Shelbie Justice

Humanities
Due December 3rd

How the Death Penalty Goes Against Article 5

The death penalty (also called Capital Punishment) is a legal process whereby a person is
put to death by the state as a punishment for people who commit capital crimes (one which
death is inflicted) such as aggravated, capital or first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping,
capital sexual battery, capital treason, capital drug trafficking, capital sexual battery, aircraft
hijacking, along with other special cases in 32 states. 18 states have abolished the death
penalty, the most recent being Maryland, Connecticut, Illinois and New Mexico. Lethal injection
is the primary method for death penalty but other methods include electrocution, gas chamber,
hanging and firing squad. Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: No one
shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The
death penalty in the United States goes against this article because any method of the death
penalty is torturous, cruel and inhumane and the 32 states who still use the death penalty
should abolish it. There are so many reasons the death penalty should be abolished but a few of
the main reasons Im choosing to talk about is there are alternative ways to punish and it
denies these humans the right to life which is a human right.
The death penalty has an irreversible consequence for the person sentenced, and the
ways of administration and how it is executed is cruel, inhumane and can be torturous
depending on which method is chosen. When someone commits a crime and is sentenced to
incarceration, its supposed to be for rehabilitation for the inmate or correction for the judicial

error. The death penalty completely takes that away. There are other punishments that could
be given instead of the death penalty. Many states dont offer a Life without Parole sentence
but it is an alternative used in a few states, which allows mistakes to be corrected and could
help rehabilitate the inmate also. Capital Punishment shouldnt be an option when there are
less cruel, tortuous and humane alternative options can be offered.
The United States should be opposing the death penalty with no exception to the crime
committed, the characteristics of the person who committed the crime, or the primary method
chosen by the state. The penalty for rape cannot be rape, robbers to be robbed, burning down
an arsonists house, killing someone who has killed another person or committing the same
crime upon the criminal that they just committed. In most cases, the death penalty is sentenced
to murderers, and sentencing them to the death penalty is hypocritical.
The death penalty is the ultimate denial of human rights. Its the premeditated and cold
blooded killing of a human being done by the state, and this punishment is done in the name of
justice. In Article 4 of the American Convention on Human Rights recognizes the right to life and
recognizes the application of the death penalty, that everyone has the inalienable right to
respect his life which is a right that cannot be suspended for any person, that the tendency
among American states is to be in favor of abolition to the death penalty, that the application
of the death penalty has irrevocable consequences, forecloses the correction of judicial error,
possibility of changing or rehabilitating those convicted, that the abolition of the death penalty
helps ensure more effective protection of the right to life.

Not only does the execution and administration of capital punishment go against Article
5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but the conditions of Death Row also does.
Death Row is where a prisoner goes to await their execution. Death Row inmates spend time
there for over a decade, some for well over 20 years. The conditions of Death Row are less than
ideal, degrading and unhealthy. The inmates on Death Row are restricted to solitary
confinement. They are isolated from other prisoners, excluded from prison education and
employment programs, and have very limited visitation and exercise privileges. They spend up
to 23 hours alone in their cell. Inmates on Death Row often become delusional and causes a
major deterioration of their mental status because of the isolation.
Much of the US, and even the rest of the world, agrees that capital punishment also has
a lot to do with bad politics as well. The death penalty is very expensive and costs a lot more
than a life sentence. In the United States, the average tax payer pays $31,286 per inmate.
The death penalty not only goes against Article 5 in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, but Article 4 of the American Convention of Human Rights and the 8 th Amendment on
the Bill of Rights. Capital punishment is inhumane, torturous, cruel, degrading and unjust and
needs to be abolished. There are other sentences to give these criminals that arent irrevocable
and could actually help rehabilitate an inmate or leave the inmate to have what they did on
their conscience, which might actually be a better punishment. Everyone has the right to life,
no one can deny that from anyone. The death penalty completely takes that human right away.