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Is Death Penalty The Best Penalty? by LEERICIST(m): 5:24am On Oct 15, 2014 |
What is Capital punishment? Capital punishment is the death penalty. It is used today and was used in ancient times to punish a variety of offences. The question is, Is death penalty the best penalty? Today, one of the most debated issues in the Criminal Justice System is the issue of capital punishment or the death penalty. What would it accomplish to put someone on death row? The victim sadly is dead and cannot be brought back to life. Does the death penalty give increased protection against being murdered? This argument for continuation of the death penalty has failed as a deterrent. Thus the continued retention of the death penalty is futile. The Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) strongly opposes the death penalty and maintains that the death penalty is contrary to the very essence of the notions of human dignity and liberty and statistics have shown that it has no deterrent effect whatsoever. The irreversibility of the death penalty contradicts the idea that criminals can be rehabilitated and resocialised and for this reason, contradicts the notion of freedom and dignity. Our unpredictable and error-prone criminal justice system presents a “clear and present danger” that innocent citizens may be executed and makes it imperative that alternatives be sought and we propose life sentence. The death penalty is nothing but a remnant of an old system based on vengeance that he who has taken a life should suffer from the same fate. Justice has risen above such a traditional notion of punishment by adopting a principle of a symbolic, yet proportional sanction for the harm done; life imprisonment, fines, etc. The evolution of international law tends towards the abolition of the death penalty. The Rome statute of the international criminal court and the UN Security Council resolutions establishing the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda do not provide for the death penalty in the range of sanctions. Specific international and regional instruments have been adopted which aims to abolish capital punishment. The UN second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) aimed at the abolition of the death penalty (To which Nigeria is not a signatory), the guidelines to European Union (EU) policy towards third world countries on the death penalty, adopted by the European Union on 29 June 1998, stressed that one of the EU’s objectives is “ to work towards the Universal abolition of the death penalty as a strongly held policy view agreed by all EU member states. At the universal level, even if the ICCPR expressly provides for the death penalty as an exception to the right to life and surrounds it by a series of specific safeguards, the general comment adopted by the Committee in charge of the interpretation of the Covenant states very clearly that article 6 on the right to life “refers generally to abolition in terms which strongly suggest that abolition is desirable…all measures of abolition should be considered as progress in the enjoyment of the right to life” In Nigeria, offences which attracts the death penalty are; armed robbery, murder, treason, conspiracy to treason, instigating invasion of Nigeria, treachery, fabricating false evidence leading to the conviction to death of an innocent person, aiding suicide of a child or lunatic, robbery and firearms Decree No. 5 of 1984. Under the various Shari’ a Penal regime applicable to 12 States in Northern Nigeria, the offences that carry the death penalty are; Zina (adultery), molest, sodomy, Inbreeding and witchcraft and juju offences. The effect of all this is that there is a category of crimes which attracts capital punishment in Nigeria and which cannot be reasonably justified in a democratic society but would rather continue to inflict injustice on those accused of the crime. Nigeria has applied the death penalty for more than fifty years. Research has shown that majority of Nigerians favour its retention. The few who support the abolition appear not to fully figure out the complexity of the matter. The death penalty has a myriad of constraints and problems have not been properly examined and an alarming proportion of Nigerians are not aware of what happens within the criminal justice system. In Peter Nemi V State, the court emphasised the point that a condemned criminal has fundamental human rights, which must be recognised by the authorities and enforced by the courts. Similarly, several African countries have also challenged the death penalty. In Uganda, the Constitutional Court in 2003 held that the mandatory death sentence was unconstitutional. In Zimbabwe, the Supreme Court held in 1993, that it would be unconstitutional to four prisoners under death sentence because of the intense and prolonged suffering they had undergone on death row. In Tanzania, a High Court ruled that hanging, as a form of punishment was cruel, degrading and inhuman, and therefore unconstitutional. In a land mark decision in 1995, the South African Constitutional Court held that “the proclamation of the right to life and the respect for it demanded from the state, must surely entitle one, at least, not to be put to death by the state deliberately, systematically and as an act of policy that denies in principle the value of the victim’s life. Way Forward. The Nigerian Government should; Adopt a moratorium on the death penalty as a first step towards the abolition of death penalty Restrict the number of offences carrying the death sentence to the most serious crimes only Refrain from adopting new crimes entailing the capital punishment Make public statistics on the number of death sentences pronounced and executed, every year, differentiated by age, gender, charges, etc. And allow for an informed public debate Support the resolution adopted every year by the UN Commission on Human Rights regarding the abolition of the death penalty Subject offenders to psychiatric examination to determine their mental state at the time of the offence. In conclude with the wise words of Howard Zehr, a Professor of Sociology and Restorative Justice in the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisburg, VA and the author of “Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice”. He stated and I quote “A restorative approach to justice would understand that the essence of crime is a violation of people and of harmonious relations between them. Instead of asking first of all, "Who 'done' it? What should they get?" (and rarely going beyond this) a restorative approach to justice would ask, "Who has been hurt? What can be done to make things right, and whose responsibility is it?" True justice would have as its goals restoration, reconciliation and responsibility rather than retribution. |
Re: Is Death Penalty The Best Penalty? by eunisam: 5:41am On Oct 15, 2014 |
Ñot at all. In the catholic church,they are two classes of sins.1 big sin (unforgiveable) and 2.small sin. (forgiveable) thus no sin lead to heaven. Take for example: out of anger I smash ur phone.do u need to punish me with death sentence? 2. Ok,let say you are five in your family and i attach you with a gun killing four leaving you alive,will u punish me with just a slap? Sins are not level and the punishment shouldn't be of the same gravity. |
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