Capital Punishment Australia

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Should capital punishment be abolished worldwide?
Introduction:
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of an offender sentenced to death after a legal trial. Only if the state imposes capital punishment is the act not considered a murder (BBC, 2014). It is usually a punishment only for particularly serious types of murders, although in some countries, treason, fraud, drug trafficking, adultery and rape are punishable by death.
There are varied methods of execution, including by lethal injection, beheading, hanging, electrocution, and shooting by firing squad.
Analysis/Discussion (Research):
Why is capital punishment a moral issue?
Whether capital punishment is ever morally acceptable has been debated for hundreds …show more content…

Excluding China, 90% of all executions took place in Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. In Iran, Pakistan, and Maldives, juvenile offenders (individuals charged before their 18th birthday) were either executed or charged with the death penalty, violating International law (Amnesty International, 2016) .
What does Australia say about capital punishment?
Australia abolished the death penalty completely in 1985 – 18 years after the last victim of legal execution in Australia was hanged. The abolition of the death penalty holds bipartisan support in Australia (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2006).
Australia is also firm in its international opposition to the death penalty. An example of this is the Australian effort to prevent the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, Australian citizens who were sentenced to death in 2005 for drug trafficking in Indonesia. They were held in prison for 10 years before their execution, but appeared to have rehabilitated dramatically over that period (ABC, …show more content…

However, religious people may turn to their faiths to additionally guide them in their ethical views.
In Christianity, the Bible can be interpreted to be both for and against capital punishment. Christians for the death penalty say the Bible does not condone the act. They view the commandment “thou shalt not kill” as a warning against murder, and capital punishment is not considered murder. Christians against the death penalty argue that only God should create and destroy life, and that there should be no exceptions to “thou shalt not kill”. They also uphold the fundamental Christian teachings of forgiveness, compassion, and support for preserving life.
The Catholic Church allowed the death penalty for centuries. The Catholic stance began to change under Pope John Paul II’s papacy from 1978 to 2005 (The Guardian, 2015). In February 2016, in a speech to thousands in the Vatican, Pope Francis condemned the death penalty and called for its worldwide abolition. Pope Francis cited the absolute value of the commandment “thou shalt not kill” and called for greater respect of human

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