Examining the death penalty from a human rights
perspective not only highlights the impact of denying
the most basic right on all other rights but also
demonstrates why the only “solution” to the death
penalty is to permanently end its use. If the injustices
and practicalities associated with capital punishment
could somehow be erased—the costs cut, the
racial and class biases removed, and all possibilities
for “error” eliminated–the government still cannot
do it because it violates fundamental human rights.
A human rights based approach does not take issue
with the accuracy, technique, or timeliness of an
execution. It provides a strict standard with which to
say simply and unequivocally—the death penalty is
wrong.