First it has been classified, by most international organizations, as the worst form of violation of human rights. Secondly it is subjective to the judicial processes such that innocent people are executed and thirdly there exists no credible evidence that death penalty deters crime which is the sole reason for any punishment.
Next, it has been established that the death penalty is completely subjective of a judicial process. This has led to many innocent people been executed. In the United States of America it has been argued that up to 39 people have been wrongfully executed between 1992 and 2004 in the face of compelling evidence of the innocence of the people which threw a serious doubt of guilt. New evidence from DNA tests led to stoppage of execution of 15 inmates during the same period in US (The innocence project). Most world judicial systems do not guarantee judgment devoid of prejudice, tribalism, religious affiliations and corruption. Amnesty international argues that in Singapore, "the Misuse of Drugs Act contains a series of presumptions which shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused. This conflicts with the universally guaranteed right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty." The burden of proof shifted to the convicted person means that he is presumed guilty without trial and hence has to proof ones innocence.
Finally, there is evidence that death penalty has not significantly deterred crime. The mere sentencing a criminal to death has no any effect to potential crimes in futures. In some instances, the death penalty may lead to homicide. Radelt (2009) carried out a research which he found that death penalty did not reduce the occurrences of crime. In his conclusion, he observed that, ‘there’s no link to death penalty and reduction off crime occurrence’. The American Civil Liberties Union (2007) also carried out a research which as a similar results that death penalty did not deter crime “it is evident that death penalty do not deter crime” it was concluded. Then of what use is a practice that does not guarantee the required results? It is on this basis that it should be abolished.
In conclusion, there is enough evidence that there are minimal benefits of death penalty and it needs to abolish all over the world. There is no need to continue a practice that has far reaching effects to the victims and the society as a whole. It is also improper to practice an act whose required output is not guaranteed in any sound and internationally accepted procedure considering human rights which needs to be guarded by all judicial systems. Life imprisonment without parole should be used instead of death sentence. This shall limit the problems associated with death penalty since in the event of new evidence the criminal can be acquitted of the crime. The criminal will also not be subjected to the torture associated with execution.
Work cited
Abolish the death penalty". Amnesty International. Retrieved 08-12-2013.
Amnesty International, "Singapore – The death penalty: A hidden toll of executions" January
2004
The Innocence Project – News and Information: Press Releases". Innoccenceproject.org.
Retrieved 08-12-2013.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)."The Death Penalty: Questions and Answers,"
April. 9, 2007
Michael L. Radeled. "Do Executions Lower Homicide Rates?: The Views of Leading
Criminologists” Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology: 2009
