CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital Punishment or the death penalty is a legal processs whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime.The term capital originates from the Latin capitals literally  means “regarding the head”.

The system of death penalty originated as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C.,in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes .The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C. ‘s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.’s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixation,drowning,beating to death,burning alive &impalement.In the Tenth Century A.D.,hanging became the usual method of execution in Britain.

Now-a-days capital punishment is reserved for murder,espionage,treason or as a part of military justice.In China human trafficking & serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty.

In India capital punishment is given on the basis of ‘Rarest of the Rare ‘cases. What is ‘the Rarest of the Rare’? According to Supreme Court the rarest cases are those in which the collective conscience of the community is so shocked that it will expect the holders of the judicial power to inflict death penalty. The court said where cases in which a murder is committed in an extremely 

brutal,grotesque,diabolical,revolting,or dastardly manner so as to arouse intense & extreme indignation of the community.InIndia,the number of people executed since independence in 1947 is a matter of dispute,official government statistics claim that only 52 people had been executed.However the People’s Union for Civil Liberties cited information from Appendix 34 of the 1967 Law Commision of India report showing 1422 executions took place in Indian states from 1953 to 1963,and has suggested that the total number of executions since independence may be as high as 3000 to 4000.In December 2007,India voted against United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a moratorium in death penalty.In November 2012,India again upheld its stance on capital punishment by voting against United Nation’s General Assembly draft resolution seeking to ban death penalty.In India as per Article-21 of the Constitution of India no person can be deprived of his life except according to procedure established by law.Although India is one of a number of countries around the world which still practises capital punishment,it is rarely used.A 1983 ruloing by the country’s Supreme Court stated that the death penalty should be imposed only in the ‘rarest of the rare cases’

Capital Punishment has been used in almost every part of the world,but in the last few decades many countries have abolished it.Among the countries in which highest rate of capital punishment is carried out,China tops the list. Capital Punishment in China has widespread support ,especially for violent crimes,no group in government or civil society vocally advocates for its abolition.The rate of executions in China is higher than Pakistan and U.S.A. Capital Punishment in China is usually administered to offenders of serious and violent crimes such as aggravated murder,drug trafficking etc. 

In 2009 Amnesty International counted 1718 executions as having taken place during 2008,but Amnesty International believed that the total figure is likely to be higher.The region with the second highest number of executions is the Middle East and North Africa.Top 10 countries which still practice the capital punishment are China,Iran,North Korea,Yemen,U.S.A.,sAUDIArabia,Libya,Bangladesh,Somalia.According to Amnesty International,140 countries have abolished the death penalty.In 2012,only one country Latvia has abolished death penalty for all crimes.The countries who have abolished death penalty for all crimes,to name a few are Albania,Andorra,Angola,Armenia,Australia,Bhutan,Bosnia-Herzegovinia,Canada,Cambodia,Denmark,Portugal,Italy,Turkey,Tukmenistan etc.Countries which have abolished death penalty for ordinary crimes are Bolivia,Brazil,Chile,ElSalvador,Fiji,Israel,Kazakhstan,Peru.

On October 21,2009,the World Coalition launched its ratification of United NationaPrtocol on the abolition of death penalty by all state parties to the International Convention On Civil and Political Rights(ICCPR).The international covenant was adopted in 1989 by General Assembly and it is a second optional protocol to ICCPR.The protocol seeks to ensure that executions become definitely illegal and explicitly asserts the principle that death penalty is violation of human rigts and especially right to life.At the end of 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution establishing a moratorium on execution with the goal of abolishing death penalty.Some of the world’s most respected leaders have also called for an end to the death penalty including Pope John Paul,Nelson Mandela and UNHRC.According to Amnesty International’s opinion everyday, all over the world, prisoners – men, women and even children – face execution. The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading.Theyopposed  its use, everywhere in the world, for whatever reason – it is never acceptable, ever.

Whatever form it takes – electrocution, hanging, beheading, stoning or lethal injection – the death penalty is highly condemned.There are many arguments that oppose the heated issue of capital punishment. The first argument that can be made that opposes the death penalty is that there is a possibility for error. There have been many cases around the U.S. and the world where an inmate was falsely accused of murder, rape, and other serious crimes. A justice system that would kill an innocent man or woman is a brutal system DNA evidence can convict someone but it can also free that person penalty is a violent punishment that has no place in today’s criminal justice system.An additional argument against the death penalty is its cost. Financially it just doesn’t make sense to give an inmate the lethal injection. The cost of capital punishment varies from state to state, but as a whole, it costs more than not having the death penalty.

A religious stance can also be taken against the death penalty. Capital punishment is similar to playing God because executing a person kills them before the time of their natural death. Some Christians believe that God places people on Earth for a purpose. Hinduism opposes violence, revenge, and killing. Hindus believe in the principle of ahimsa, which is non-violence. Even though they go against violence and killing India currently has the death penalty in place. Their death penalty is used for very rare cases and not used like it is here in the United States. The death penalty in India is so rare in fact that there are roughly 100 people on death row and the number that are actually executed is very low.

 Like Hinduism, Buddhists believe in nonviolence and compassion for life. They also believe in Samsara, which is the idea of re-birth and the cycle of birth. Because of this, if capital punishment is put into place then it would affect future incarnations of the punisher and the offender.
Views on the death penalty in Christianity run a spectrum of opinions, from complete condemnation of the punishment, seeing it as a form of revenge and as contrary to Christ's message of forgiveness, to enthusiastic support based primarily on Old Testament law.

Among the teachings of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew, the message to his followers that one should "Turn the other cheek" and his example in the story PericopeAdulterae, in which Jesus intervenes in the stoning of an adulteress, are generally accepted as his condemnation of physical retaliation (though most scholars[134][135] agree that the latter passage was "certainly not part of the original text of St John's Gospel"[136]) More militant Christians consider Romans 13:3–4 to support the death penalty. Many Christians have believed that Jesus' doctrine of peace speaks only to personal ethics and is distinct from civil government's duty to punish crime.

Historically, women have not been subject to the death penalty at the same rate as men. From the first woman executed in the U.S., Jane Champion (hanged in James City, Virginia in 1632) to the present, the executions of women have only constituted of about 3% of U.S. executions. In fact, only ten women have been executed in the post-Gregg era

‘An eye for an eye makes the world blind’ said by Mahatma Gandhi.Today we feel so true his words were,capital punishment cannot make a convict feel what he has done.It will not give him a chance to realize his mistake and to become a good human being.Capital punishment is not a proper answer to crime.By giving death penalty we are committing the same crime which the criminals have done,taking life of somebody be it a innocent person or a criminal we are not doing justice.Death cannot bring back anything nor it can provide any solace.Scientific studies have also proved that death penalty failed to deter people from committing crime.So for what reason should we involve in this crime.Rather if we give him a second chance he may become a good person and help others to be not involved in criminal activities.

written by - Debalinabiswas