Amnesty International
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English lawyer, Peter Benenson, first launched Amnesty International in May 1961, when he published an appeal in the London newspaper, The Observer. He called for the general public to be more aware of those around the world who were being imprisoned, tortured, or executed because of their political or religious beliefs (Amnesty International Website. . ., 2002). As currently as this year, in fact, it has been reported that in Saudi Arabia, for example, trials are often held in secret and the scope of the death penalty has been widened to cover adultery, witchcraft, and apostasy as well as violent crimes. Denied lawyers, defendants often do not know they have been sentenced to death until they are led out to be beheaded (Christian Science Monitor, 2002). Benenson's challenge in 1961 was the beginning of a worldwide movement that, as of Amnesty International's most recent count, has grown to over 1,100,000 members and subscribers in more than 150 countries (Amnesty International Website. . .,2002).Amnesty International's Interest in the Death Penalty Benenson's first appeal focussed on the rights of the political prisoners who were in danger of being executed due to their beliefs. This set a precedent for Amnesty International to be in opposition to the death penalty in the context of political prisoners from the beginning. Later, however, Amnesty International broadened its stance to include anyone sentenced to death as victims of cruel and inhumane tre
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rights treaties and conventions prohibit the sentence of the death penalty to anyone who was under the age of 18 when they committed the crime. Yet, since 1990, seven countries are known to have executed prisoners who were minors when they first committed the crime for which they were sentenced. These countries included Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United States (15 since 1990) (Amnesty International Website. . ., 2002).
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).
Capital punishment is sometimes assumed to be a deterrent to crime, terrorism, and violence. Contrary to this belief, the death penalty not only negates the internationally accepted penological goal of rehabilitating the offender, but it also has never bee
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Approximate Word count = 2024
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)
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