willing Ul e are not death sentences are issued after 'confessions' that have been obtained through torture. Discriminatory. You are more likely to be sentenced to death if you are poor or belong to a racial, ethnic or religious minority because of discrimination in the justice system. Also, poor and marginalized groups have less access to the legal resources needed to defend themselves. Used as a political tool. The authorities in some countries, for example Iran and Sudan, use the death penalty to punish political opponents. Amnesty is calling for Countries that still use the death penalty immediately halt all executions. Countries that have already stopped executing people, need to take this punishment off their legal books for all crimes, permanently. All death sentences should be commuted to prison sentences. The issue in detail The death penalty breaches two essential human rights: the right to life and the right to live free from torture. Both rights are protected under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948. The following international laws explicitly ban use of the death penalty, except during times of war: