Portfolio Entry # 12 - Jeremy Irons Talks about the Death Penalty

     The renowned British born actor, Jeremy Irons, delivers a speech against Death Penalty in a clip to support non-governmental organization, Amnesty International. He outlines some arguments and counter-arguments concerning the main issue.

     Irons explains that death penalty does not help to reduce delinquency nor does it guarantee social harmony and peace. Apart from that, convicted very often comes from low social classes and vulnerable groups, proving that it could not be a matter of justice or not, it could be an economic problem. Capital punishment usually penalize those who cannot afford legal counsel.

     However, even when criminals from different social classes were found equally guilty, the main concern that Irons points out is that death penalty is irreversible. Retrospective pardon is useless when a person is dead, whereas an erroneous verdict can be amended when the convict is alive.

     Jeremy Irons also asserts that death penalty violate two basic human rights: right to life and freedom from torture. Capital punishment not only represses both moral principles but also turns the society into a criminal. Thus, society becomes as unrighteous as the convicted.

     The right to life is inalienable. It cannot be given and it cannot be taken away by anyone. Therefore, capital punishment should be considered an offense to the whole of humankind, not only agains the criminals.

     Finally, Irons reminds us that ciminals are still human beings, no matter how horrendous their crime  was. Thieves, killers, rapists, drug dealers, terrorists are human beings with human rights.

Resource: 

•  Amnesty International UK (2007, May 7) Jeremy Irons Talks about the Death Penalty. [Video file] Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVMho2cP1NE