Death penalty: arguments, in Brazil and other countries

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THE death penalty or capital punishment is the sentence to death of someone who has committed a crime. In 2018 around 60 countries still apply this sentence.

The death penalty has always existed in various cultures and peoples from different regions of the world. The main objective was to discourage people from committing certain types of crimes.

Therefore, the execution was carried out in a short period of time, it should be public and cause the maximum possible suffering to the convict. That way, the assistants would be terrified and not try to make the same mistake.

Types of Death Penalty

Such executions could be carried out by hanging, sticking, garrote, guillotine, dismemberment, bonfire, etc. Later, with the creation of the shotgun, the army adopted the tactic of shooting that was incorporated by the common justice.

In the 20th century, with the invention of electricity, the electric chair was created and used mainly in the United States.

death penalty in Brazil

The death penalty is prohibited in Brazil, but it was provided for during the

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Military Dictatorship (1964-1985) for war crimes cases. It is necessary to remember that, according to the military, Brazil was fighting an internal struggle against communism and for that reason, those accused of treason were subject to capital punishment.

With the return of democracy, with the 1988 Constitution, the death penalty was abolished, but allowed under special circumstances.

Death Penalty in the United States

THE American Constitution it gives States the power to decide whether or not to adopt the death penalty.

Thus, 33 of the 50 states that make up the country provide for the death penalty. Although the number of executions has dropped, places like Colorado, Georgia and Texas continue to apply it.

Methods of execution varied over time, with the most common being hanging, shooting, the electric chair and the gas chamber.

Currently, lethal injection has been chosen, where a cocktail of chemical substances is administered, to calm and at the same time kill the criminal.

arguments

The discussion of the death penalty raises passionate debates with arguments for and against capital punishment. Therefore, we summarize ideas about this sentence:

in favor

A person harmful to social life would be eliminated.
Society would not need to pay for the maintenance of a criminal and would avoid prison overcrowding.
It would serve as an example for other people not to commit that crime.
The criminal would receive the same sentence that he inflicted on his victim, and family and society would be relieved by this resolution.
It would be the ideal answer for criminals who, due to illness, will not stop committing their acts and death would be the only solution.

Against

Life is an inalienable and non-transferable right that the human person has and should not be taken away by anyone, especially by justice.
The human capacity to judge is unlimited and imperfect and many innocent people can be wrongly condemned.
The death penalty has not reduced crime in the countries where it was adopted.
In a civilized society, this type of sentence is inadmissible, as its limitations are known and alternative sentences should be proposed.
The fact that someone died would not change the feeling of the family at all, as it would not bring the victim back.

countries

Most Western countries have abolished the death penalty. The map below highlights those who adopt and those who do with restrictions:

According to Amnesty International data, from 2016, the countries that most executed prisoners were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, United States, Somalia, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Indonesia

In Indonesia, the death penalty is provided for in case of drug manufacturing, possession and trafficking, kidnapping, terrorism, premeditated murder, among others. Two Brazilians, Rodrigo Gularte and Marcos Archer, were executed for trying to enter the country with drugs.

Marcos Archer and Rodrigo death penalty — Marcos Archer and Rodrigo Gularte were executed for drug trafficking

The method of execution is shooting. Prisoners even wait ten years for the sentence to be served, due to the appeals that are filed in court.

Since current President Joko Widodo (1964) came to power in 2014, the country has been intolerant with traffickers and drug users and an increase in the number of executions in Indonesia is being registered.

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