This week the United Nations human
rights chief urged Gambia that the death penalty should not be used
anymore. The country of Gambia has
already executed nine people and has told the UN that they will kill the rest
in September by firing squad. This act
of violation has not occurred in the country for many decades. Gambia has actually been trying to get rid of
the death penalty for quite some time.
The death penalty was almost abolished by law but now the country has
taken a turn for the worst. The UN is
concerned because of the nations sudden interest in using the death penalty,
and believes that this won’t be the only change the nation will see.
This is like the video we watched
in class, which said and illustrated that violence is on the rise and is
becoming part of our society. Personally
the death penalty to me is way too extreme of a punishment. If we use violence as a punishment to
violence all we get in return is more violence.
This is a big social problem because if one country is doing this others
will start using the death penalty as well.
It’s like a chain reaction that society won’t see the end of. There are many other ways to decide on a
punishment that will fit their crime.
For example, Gambia could send them to prison with no chance of parole
like the U. S. A. does all the time.
Unless the citizen has committed a crime that affected global society
then, in my opinion, the death penalty shouldn’t even be considered.
The President of Gambia has not
withdrawn from his statement, that a firing squad would kill the rest of the
citizens. Another issue that the UN has
to deal with is the names of those who were killed. The country is basically trying to conceal
the killings and the reasons why they were killed. This is not just sad for society but for the
victims families. How would you like it
if you didn’t know that your child was killed or how he died? That is what awaits the families of the
victims. The High Commissioner of Human
Rights, Navi Pillay, is trying to stop the madness by urging Gambia to stop the
use of the death penalty immediately.
This article was important to me
because the loss of human life is not something that I take lightly. I believe that
knowledge of what is going on around the world should be known to everyone, because
ignorance is a huge reason why many do not take action against controversial issues.
You did a good job with blending your summary and analysis together into one narrative. I like seeing that you are critically thinking about the issue, as well as bringing in class material. Be a little more objective in your analysis, though. Also, be careful about making a claim that you haven't provided a citation for. Just because one country does something, does not necessarily mean that another country will do the same thing.
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