Can death penalty be ever justified?

Death sentence is perhaps the most cruel form of retribution. It gives an individual no chance at all to reform and live life again. According to the Amnesty International, some 69 countries still impose death verdicts. Some of these countries are Iraq, Iran, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Singapore. About 128 countries have abolished death penalty. Thus it is obvious that the issue of death penalty is a subjective matter. However to me, death penalty can never be justified under any circumstance.

No one is perfect in this world thus every human commit mistakes. When this mistake is considered cruel and inhumane, the person maybe subjected to a death penalty issued by the court of Justice. What we must consider here is, is it not a cruel and inhumane act to kill a person in the name of law?

How many of us are aware that death penalty is issued on pregnant women and children in Iraq and on mentally ill people in the United States of America? Is it fair to punish these people so severely and refusing to give them another chance?

Death penalty denies a being of his rights and disrespects him. Death is just imposed on a person by a fellow human being without any thoughts for his family and friends. No human in this world has the right to control and suppress anyone for any reason because every individual has basic human rights reserved for him or her. Death penalty is the extreme form of suppression and an absolute denial of human rights to the convict. As an Archbishop once said “The abolition of the death penalty is making us a civilized society. It shows we actually do mean business when we say we have reverence for life."

Supporters of death penalty would argue that death penalty would instill fear of death in a person which would in turn stop him from committing any grave mistakes. Thus, death penalty in a way acts as a form of deterrence. However in Iraq, where death sentences have been given increasingly for the past two years, the extent of violence has increased rather than diminished, clearly indicating that the death penalty has not proved to be an effective deterrent.

Such countries still continue with death penalties to just get people who are considered to be unchangeable out of this world forever. This is just running away from reality.

By just killing people easily we are just putting a bad front to them. Moreover, in the past the issue of death used to be so scary and sympathizing. Now, life is not even respected.

People have become stone hearted that killing a life is no longer an issue of concern. When such kind of attitude prevails in people, it is illogical to expect them to not harm others.

Sometimes verdicts can be issued wrongly. Due to circumstances, a person might have been viewed as the criminal and thus when he is given a death penalty wrongly, it results in the atrocious death of an innocent. We are talking about LIFE here. Is it possible to regain it back once its gone? Can it ever be compensated when a life has been forgone wrongly? It can never be compensated with anything because life is priceless.

No matter what the reason might be, it is uncivilized and wrong to kill a person in the name of Law. Thus death penalty is unjustifiable.

Reference:http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGMDE140142007&lang=e