Human Rights

If I were President, I would abolish the death penalty.

Personally I support the concept; I believe that there are some people who have proven that they have absolutely no value to the human race and aren't worth the cost to keep them alive. That belief, unfortunately, is not the basis for the death penalty. It is meant to act as a deterrent to the worst types of crime. If a criminal knows that his very life would be in danger for doing certain acts, that it would change his behavior. Obviously, the theory is flawed. Our most violent criminals know that a death sentence means many years of appeals and challenges, not immediate execution. The average time on death row before execution is over 12 years, which means that many prisoners spend much longer, even decades, before they receive justice. There are currently over 3,200 prisoners on death row awaiting execution. Only 42 were put to death in 2007. If I were a criminal, I would like those odds.

You want a deterrent? Have the bailiff shoot them outside the courtroom immediately after sentencing. That would make even the most hardened sociopaths take pause.

But that's not why I would abolish the death penalty. The fact of the matter is that most of the world has come to agree that protecting human rights is important, and that the most basic of human rights is the right to one's life. The death penalty is little more than the state-sanctioned murder of one's own citizens. Around the world almost every civilized country has abolished the death penalty as a violation of human rights.

In 2007 the countries with the most executions were:

1. China (At least 470, possibly as many as 5,000)
2. Iran (Over 370)
3. Saudi Arabia (Over 143)
4. Pakistan (Over 137)
5. United States (42)

Does the United States really want to be grouped together with countries like China, Iran and Pakistan in the eyes of the world? Most Americans think of the United States as a well-respected member of the world community, and as the leading proponent of human rights protection. The rest of the world looks at the United States as colossal hypocrites, espousing human rights protections to the rest of the world while murdering their own citizens. It would come as quite a surprise to most Americans to find this out. Well, surprise! Wake up America.

As we loudly champion the cause of human rights around the globe, the rest of the world shakes its head in disbelief at the 250 prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay for years without access to due process. The United States, ignoring our own constitutional protections, acted as police, judge and jury, apprehending these people who we decided may be a threat to us and holding them in prison for years without the chance to defend themselves, to prove their innocence, or to complete their 'sentence' and be set free. We, the great champion of human rights, have regularly used torture on these prisoners in an effort to extract information from them. We argue that the great threat to our nation from these terrorists justifies our actions.

How would we Americans feel if U.S. citizens were held by a foreign government and treated the same way?

Sometimes you have to go along to get along, and it's time for America to cease our arrogant stance before the world and act more like the responsible world citizen that we want to be.