Topic:
Country: Argentina
Delegate Name: Quinn Suvedi
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a state-sanctioned practice, where an offender can be sentenced to death. The first ever death penalty dates back to the Eighteenth Century in Babylon. Since Portugal abolished the death penalty in 1976, more than 85 nations have abolished capital punishment for all crimes. Nations against the death penalty argue that it is inhumane, it isn’t great enough of a deterrent from crime, and that it has racial and economic biases. Execution is an ultimate, irrevocable punishment, and sometimes prisoners sentenced to their death turn out to be completely innocent. Proponents of the death penalty say that execution is a just retribution for certain heinous crimes, that it deters crime, and that it preserves order within nations and the world. Currently, 137 countries out of 195 in the world have abolished capital punishment.
Between 1922 and 1984, Argentina reinstated and abolished the death penalty many times. Finally, in 1984, Argentina abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes. In 2008, Argentina abolished capital punishment for all crimes. Since then, the Argentine Republic has voted in favor of the United Nations moratorium on the death penalty, authored by Italy, eight separate times. Argentina abolished the death penalty for all crimes, including those committed in times of armed conflict. Argentina supports the call made by the Organization of American State to put an end to the death penalty in the Americas. In the Americas, currently only the United States of America, Guatemala, and a few Caribbean countries still use the death penalty.
Currently, the United Nations has passed a resolution to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and they are seeking to abolish it in the future. This resolution is not binding on any nation. 109 nations voted for, 41 voted against, and 35 nations abstained on this resolution. The Argentine Republic was in favor of this proposal, and is looking forward to possibly abolishing the use of the death penalty worldwide.
The Argentine Republic believes that every other nation on the globe should ban the use of capital punishment, as it has done. Argentina also believes that the HRC should place as many limitations as possible on the death penalty. Argentina believes that complete abolition is the answer to the issue of capital punishment, but could be convinced that other nations be allowed to keep it if they have good reasons. Acknowledging that some countries, such as China, may be against the abolition of the death penalty, Argentina looks forward to collaborating with other nations in the Human Rights Council to come up with one or more solutions to this tremendous issue.
