Critical Analysis of

“Arguments for Abolition of Capital Punishment”

an excerpt from Article Prepared by Amnesty International

“Arguments for Abolition of Capital Punishment” is an excerpt of an article prepared by Amnesty

International. It expounds on four points of contention in the non-governmental organization's
campaign for the abolishment of capital punishment: Cruelty, Irrevocability, Discrimination and
Deterrence. The writer uses different ploys to persuade the reader of the cruelty and absurdity of
capital punishment, some of which are visual imagery and factual references, all outlined in a point by
point process organization so as to the reader allow deeper association with the arguments.

The gist of the essay is that capital punishment is cruel and inhumane, in that, it is “the most
premeditated of murders to which no criminal’s deed, however calculated, can be compared”; it is
irrevocable, with the current system of justice there is always the risk that innocent people may be
convicted and executed; it is discriminative, members of minorities or of the lower levels of the caste
system are usually more likely to be given the death penalty; deterrence from crime, a factor argued by
advocates of the death penalty, is not promoted by capital punishment. The paper seeks to encourage
total abolishment of capital punishment, thus it and lists no positive factors supporting it.

The title of this article alone is enough to spur the reader's interest as the abolition of capital
punishment is a fiery topic world wide, but adding that these arguments are from the well known,
high-principled organization, Amnesty International, whose mandate is to conduct research and
generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those
whose rights have been violated, does well to arrest this interest.

Without delay the writer delves into the topic that would appeal to the sympathy of most readers:
cruelty. It is here that Amnesty makes a play on visual imagery as it gives a gruesome account of the
1983 electrocution of John Lewis Evans who endured “three separate jolts of 1.900 volts over a 14-
minute period before he was officially pronounced dead”. Phrases like, “the electrode in his leg
burned through and fell off” and “smoke and flame erupted from his left temple and leg”, subjects
the reader's mind into witnessing this heinous “murder” from within the walls of death chamber.
This section speaks directly to the reader's emotion and lays the foundation upon which the other
arguments may be heard and taken seriously.
Though opinionative, this paper is well supported by evidence of research and reference to past
executions. In the section outlining the irrevocability of capital punishment, the writer informs the
reader that there are cases where where innocent people and mentally unstable suspects are
imprisoned or executed without due diligence of the law. Reference is made to Patrick Meehan, a
convict who having served six years of a life sentence was released after another man confessed to
the murder that he was serving time for. The writer contends that if this case was brought to the
courts a few years prior then Meehan might have been executed. In the following section the use of
statistics and also a direct quote from hanged convict, Neville Carter, shows evidence of research.
The excerpt points out, from 1980 statistics that, “in California 42% of blue collar (poor) workers
charged with first degree murder were sentenced to death, whereas only 5% of white collar workers
so charged received a death sentence.” It also makes mention of the racial prejudice in South Africa
and how it affects the issuance of the death penalty to rape offenders. The factual references allows
the reader to add reasoning to the emotions that were, in the first section, agitated by the intense
description of this “inhumane and degrading punishment”.

This excerpt from Amnesty International is well presented, in details, and even in its thematic
organization. as it maintains proximity between the reader and the arguments. It is informative,
convincing, and at times, startling in the delivery of its moot that capital punishment, this “denial of
the right to life” agreed upon by many countries , including the USA, England and Iran, can be
inferred as being a crime against humanity and should be allowed no place in the judicial system.