The issue of whether death penalty should be abolished or not has been widely debated for years and there are a lot of different views. It is an important issue since it concerns one of the most fundamental human rights, which is the right to live. Death is wrong when a single person commits the murder, but when the decision if a person should be killed or not is made by the society as a unit, the act is apparently justified. This essay deals with the contradiction in the arguments being given as a support to the death penalty. It will also put forward reason for why this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment should be abolished.

Amnesty international, the leading human rights non governmental organisation, have been working to abolish the death penalty for over the past 20 years. But 58 countries maintain the death penalty in both law and practice, and thousands of people is executed annually in cold blooded ways like stoning, death by deadly injection, hanging and the electric chair. First of all, the death penalty is a violation of two fundamental human rights, as laid down in articles 3 and 5 of universal declaration of human rights: the right to life and the right not to be tortured or subject to any cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. Fact is, the most successful form of torture is reportedly the threat of execution. From the moment you are put in death row and the minute up to the execution is one of the most agonizing form of psychological exploitation. No man or woman should endure this kind of torment, no matter what crime they have committed.

Furthermore, there is a risk that it can be inflicted on the innocent, and an execution is final and a life cannot be taken back. specific purpose: to persuade the listeners that the death penalty should be abolished. thesis statement: the death penalty doesn rsquo t deter crime, costs tax payers more than imprisoning the criminal, and could result in executing an innocent person by mistake. A quote from mahatma gandhi ldquo father of india rdquo , political and spiritual leader says ldquo god alone can take life because he alone gives it hellip rdquo ldquo an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Rdquo in 2007 around 25,0 people were on death row around the world with pakistan and the usa accounting for about half this figure between them bare facts.

Murder, on the other hand, is defined as, ldquo the unlawful and malicious killing of one human being by another rdquo the death penalty executing someone is not self defense, but murder by the government. I rsquo m going to tell you the three reasons why the death penalty should be abolished. the death penalty has no beneficial effect on murder rates the murder rate in canada has dropped by 27% since the death penalty was abolished in 1976. Amnesty international the five countries with the highest homicide rates that do not impose the death penalty average 21.6 murders per 100,0 people. The five countries with the highest homicide rate that do impose the death penalty average 41.6 murders for every 100,0 people. United nations development program a new york times survey demonstrated that the homicide rate in states with capital punishment have been 48% to 101% higher than those without the death penalty. Raymond bonner and ford fessenden, ldquo absence of executions, rdquo new york times, september 22, 20 one concept of justice is the idea that for every crime there is a punishment which in some sense balances the crime.

For example: if i steal $100 from your wallet and later am required to pay you back $100, now the account has been settled in the monetary sense at least. If i burn your house down, the appropriate restitution is for me to build you another house complete with furnishings to match as nearly as possible the original furnishings, and pay your expenses including your rent while your new house is being built. Transition: i rsquo ve talked about how the death penalty doesn rsquo t deter crime now i rsquo m going to talk about the second reason. The death penalty costs taxpayers more than life imprisonment capital punishment. In texas, a death penalty case costs taxpayers an average of $2.3 million, about three times the cost of imprisoning someone in a single cell at the highest security level for 40 years dieter.

In california, one report estimated that the state could save $90 million each year by abolishing capital punishment dieter. The new york department of correctional services estimated that implementing the death penalty would cost the state about $118 million annually dieter. Transition: we know two reasons why to abolish the death penalty lets find out about the third reason.

The inevitability of factual, legal, and moral errors results in a system that must wrongly kill some innocent defendants capital punishment. Executed but possibly innocent carlos deluna texas conviction: 1983, executed: 1989. An investigation released in 2006 revealed evidence that texas may have executed an innocent man in 1989.

Death penalty info center ruben cantu texas convicted: 1985, executed: 1993. Executed for murder during robbery, one eye witness who was shot and injured said that cantu shot him because he felt pressured by the authority. There was a two part investigative series that cast doubt on cantu rsquo s guilt that was executed in 1993.

There wasn rsquo t enough evidence against him but too people witnessed against him. Death penalty info center larry griffin missouri conviction: 1981, executed: 1995. One man was injured in the same drive by shooting said that griffin was not involved in the crime. Death penalty info center joseph o'dell virginia conviction: 1986, executed: 1997. New dna blood evidence has thrown considerable doubt on the murder and rape conviction of o'dell. Death penalty info center david spence texas conviction: 1984, executed: 1997. Guilty of murdering three teenagers by mistake when he was hired to kill a girl by a convenience store owner.

The police lieutenant, who supervised the investigation, said that none of the evidence shows that he rsquo s guilty. Death penalty info center leo jones florida convicted: 1981, executed: 1998. Leo was forced to confess so he lied because he was being questioned by two officers that were fired for ethical violation. One of the officers was identified as an ldquo enforcer rdquo who had used torture. Death penalty info center gary graham texas convicted: 1981, executed: 20. Two witnesses who worked at the grocery store were the shooting happened said that it rsquo s not graham who killed a man during a grocery store robbery.

These witnesses were not interviewed by graham rsquo s attorney and were not used in court. Death penalty info center cameron willingham texas convicted: 1992, executed: 2004. Rdquo pope john paul ii former leader of the catholic church the rate of violent crimes in the united states is one of the highest in the world despite the fact that the us has one of the harshest penal systems in the world. To this end, the us criminal justice system has been on the receiving end of numerous criticisms with regard to its effectiveness in controlling crime. The subject of contention relates to the form of justice adopted and determining which method is effective between restorative, retributive and punitive punishment models. Intertwined with this is the issue of the use of the death penalty as a form of punishment for high profile crimes johnson and johnson 517.