The World Day Against the Death Penalty is observed on October 10 to call for the universal abolition of capital punishment and to spread general awareness of the worldwide anti-death penalty movement. Although more countries are moving towards abolishment, the day when no country allows for such a brutal punishment is still a distant dream. Some argue that the death penalty should apply only to the most heinous crimes, such as murder, war crimes, rape, etc. However, capital punishment constitutes the gravest form of human rights violation, breaching the right to life and living free from torture or cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment or punishment, protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948.

Although Nepal has completely abolished the death penalty in its 1990 constitution, such a provision still exists in many other parts of the world. Amnesty International listed Saudia Arabia, China, Iran, Egypt and the United States as the countries where most executions occurred. The organisation recorded 2,016 death sentences in 52 countries, with at least 883 executions in 20 countries in 2022. This is an increase of 53 percent from 2021, where there were at least 579 executions. Similarly, at least 28,282 people were known to be under death sentence globally by the end of 2022.

The execution of a Nepali citizen, Sant Bahadur Pun, in Saudi Arabia made news worldwide on June 1, 2023. Pun had migrated to the country in 1997, where he worked as a shepherd, and had been imprisoned in Qurayat Jail for the past 22 years on murder charges. According to a Kantipur article based on an interview with Pun before his execution, he killed a Saudi man in self-defence when the man tried to steal his employer’s sheep. The Government of Nepal made multiple efforts during his imprisonment for pardon or commutation from the death penalty but to no avail. Saudi Arabia’s strict Sharia laws did not permit a pardon because the family of the slain person refused to forgive Pun. Pun was one of the 61 individuals executed by Saudi Arabia during the first half of 2023 alone. Unfortunately, he isn’t the only Nepali national executed so far.

According to a 2021 US-based research, six in every 10 individuals in the US favour the death penalty for convicted murderers, showing a grim scenario for the movement towards its abolition. The supporters of the death penalty must ask themselves whether killing the criminal kills the crime.

Execution is the ultimate, most absolute punishment given to a person. It cannot be revoked, meaning there will always be a risk of executing an innocent person. There is a possibility that the justice system might make errors, and the death penalty does not consider this fact. For example, since 1973, more than 191 prisoners sent to death row in the US have later been exonerated or released on grounds of innocence.

Also, executing a criminal does not deter crime. If that were the case, perhaps there would be fewer rape cases in India since the 2020 execution of the four men convicted of the gang rape and murder of a Delhi student. Rape cases have become more rampant: According to India’s National Crime Record Bureau, crimes against women in India increased by over 19 percent in 2021 compared to 2020.

The death penalty further deepens historical injustices as there is evidence of it being used disproportionately against the poor or racial or ethnic minorities in different countries. A black man named Troy Davis was sentenced to death in Georgia, US, for the murder of a white police officer, even though physical evidence against him was absent. Davis was sentenced based on testimonies of people who later recanted or changed their words. Yet, he spent 20 years on death row until finally exonerated in 2011. The death penalty is often used as a tool of political repression, arbitrarily imposed and inflicted. The authorities in some countries, including Iran, China and Sudan, use it to punish political opponents.

Over time, the international community has adopted several instruments, including the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (of which Nepal is a signatory), aiming at the abolition of the death penalty; Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty; Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances; and the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to abolish the Death Penalty.

While it is true that more countries–111 as of now–have completely abolished capital punishment, many nations still believe that a death sentence can solve a crime and address deep-rooted injustices. The death penalty offers no opportunity for correction; instead, it dehumanises and demonises the person who commits a crime and offers society no protection but more brutality. Capital punishment envisions a fearful, cruel and merciless world, but we don’t need this.