POSITION PAPER

Committee: UN Human Rights Council

Topic: Death penalty
Country: Federative Republic of Brazil
Delegate:
Death penalty, also referred to as capital punishment, is the most controversial subject in the world
regarding the way criminals should be punished. Capital punishment has, in the past, been
practised by most societies, as a punishment for criminals, and political or religious dissidents. As
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that Everyone has the right to life,
liberty and security of person, nowadays the death penalty is widely considered to be an
inhumane procedure.
According to Article 5, XLVII, a, of Brazils Federal Constitution, there shall be no punishment
of death, save in case of declared war under the terms of article 84, XIX. Capital punishment is a
long unused form of punishment in Brazil, last reported in 1876, not having been officially used
since the proclamation of the Republic in 1889.
Despite the fact that opinion polls among the general public in Brazil have shown throughout the
21th century thus far that the ayes have it, the Federative Republic of Brazil believes that capital
punishment is a crime against humanity and under no circumstances should it be used, but in
singular situations during wartime.
Being among the first countries to abolish this form of punishment, the Federative Republic of
Brazil considers that there should be an extensive movement towards death penaltys drawing to
an end worldwide. As there are several cases of criminals sentenced to death yearly, a good deal of
wrongful executions might happen and have happened since capital punishment came into force.
Moreover, there have been a few executions by lethal injection in which the convicted person has
been administered a wrong proportion of drugs and has been harshly left to die in agony. In fact,
these mishandlings violate Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states
that No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
As the existing nations have different opinions regarding this method of punishment, it is clear
that the heads of countries cannot reach an understanding for the time being. Despite the fact that
it may not seem as important as it really is, each and every nation claims sovereignty and conflicts
can easily arise between states. For instance, a Brazilian was arrested in 2003 for drug trafficking
and sentenced to death. This happened again in 2013, and the smuggler is now on death row. This
action incurred Brazil governments wrath and it can have disastrous consequences in the
foreseeable future.
Thus, the Federative Republic of Brazil strongly believes that the world desperately needs to settle
upon a consent, as death penalty causes severe damage to diplomatic relations between nations.