英语资料death_penalty__新东方的全套英语资料

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Key points

 The death penalty is a violation of fundamental human rights: the right to life

and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.It undermines civil relations in society and the dignity of the people that live in it. Capital punishment does not deter crime more effectively than other

punishments.It is sometimes used disproportionately against the poor, minorities and political opponents.It is also impoible to ensure that innocent people are not executed:since 1976, 123 people have been released from death row in the USA after being wrongly convicted. The Council of Europe has made the abolition of capital punishment one of its

main priorities.It has been fighting for 30 years to outlaw the death penalty acro Europe and to make abolition a universally accepted value.As a result, no execution has taken place in the Council’s member states since 1997. Many countries, including Japan and the USA, still use the death penalty.The

Council of Europe is committed to continuing its fight against this cruel and inhumane punishment until it has been completely abolished both in Europe and worldwide.Death Penalty Summary The death penalty was once practised in most countries of the world and has still not been abolished in many states, including the USA and Japan.It has always been an emotional iue, especially in the wake of gruesome murders or terrorist attacks.Many people are in favour of capital punishment, arguing that a person who has committed an atrocious act deserves to die.However, the death penalty neither deters crime nor helps the victims.Miscarriages of justice also occur far more often than most people realise.Furthermore, an innocent person can be executed on purpose, capital punishment being a notorious means of silencing political opponents.The death penalty is often applied in an unfair, arbitrary and discriminatory manner.Its irrevocable nature leaves it open to abuse.According to the US Death Penalty Information Centre, 123 people have been released from Death Row since 1976 after being wrongly convicted.The death penalty may also make martyrs of members of groups which use violence as a means to achieve their goals, as well as promoting further violent actions.A UN study, updated in 1996, concluded that there is no proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.According to the American Civil Liberties Union, US states that have death penalty laws do not have lower crime or murder rates than other states.The Council of Europe was created to unite Europe around the shared principles of the rule of law, respect for human rights and democracy.The European Convention on Human Rights, which was adopted in 1950, states that everyone’s life shall be

COUNCILOF EUROPECONSEILDE L'EUROPE

protected by law and no one shall be deprived of life.However, the Convention did allow the death penalty to be imposed when it was provided for by law.In the early 1980s, the Council of Europe became a pioneer for the abolition of capital punishment, considering it to be a grave violation of human rights.The organisation’s Parliamentary Aembly gradually persuaded governments to help Europe become the first region in the world to permanently outlaw the death penalty.In 1982, the Council of Europe adopted Protocol No.6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which became the first legally-binding instrument abolishing the death penalty in peacetime.The protocol has today been ratified by 46 of the Council’s 47 member states;the one exception – Ruia – has committed itself to ratification.In 1989, abolition of the death penalty was made a condition of acceion for all new member states.Since then, all countries are committed to introducing an immediate moratorium on executions and ratifying Protocol No.6 when joining the organisation.A number of mechanisms have been set up to monitor the respect of those commitments while aisting governments with their implementation.In 2002, an important step was taken by the Council to ban the death penalty in all circumstances with the adoption of Protocol No.13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires the complete abolition of capital punishmentwhich is not a member of the organisationall apart from Ruia and Azerbaijan.Six countries – Armenia, France, Italy, Poland, Latvia and Spain – have signed the Protocol but have not yet ratified it.The Council of Europe has therefore played a major role in making Europe a de facto death penalty-free zone.Contacts

Estelle Steiner, Pre officer Tel: +33(0)3 88 41 33 35

Mobile: +33(0)6 08 46 01 57

Jaime Rodríguez, Pre officer

Tel: +33(0)3 90 21 47 04

Mobile: +33(0)6 89 99 50 42