Why Amnesty International Opposes the Death Penalty

Besides the historical concern with the plight of political prisoners as well as others who face execution, Amnesty International opposes the death penalty for the following reasons. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" (quoted in Amnesty International, 2000). As previously noted, Amnesty International views the death penalty itself as an extreme physical and mental assault on a person already in the control of government authorities and so already prevented from carrying out whatever action the government denies him or her. The cruelty of the death penalty, however, extends beyond the actual execution as the prisoner must then spend the time before execution "constantly contemplating his or her own death at the hands of the state" (Amnesty International Online, Human Rights. . ., 2002). Although the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel and inhumane or degrading punishment are the two reasons most often given by Amnesty International in opposing the death penalty, there are other rights that are compromised as well. For exampl

In addition to being involved with the policies of the international community, Amnesty International continues to work for the abolition of the death penalty by regularly monitoring developments, collecting information from around the world, and organizing an on-going program in cooperation with other human rights organizations and governments. For example, in 2000, Amnesty International worked together with the Community of Sant'Egidio and Sister Helen Prejean of the Moratorium 2000 project to collect and present more than three million signatures to the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. In this and other ways, Amnesty International will continue to push for the unconditional worldwide abolition of the death penalty (Amnesty International Website. . ., 2002;Amnesty International, 2000).

Amnesty International Website Against Death. (2002). Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty. Available online at: http://www.amnesty.org.

Safeguards adopted in 1989 not only reiterated that the death penalty only used for the most serious of crimes (if at all), but also that it eliminate the penalty for anyone who has become insane or who suffers from mental retardation or extremely limited mental competence. Again, there have been many documented cases in which these restrictions have been ignored, especially in the United States, and those who are mentally incompetent have been sentenced and executed (Amnesty International Online, Human Rights. . ., 2002).

Finally, as long as human justice remains fallible, the risk of convicting, sentencing, and executing an innocent victim remains a risk that will never be eliminated. In fact, it is the irrevocable nature of the death penalty that also makes it such a tempting tool for those who want to repress their political enemies (Amnesty International, 2000).