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International Human Rights Issues.

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Submitted By sarakooc
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International Human Rights: Sara Cook- u3083225

We kill people who kill people, because killing people is bad. If this is not the most obvious contradiction of the human race, I’m not sure what is. 
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that we as humans have the inalienable right, first and foremost, to life, the right of a life free from torture or punishment and the right not to be subjected to any cruel or inhumane behaviour, in my view Capital Punishment blatantly violates these rights. Capital Punishment or better known as ‘The Death Penalty’ is a concept that for most of us is hard to grasp, how does one justify and actively carry out killing a person because they’ve killed another person when we believe that action is wrong. Where do we draw the line when it’s right or wrong to kill another human being? The Death Penalty is the ultimate punishment, both psychologically and physically, thus proving to us as humans that we are in breach of our essential rights as a human being and are still enabling countries to carry out this action.

While Australia and numerous other countries have abolished the Death Penalty there are plenty of countries that still uphold the belief that it is a justifiable action and is morally right. The American state of California currently has over 700 prisoners on death row, one of these prisoners a 55-year-old man named Kevin Cooper states “Between the moment we are sentenced and our death date, we die a profound psychological and spiritual death. It is a living death”, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week this human being is being psychologically tortured by the impending threat of death, a death that some believe is a avenging and logical and moral way of punishing a human being. It is hard to believe that a country such as America “a country that claims to be a human rights leader can maintain this practice” a practice

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