Capital Punishment

Human Rights Council II

 

I.- Introduction:

Capital punishment, more commonly known as the death penalty, is the most severe punishment that only certain countries (and states) use. Formally speaking, it is a government-sanctioned practice where a person is killed by said state as a punishment. The actual sentence is known as the death sentence, whereas when you actually carry out the sentence is known as an execution. However, it is important to note that capital punishment can only be committed by the state. Any organization that is not part of the state that “sentence” the death penalty, is essentially committing murder. Many countries today still use capital punishment, some of them more often than you might think. 56 countries retain capital punishment in their penal system such as China, USA and Indonesia. To put it in perspective, 60% of the world’s population lives in a country where the death penalty is retained. These countries use a wide variety of methods to execute the accused including hanging, shooting, electrocution, lethal injection, beheading, electrocution, gas inhalation, stoning and inert gas asphyxiation. Out of all the countries, China has executed the largest number of people through capital punishment, standing at 2,400 people in the years 2013 and 2014. While the top 4 most populated countries on Earth retain this punishment, that still means that 141 other countries abolished it, either in law or in practice. These are countries such as the United Kingdom,  Canada and México. The world is divided between abolitionist and retentionist countries regarding the death penalty.

 

II.- History:

Capital punishment for murder, treason, arson, and rape was widely employed in ancient Greece under the laws of Draco, though Plato argued that it should be used only for those that cannot be changed. This practice was carried out throughout various regions of the world throughout the centuries. Capital punishment was used for many crimes in England during the 17th and 18th centuries. However, during that time, people were able to get out of it in the courts by choosing banishment (to English colonies) instead. Death penalties were actually public events but in 1868 they were banned in the United Kingdom and not until the 1930s were they banned in the US. Large crowds were actually able to attend the death sentence of a criminal and watch the whole event occur. The means of execution also varied throughout the years, with different countries adopting their own cruel style of execution. For example, Ancient Romans would send them to gladiatorial combat or use crucifixion. In China they would go as far to saw the person in half  or even boil them alive. In addition to the varied cruel methods of executions, different countries accept different crimes as viable to capital punishment. For example, most countries argue that crimes against humanity, such as genocide, and murder are acceptable crimes. In some Asian countries, drug trafficking can be considered acceptable for capital punishment.  Terrorism, treason and espionage also fall under the list of crimes that can be punished with death in certain countries. The truth is, death penalties and capital punishment go way back into history, since the dawn of mankind.

 

III.- International Bloc and UN Involvement

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights advocates strongly for the abolition of the death penalty. They continue to urge nations that continue to practice it, to abolish it. If one looks back at he history of the United Nations treatment of the topic, it dates back to the 1960s where the draftees of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) had “already began its moves for its abolition in international law”. Even though, in that draft, Article 6 of the ICCPR states that the death penalty is permitted, they do not mean that it is eligible for abolition. To protect the rights of people facing the death penalty, UN Economic and Social Council adopted various safeguards to protect their rights in 1984. 5 years later, the ICCPR made a appearance again in the UN, where the General Assembly adopted the second protocol for the ICCPR. Member States which became parties to the Protocol agreed not to execute anyone within their jurisdictions. Recently, specifically from 2007-2013, the UN General Assembly adopted various resolutions that essentially pushed States to protect the rights of those accused, and to reduce the number of offenses punishable by death. However, these resolutions that were adopted in these years were non-binding, therefore do not need to be followed by any country. It is important to note that they do lay the foundation for the abolishment of the death penalty. The UN strongly stands against the death penalty and its purposes. In a remark made by  UN Secretary-General António Guterres on October 14, 2018, he stated his report on death penalties in 2017: “some 170 States have abolished or introduced a moratorium on the death penalty either in law or in practice, or have suspended executions for more than 10 years” he affirmed. He stands clearly against the practice of sentencing someone to death alongside previous Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who stated “The death penalty has no place in the 21st century”.

 

IV.- Works cited

Hood, Roger. “Capital Punishment.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Oct. 2017, www.britannica.com/topic/capital-punishment.

 

N/A. “Capital Punishment.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment.

 

N/A. “Death Penalty.” OHCHR | Freedom of Religion: UN Expert Hails Albania, but Notes New Challenges and Unresolved Issues from the Past, 5 Nov. 2015, www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/DeathPenalty/Pages/DPIndex.aspx.

 

N/A. “Ethics - Capital Punishment: Introduction.” BBC, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/intro.shtml.

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Reality Check. “Death Penalty: How Many Countries Still Have It?” BBC News, BBC, 14 Oct. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-45835584.