Capital Punishment and Human Rights

In the words of B. Stevenson, “The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crime they commit. The real question of capital punishment in any country is, do we deserve to kill?” Capital punishment is the most extreme form of punishment a person can be subjected to. It is a highly controversial topic across the globe as it is believed to undermine human rights of a person. There are about 112 countries that have totally abolished death penalty but there are many that still continue the use. Even though in the 21st century we see justice through the lens of human rights and natural rights of a person, capital punishment still continues to be the harsh reality of our world. Countries like China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran continues the use of death penalty very frequently. More than 1000 executions take place in China every year. India is also one of the retentionist countries that still continues to legalize capital punishment even though it is imposed only in ‘rarest of rare case’. The UN has officially declared that executing a person in the name of justice is incompatible with human rights. Capital punishment is against humanity and violates right to life of a person. Human life is sacrosanct and death penalty must not be imposed recklessly without weighing the seriousness of the crime as “Life is precious and death is irrevocable.” State has no right to take life of a person even if there is a slim chance for the offender to be reformed no matter how heinous the crime is.