Abolition of the Death Penalty - Literature review Example

As of the year, 1991 there were 48 nations that had abolished capital punishment. By the year 2010, this had increased to 96. At present, the number of countries that have abolished this form of punishment stands at 139 (Sangiorgio, 2011, p. 34).Furthermore, there is an increasing proclivity among the nations that inflict the death penalty to participate in the global movement to abolish capital punishment. This is evident from the reducing number of executions over the past decade. For instance, during the 1990s, there were 40 nations, on an average that were executing individuals.

This number has reduced to 30, by the 2000s. In the year, 2008, the number of such countries was 25, and in the year 2009, it was just 19 (Sangiorgio, 2011, p. 34).A global trend towards the abolition of the death penalty is clearly discernible. As many as 139 countries no longer execute people and have become abolitionist in law and practice. Among the 58 nations that have chosen to retain the death penalty, less than 50% of these countries execute people on a regular basis (Sangiorgio, 2011, p. 33).Thus, on the whole, there has been a steady decrease in the use of the death penalty.

However, the manner in which capital punishment is inflicted by governments indicates the absolute disregard for the minimum protections that have been established, in order to preclude the random dispossession of life (Sangiorgio, 2011, p. 33).In the nations that regularly execute people; the authorities vociferously claim that they strictly comply with the minimum safeguards and international prohibitions. These norms have been stipulated in international human rights standards, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (United Nations Human Rights, 1966).

However, these claims notwithstanding, capital punishment in these countries is inflicted with scant regard for due process; the right to appeal for clemency or pardon of a sentence; and for non – lethal crimes, such as offenses related to drugs and against political opponents (Sangiorgio, 2011, p. 33).