Does Capital Punishment Have a Role in Civilized Society?

Does capital punishment have a role in civilized society?
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Does capital punishment have a role in civilized society
Introduction
Capital crimes such as murder or robbery with violence in most cases attract capital punishment where the person that is found guilty of such a crime is sentenced to death. This type of punishment has been around for many years, but there has been a debate in recent years on whether capital punishment is still relevant in the modern civilized society or not. In fact, this type of sentence has already been abolished in most developed nations, but there are still many arguments in support or against the death penalty (Lifestyle.iloveindia.com 2015). Currently, there are only 58 countries in the world that still practice capital punishment and this is a clear indication that it is no longer popular (Lee 2013). This paper supports the argument that capital punishment does not have a role in the civilized society and hence it should be abolished.
Argument
The fact that a person has committed a crime does not necessarily mean that he or she should be denied his basic human rights like life. The world has made some serious steps towards promoting human rights and therefore capital punishment is the greatest impediment to these efforts (Neumayer 2008, p. 8). According to Neumayer (2008, p. 8), there is a need for the penal system to be humanized and the only way to achieve that is through the abolition of the death penalty. Death penalty denies a person their human dignity and right to life. In addition, the accused person may turn out to be innocent after the he or she has already been executed and it is therefore sad to know that the mistake cannot be corrected (Lee, 2013). There is also a possibility that some judges may decide the penalty based on religion and race. Moreover, a recent survey revealed that countries where the death penalty is still practiced have high capital crime rates as compared to countries that have abolished this type of penalty.
Counterargument
The death penalty may appear to be inhumane and barbaric, but there are families that l...