BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 1

BDMI-MUN ‘2015

STUDY GUIDE - UNHRC

AGENDA : RIGHT TO LIFE VIS-À-VIS ABOLITION

OF DEATH PENALTY

3rd – 5th April, 2015

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 2

LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE BOARD

Dear Delegates,

On behalf of the Organizing committee of the conference, it is our pleasure to oversee and

conduct this diplomatic simulation of the Human Rights Council. This committee is going

to brainstorm and seek to acknowledge the right one has over his life. The importance of

one’s right to life and the dilemma of capital punishment.

This study guide only contains pointers as to what could provide for a meaningful

discussion pertinent to the agenda. The onus lies on you to carry out significant academic

study from credible references, on the basis of these pointers. Questions to be discussed in

committee have been mentioned towards the end of the study guide. However, do not

restrict yourself in trying to resolve those questions. The floor will be welcome to any

point which will chart the flow of meaningful debate.

Should you have any queries, do feel free to reach out to us at any point in time. We wish

you all the luck in your research and preparation for the conference, and look forward to

meeting you during committee session and hope that you come with great expectations and

leave with greater experiences. MUN conferences have for too long been plagued by

substandard research, mediocre argumentation and perverse resolutions, help us to create a

change in the way this is perceived.

Do research the updated information on various news agencies but be careful of quoting the

credible sources only while presenting arguments/points.

Happy Researching.

Cheers!

Executive Board

UNHRC

BDMI MUN, 2015.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 3

STUDY GUIDE FAQ

What is this study guide?

This is a tool to enable you to better understand your agenda.

What is this study guide not?

This is not the be all, end all of your research as a delegate in the Committee at

BDMI MUN. This is only the start of your research and must be accompanied by

your own extensive research in the following spheres:

1. Basic council research: Look into the inner workings of the UNSC. Understand

their mandate and how they make decisions.

2. Basic country research: Understand your own country. Know as much about

your allotted country as a well educated adult of that country does.

3. Basic Agenda research: Read the study guide. Go through the references given,

and look for more information on the ISIS, who they are, and what they do.

4. ‘Frenemy’ research: Understand the international relations of your nation. Find

out who has your back in council, and who doesn’t.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 4

Nature of Proof and Evidence

Documents from the following sources will be considered as credible proof for any

allegations made in committee or statements that require verification.

Reuters: Appropriate Documents and articles from the Reuters News agency will be used to

corroborate or refute controversial statements made in committee.

Amnesty International: Reports will always be preferred in case of conflicts in statements.

UN Document: Documents by all UN agencies will be considered as sufficient proof. Reports

from all UN bodies including treaty based bodies will also be accepted.

Government Reports: Government Reports of a given country used to corroborate an

allegation on the same aforementioned country will be accepted as proof.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 5

How does the Human Rights Council work?

The Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15 March 2006 by

resolution 60/251. Its first session took place from 19 to 30 June 2006. One year later, the

Council adopted its "Institution-building package" to guide its work and set up its procedures

and mechanisms.

All countries at the United Nations take part in the work of the Human Rights Council. But

only 47 countries make decisions. Among them the Universal Periodic Review mechanism

which serves to assess the human rights situations in all United Nations Member States, the

Advisory Committee which serves as the Council’s “think tank” providing it with expertise

and advice on thematic human rights issues and the Complaint Procedure which allows

individuals and organizations to bring human rights violations to the attention of the Council.

The Human Rights Council also works with the UN Special Procedures established by the

former Commission on Human Rights and now assumed by the Council. These are made up

of special rapporteurs, special representatives and independent experts and working groups

that monitor, examine, advice and publicly report on thematic issues or human rights

situations in specific countries.

Following are the different human rights monitoring mechanism in the United Nations

supported by Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):

1. Charter Based Bodies

Human Rights Council

Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council

Human Rights Council Complaint Procedure

Note: The Human Rights Council is a separate entity from OHCHR. This distinction

originates from the separate mandates they were given by the General Assembly.

Nevertheless, OHCHR provides substantive support for the meetings of the Human Rights

Council, and follow-up to the Council's deliberations.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 6

2. Treaty- based bodies

Human Rights Committee (CCPR)

Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)

Committee against Torture (CAT)

Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)

Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, all UN Member

States have ratified at least one core international human rights treaty, and 80 percent have

ratified four or more. There are currently ten human rights treaty bodies, which are

committees of independent experts. Nine of these treaty bodies monitor implementation of

the core international human rights treaties while the tenth treaty body, the Subcommittee on

Prevention of Torture, established under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against

Torture, monitors places of detention in States parties to the Optional Protocol.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 7

Introduction:

“The taking of life is too absolute, too irreversible, for one human being to inflict it on

another, even when backed by legal process.”

— United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is “the lawful infliction of death as

punishment” for committing serious crimes, such as murder.1 Capital punishment has existed

since ancient history. 141 countries today have outlawed capital punishment, but many

countries still practice it. 21 countries practiced the death penalty in 2011, and the top 5

countries were China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.2 Capital punishment is

delivered in various ways, including lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad,

and hanging.3 Some countries allow children to receive the death penalty. Some believe that

the death penalty is a fair punishment for the most serious crimes, and it deters others from

committing those crimes. Others believe that capital punishment is morally wrong, and

sometimes innocent people are put to death.4 The question facing the international

community and the United Nations is whether capital punishment should be abolished

worldwide.

How death penalty is a concern under human rights: The "right of life"

The concept of Human Rights is big, determined by many concepts and fields, and is still in

permanent growth and international debate. Different cultures of diverse places of the world

determined since early times (even before Christ) that there should be limits to power and to

individual rights. Justinian, Iurisconsult and philosopher from the Golden Ages of the Roman

Empire defined that “the limit of individual rights ends where the other´s start”. The earliest

societies of Latin America (as the Guaranies from Paraguay and the Valdivians of South

Pacific coasts) say that there are no individual rights because all the society, as a group, has

the same rights to coexist in that determined society if this individuals want to become part of

the society (preserving life and honor, without a concept of private property). Earliest

civilizations as the Persians (Zoroaster Philosophy) determined that the destiny manage life

and death of people and cultures, but between, there are some rights, individual and

collective, to be protected and preserved by a society. The Chinese Judges of the Ching

Dynasty gave the authority to the Emperor, to determine the rights that Gods want to protect,

(dividing them in the chapters: life, land, honor and family).

1 “Capital Punishment.” West's Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005. http://www.enotes.com/capital-

punishment-reference/capital-punishment 2 “The Death Penalty in 2011.” Amnesty International. http://amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/death-sentences-

andexecutions-in-2011 3 “Methods of Execution.” International Justice Project.

http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/briefs_execution_methods.cfm 4 http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 8

The Trend towards Worldwide Abolition

In 1986, 46 countries had abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes.5 Sixteen years

later, the number of countries in the same category had almost doubled to 89.6 Moreover,

another 22 countries had stopped using the death penalty in practice, bringing the total of

non-death penalty countries to 111, far more than the 84 countries which retain an active

death penalty. Roger Hood, in his book about world developments in the death penalty, noted

that: "The annual average rate at which countries have abolished the death penalty has

increased from 1.5 (1965-1988) to 4 per year (1989-1995), or nearly three times as many."7

International law expert, William Schabas, noted that fifty years ago this topic did not even

exist because there were virtually no abolitionist countries.8 For a world in which the death

penalty has been practiced almost everywhere for centuries, this is a dramatic turnaround.

Although formal abolition of the death penalty dates as far back as 1867 for Venezuela and

1870 for the Netherlands, and even earlier for the state of Michigan (1846), most of the

movement towards elimination of capital punishment has been fairly recent.9

The death penalty worldwide

The fight against the death penalty is a long-term struggle in which tangible progress is made

every year in all the world’s regions. A downward trend has been noted in the number of

death sentences and executions worldwide. In the past 20 years, more than 50 states have

outlawed the death penalty.

In 1981, France became the 36th state to abandon this cruel, inhuman and degrading

treatment. In 2007, she ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on

Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty. Adopted by the United

Nations in 1989, the Protocol is the first instrument of global reach to assert that abolishing

the death penalty helps promote human dignity and the progressive development of human

rights. On 5 July 2012, the Republic of Benin abolished the death penalty by adhering to the

Optional Protocol. More than 100 states worldwide have taken the decisive and irreversible

step from the moratorium observed for the past several years to outlawing the death penalty.

Many states have been observing de facto moratoriums, sometimes for several decades. What

obstacles prevent states moving from moratoriums to abolition? How can the international

community help states abandon the death penalty in their judicial systems and thus strengthen

the protection of human rights? What role is there for the United Nations, the pro-abolition

states and civil society?

— A downward trend has been noted in the number of death sentences and executions

worldwide. In the past 20 years, more than 50 states have outlawed the death penalty.

5 See Amnesty International, United States of America: The Death Penalty 228 (Appendix 12) (1987) 6 See Amnesty International, "Facts and Figures on the Death Penalty,"

7 R. Hood, the Death Penalty: A World-wide Perspective 8 (2d edit. 1996). 8 See Schabas, the Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law 1 (1997). 9 Ibid

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 9

— To date, 97 states have abolished the death penalty for all crimes, eight have abolished it

for ordinary crimes and 36 are observing moratoriums on executions – making a total of 141

states.

— However, the death penalty is still applied in 57 states and territories.

Since 2011, 23 states have carried out executions. While the number of countries carrying out

executions is in decline, the latest report by Amnesty International gave a figure of 676

executions in 2011, as compared with 527 in 2010, which shows that the number of

executions is increasing in the hard core of retentionist countries: basically Saudi Arabia, Iran

and Iraq. Moreover, the real figure is hard to ascertain in the absence of official statistics in

certain states, including China. As for the number of sentences, it has fallen from 2,024 in

2010 to 1,923 in 2011.

Every year, new countries abolish the death penalty: Mongolia ratified the Second Optional

Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of

the death penalty, in January 2012.

Latvia abolished the death penalty for all crimes in January 2012. Honduras and the

Dominican Republic ratified the additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human

Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty in November 2011 and January 2012 respectively. In the

United States, Illinois and Connecticut became the 16th and 17th states to abolish capital

punishment, in March 2011 and April 2012 respectively.

A. NORTH AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Despite the hopes raised by the Arab Spring, none of the 22 states in the region have

abolished the death penalty. In 2011, at least 558 executions were recorded in eight countries

(Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Iran, Syria

and Yemen), including several hundred in Iran, 68 in Iraq and at least 82 in Saudi Arabia, a

trend which has continued in 2012. No information is available on the use of the death

penalty in Libya in 2011, but many reports cite extrajudicial executions by all the parties in

the conflict. The other countries have observed de facto moratoriums for several years

(Tunisia since 1991, Morocco and Algeria since 1993, Lebanon since 2004 and Jordan since

2006).

The states counted are not all members of the United Nations – among others, the Cook

Islands, the Vatican and Niue – hence the total figure of more than 193.

Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, North Korea, Egypt, the United Arab

Emirates, the United States, Gambia, Iraq, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, the Palestinian Authority,

Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Vietnam and Yemen.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 10

B. ASIA

Mongolia abolished the death penalty in March 2012, thus joining Nepal, East Timor, the

Philippines and Cambodia as abolitionist states in the region. Several states have observed de

facto moratoriums for several years (the Maldives since 1952, Sri Lanka since 1976, Burma

since 1988, Laos since 1989, South Korea since 1997 and India since 2004). Pakistan has

now had a moratorium in force since 2009.

In 2011, eight states carried out executions – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, North Korea,

Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam – but 18 states issued death sentences. In the

absence of official data, it is estimated that there are several thousand executions a year in

China. On 29 March 2012, Japan broke a de facto moratorium observed for a year and a half,

by hanging three condemned people. The country carried out more executions in August

2012.

C. THE AMERICAS AND CARIBBEAN

A large majority of the American continent is abolitionist. In 2011 and to date, the United

States has been the only country in the continent to carry out executions. However, positive

results can be seen, with the abolition of the death penalty in Illinois and Connecticut and the

introduction of a moratorium in Oregon.

In the rest of the continent, Belize, Cuba, Jamaica, Guatemala, Guyana, Surinam, Trinidad

and Tobago and most of the English-speaking Caribbean islands have failed to abolish the

death penalty. However, the Commonwealth countries observe a de facto moratorium,

following the judgement of the Privy Council in the Pratt and Morgan case, whereby the

implementation of the death penalty more than five years after the sentence constitutes cruel,

inhuman and degrading treatment.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights opposes the death penalty and frequently

speaks out against executions in the United States.

D. AFRICA

Seventeen out of 48 states have outlawed the death penalty and a positive trend has been

noted in recent years. In 2009, Togo and Burundi joined the abolitionist states. Benin

abolished the death penalty in June 2012 and the Democratic Republic of Congo decided in

March 2012 on an “irreversible moratorium” and “gradual abolition”. Bucking this positive

trend, Botswana and Gambia carried out executions in 2012.

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights called for the abolition of the death

penalty at its 49th session in 2011.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 11

E. EASTERN EUROPE

Belarus remains the only state on the European continent not to have abolished capital

punishment. Four people have been executed there since 2011, two of them in March 2012.

Russia introduced a moratorium on executions in 1996.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 12

Relevant UN Documents, Treaties and Events

Relevant UN resolutions and treaties can be found at

http://www.un.org/en/documents/index.shtml.

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child.

This resolution is basically the resolution that ended capital punishment to minors.

Refer to article 6 and 37 for the clause. Although the age of minority differs

depending on the country and the state you are in, this resolution sets the standard of

minority as eighteen. Currently, United States of America and Somalia are the two

nations that have not ratified to this convention, mainly due to the prohibition of

children execution.

International Covenant on Civil and Human Rights

This is another resolution that brought an end to the death penalty to minors. At the

same time, it states the guideline of human rights and sets the standard of who should

be legally executed or not. Article 6 explains the guidelines and has been the center of

controversy for some time period regarding “the most serious crimes” that would lead

to a capital punishment. In some cases, the death penalty is opposed by the public or

even abolished due to the dominant religion within the country.

Question of The death penalty: Commission on Human Rights Resolution 1999/61

April 1999.

This is basically the resolution approved after combining the Convention on the

Rights of a Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Human Rights. This

resolution aims to reduce the number of executed prisoners and completely eliminates

execution of juveniles under the age of 18.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 13

Factors that led to the prohibition of the death penalty in many countries

70 percent of all countries in the world have currently banned capital punishment. The

reasons behind this action are very similar for most of the countries. These are some of the

factors that prohibited capital punishment and, of course, the death penalty to minors.

Human Rights Issue

The biggest obstacle in reviving the practice comes from human rights issue. The death

penalty itself has been banned in most nations due to this issue. Although different countries

have different point of views towards human rights, many nations strictly abide by article 6.1

of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which states, “Every human being

has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law. No one shall be arbitrarily

deprived of his life. However, some countries that legally practice the death penalty have

questioned the need to consider the human rights of those who commit serious crime – the

concept of human rights should not apply to those who equally infringe human rights of

others. Several events have led to questioning the validity of the human rights law.

False Accusations

We have seen many people wrongly accused of a crime which they didn’t do. Heavy crimes

are no exceptions. In fact, 82 inmates who were sentenced to death were proven to be

innocent over the years in America only since 1976. In other words, one out of seven people

waiting for their turn to be executed are wrongly accused. Experts say that if the death

penalty revives, the law itself would go against the conventions of human rights.

Cost and Effect

Surprisingly, legally executing a prisoner requires a remarkable amount of money. In fact,

there is a reason why those who are sentenced to death have to wait a long time before they

are executed. Before execution takes place, counseling for defense, appealing, and maximum

security will cost an average of approximately $2 million per person. To make things worse,

despite its cost, the death penalty has not been the best way to reduce crime rates. Texas and

Oklahoma are the places where the most execution takes place and have taken place in

history. Yet, the crime rate has not changed for decades, proving that the death penalty has

nothing to do with reducing the crime rate of that particular region.

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 14

COUNTRIES IN WHICH THE DEATH PENALTY HAS NOT BEEN ABOLISHED

Executions in 2011

There has been an almost continuous declining trend in executions since the World Wars. As

of 2012, 97 countries have abolished capital punishment altogether, 8 have done so for all

offences except under special circumstances, and 36 have not used it for at least 10 years or

have been under a moratorium. The other 57 have retained the death penalty in active use.10

1. China: >= 4000 executions

2. Iran: >= 360 executions

3. Saudi Arabia: >= 82 executions

4. Iraq: >= 68 executions

5. United States of America: >= 43 executions

Issues the Resolution must address:

1. The status of the implementation of the death penalty in various countries.

2. The violation of a person’s human rights through the death penalty.

3. The constitutionality of the death penalty in states where it is being implemented.

4. The religious aspects of implementing the death penalty.

10 "Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries – Amnesty International"

http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries\

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 15

5. Whether the death penalty does indeed deter murder more than any alternative form of

punishment would.

6. Erroneous convictions and execution of innocent people.

7. Inflicting the death penalty on individuals with diminished mental capacity.

8. Politicizing the death penalty.

9. For countries that practice capital punishment, do they have a right to decide whether or

not to practice it? Or can the international community tell these governments what to do?

10. In countries where capital punishment takes place, should teenagers, children, the

mentally handicapped, and other types of people be excluded from capital punishment?

BDMI-MUN’2015 KOLKATA WWW.THEMUNCIRCLE.COM Page 16

Further Research:

http://www.un.org/en/

http://www.amnesty.org/en

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/

http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr-death.htm

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=33259&Cr=pillay&Cr1

http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/death-sentences-and-executions-in-2013

http://www.franceonu.org/france-at-the-united-nations/

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/past/25/2013

http://www.ohchr.org/Lists/MeetingsNY/Attachments/27/moving_away_from_death_

penalty_web.pdf

http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/IMG/pdf/Abolition_of_death_penalty_2012.pdf

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/27a/079.html