Capital Punishment Is Wrong

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Capital Punishment Is Wrong To this date, Seven hundred and seventy two criminals in the U.S. alone have been subject to Capital Punishment. (Executions USA 2002). Using specific examples such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Timothy McVeigh execution, capital punishment is seen as inhumane, wrong and an unusual punishment. The death penalty is greatly rejected and discouraged by many countries and states. There are more than one hundred countries who have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, while the United States has increased the rate of executions and the number of crimes that are punishable by death (The Death Penalty…2000). Many politicians claim that they are tough on crimes, but they should spend ninety four percent of criminal justice money on preventing crimes instead of after the crime was committed (Get the Facts…2000). Protocol No.6 to the European Convention on Human Rights to Abolish is an agreement to abolish the death penalty in peacetime. The other two protocols, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty, provide for the total abolition of the death penalty but allows states wishing to do so to retain the death penalty in wartime as an exception (Facts and Figures…2000). There are several different procedures that are used to execute such as hanging, the electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection and the fire squad, which is still used in Idaho and Utah (The Death Penalty, 2000). The death penalty is abolished for all crimes under the Human Rights because it is believed to be inhumane, cruel and degrading, but it is still enforced today. The death penalty should also be abolished because the failure to prevent the execution of the innocent and the cost for executions are outrageous. In the eyes of those who are for the death penalty, they believe that the criminal should lose all rights once they commit a heinous crime and they also believe that the cost of imprisoning someone for life without parole is extremely higher than just putting them to death. They also take into consideration that the death penalty is okay by their religion. They believe that God was for the death penalty and they claim that He once killed men who crosse... ... middle of paper ... ... http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/factsinnocence.html Amnesty International. (2000). Death Penalty Facts (Online). http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/cruelanddegrading.html Amnesty International. (2000). Death Penalty Facts (Online). http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/cost.html Amnesty International. (2000). Death Penalty Facts (Online). http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/violationofhrs.html Amnesty International. (2000). The Death Penalty in the U.S.A. (Online). http://www.amnestyusa.org/rightsforall/dp/index.html Amnesty International.(2000). Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty(Online). http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/imtcam/dp/dpfacts.htm Civil Liberty. (9 May 2001). Don't Kill McVeigh (Online). http://www.civilliberty.about.com/ CUADP. (2000). Get the Facts, Then Decide (Online). http://www.cuadp.org David McReynolds. (27 April 2001). The Case of Tim McVeigh & Capital Punishment (Online). http://www.zmag.org/mcveigh.htm ECADP. (30 April 2002). Executions USA 2002 (Online). http://www.ecadp.org/forall/cont_exec.html Human Rights Watch. (2000). The DEATH PENALTY(Online). http://www.hrw.org/about/initiatives/deathpen.htm

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