Capital punishment

Committee: Human Rights
Topic: The Ethics of Capital Punishment
Country: Brazil
Delegate: Daniela Correa Orozco
The use Capital Punishment has become, and still is a topic with a lot ofcontroversy and different side views. Capital Punishment, also known as death penalty is the execution of a human life by the government as the consequence for a crime committed, after a legal trial.This Topic is surrounded by the question if it is morally acceptable for the government to deprive a human life. Capital punishment is usually used for serious murder cases, but some countries applyit for cases of treason, fraud, adultery and rape. Death penalty is, According to Amnesty International at December 2009, retained in 58 countries although many never use it. Arguments in favor ofdeath penalty are: the retribution which states that justice requires people to suffer according to their crime committed, the deterrence of murderers and prevention of re-offending, and closure forvictims’ families. On the other hand, some arguments against death penalty are: that life is so valuable that even the worst murderers should not be deprived of the value of their lives, innocent peoplewill get killed, because of mistakes or flaws in the justice system , the believe that retribution is morally flawed and problematic in concept and practice, that death penalty doesn't seem to deterpeople from committing serious violent crimes and statistics show that the death penalty leads to a brutalisation of society and an increase in murder rate. Some forms of capital punishment arelethal injection, hanging, shot in the head, gas chamber and electrocution.
Brazil’s last execution was in 1855, and in 1979 had the abolition for all ordinary crimes. The Brazilian Constitution of 1988expressly prohibits the usage of capital punishment by the penal justice system. However, according to the international law, death penalty may be applicable in case of a declared war, under the...