives them the right to do such a thing? The answer is nothing. These people should not be in charge of someone’s life, because every person on this earth has the right to live, regardless of their past actions.