Capital Punishment should be abolished as a form of legal punishment.

ResolutionI will be arguing that capital punishment (also known to some as the death penalty) should be banned and abolished as a form of punishment worldwide, with action presumably from the United Nations or other higher political powers. DefinitionsCapital Punishment: Also known as the death penalty, death sentence, or execution. Capital punishment is a form of government sanctioned and approved form of legal punishment that can be caused by certain crimes varying by country. These crimes are usually, but not limited to (first degree) murder, terrorism, etc. (1)Abolished: To put an end to or eliminated as a whole. In this situation, Capital Punishment should be stopped worldwide and prohibited by all government organizations. (2)Legal Punishment: Punishments justified by the law and crime committed. (3)~Main ArgumentCapital Punishment has existed for almost all of recorded human history. Originating from certain resolutions that might be reached to justify certain events or crimes, so to say. These were often classified or known as blood feuds and generally involved tribe members bringing death upon somebody who has done something significantly wrong to warrant such action (1). The earliest recorded form of this type of punishment as a law was the 18th century B.C.E. in the Code of King Babylon which warranted capital punishment for several types of crimes. Early forms of recorded punishment types include crucifixion, drowning, beating to death being burnt alive or impalement. Although modern ways have changed drastically, capital punishment is still an ancient punishment and should be abolished due to its severity and general inhumaneness. (2)Capital Punishment is also against the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. Article 3 clearly states that all humans have the right to life, being the right to not be killed for any reason whatsoever. By administering Capital Punishment, the government or its legal agencies are provoking the convict of their basic human rights to live. This forced death essentially kills the person and leaves them no other choice other than to accept the punishment or appeal through highly complex worldwide legal systems that result in similar conclusions. Article 5 of the same document also states that everybody (all humans) “shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. (5) Capital punishment is a highly degrading and cruel form of punishment, and can sometimes lead to torture. Early forms of capital punishment were administered in front of a general public, although nowadays they are usually administered in private, there are still humans watching the process and being strapped in and either being electrocuted, gassed or given lethal injection is highly degrading. Capital Punishment is also morally wrong. Capital Punishment is also an example dating back to early times of the informal fallacy that another wrong of the same degree cancels out the previous wrongdoing. This relates to the proverb “two wrongs don’t make a right”. (6). Capital Punishment is generally and mostly administered for first-degree murder, but isn’t killing a person for killing a person just sending out the message that it’s perfectly acceptable of killing a person? Say someone just committed the crime of killing somebody. Then a close friend of that victim decides that the murderer should receive the same punishment and decides to shoot the murderer. Does that mean that the 2nd murder is justified and the second murderer should be exempt of all legal consequences? No! Under our current legal system, the second person will also be subject to legal consequences, though possibly alleviated (to manslaughter) (7). Capital Punishment is essentially the same thing except administered by the government, why should this be allowed then? The current systems are contributing to the problem by virtually condoning murder and the intentional killing of people, this just emphasizes the already existent problem. In conclusion, by abolishing capital punishment, fewer people will die each year, prehistoric and illogical ways will be abolished, and the essential Human Rights of certain people can be regained. Thank you. Sources(1): https://en.wikipedia.org...(2): http://www.merriam-webster.com... (3): http://plato.stanford.edu... (4): http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org... (5): http://www.un.org... (6): https://en.wikipedia.org... (7): https://en.wikipedia.org...