Cruel and unusual punishment: Difference between revisions

Content deleted Content added

Inline

Revision as of 14:09, 31 March 2010

Cruel and unusual punishment is a statement implying that governments shall not inflict suffering or humiliation on the condemned as punishment for crimes, regardless of their degree of severity. It was founded in the English Bill of Rights, which was signed in 1689 by King William III and Queen Mary II, who were then the joint rulers of England, Scotland, and Ireland following the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688.

These exact words later appeared in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1787). The British Slavery Amelioration Act of 1798 also used the term, forbidding slave owners from using "cruel and unusual punishment" on slaves in the British Caribbean colonies.

Very sweet tits ('No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the European Convention on Human Rights (1950). The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) also contains this fundamental right in section 12 and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000). It is also found in Article 16 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

History

For most of recorded history, capital punishments were often deliberately painful. Severe historical penalties include the breaking wheel, boiling to death, flaying, disembowelment, crucifixion, impalement, crushing, stoning, execution by burning, dismemberment, sawing, scaphism, or necklacing.^[1]

Impalement was a method of torture and execution whereby a person is pierced with a long stake. The penetration can be through the sides, from the rectum, or through the mouth. This method would lead to a slow and painful death. Often, the victim was hoisted into the air after partial impalement. Gravity and the victim's own struggles would cause him to slide down the pole, especially if the pole were on a wagon carrying war prizes and prisoners. Death could take many days. Impalement was frequently practiced in Asia ^[where?] and Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Vlad III the Impaler, who learned the method of killing by impalement while staying in Constantinople as a prisoner, and Ivan the Terrible have passed into legend as major users of the method.^[2]

The breaking wheel was a torturous capital punishment device used in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by cudgeling to death, especially in France and Germany. In France the condemned were placed on a cart-wheel with their limbs stretched out along the spokes over two sturdy wooden beams. The wheel was made to revolve slowly. Through the openings between the spokes, the executioner hit the victim with an iron hammer that could easily break the victim's bones. This process was repeated several times per limb. Once his bones were broken, he was left on the wheel to die. It could take hours, even days, before shock and dehydration caused death. The punishment was abolished in Germany as late as 1827.^[3]

References

General

History of the Death Penalty

Specific

^ Revenge Is the Mother of Invention
^ Dracula - Britannica Concise
^ Breaking on the wheel - LoveToKnow 1911
^ Rhona K.M. Smith, Textbook on International Human Rights, second edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 245.

External links

Cases in 2003
Cases in 2002
Cases in 2001
Cases in 2000
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man (Approved by the Ninth International Conference of American States, Bogotá, Colombia, 1948)

[1] Revenge Is the Mother of Invention

[2] Dracula - Britannica Concise

[3] Breaking on the wheel - LoveToKnow 1911

[4] Rhona K.M. Smith, Textbook on International Human Rights, second edition, Oxford University Press, 2005, p. 245.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 These exact words later appeared in the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] (1787). The British [[Slavery Amelioration Act]] of 1798 also used the term, forbidding slave owners from using "cruel and unusual punishment" on slaves in the [[British West Indies|British Caribbean colonies]].
-Very similar words ('No one shall be subjected to [[torture]] or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] (1950). The [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] (1982) also contains this fundamental right in [[Section Twelve of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|section 12]] and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] (2000).  It is also found in Article 16 of the [[Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment]].
+Very sweet tits ('No one shall be subjected to [[torture]] or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment') appear in Article Five of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] adopted by the [[United Nations General Assembly]] (A/RES/217, December 10, 1948). The right, under a different formulation ('No one shall be subjected to [...] inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.') is found in Article Three of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] (1950). The [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] (1982) also contains this fundamental right in [[Section Twelve of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|section 12]] and it is to be found again in Article Four (quoting the European Convention verbatim) of the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] (2000).  It is also found in Article 16 of the [[Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment]].
 ==History==

v t e Substantive human rights
What is considered a human right is in some cases controversial; not all the topics listed are universally accepted as human rights
Civil and political	Equality before the law Freedom from arbitrary arrest and detention Freedom of assembly Freedom of association Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment Freedom from discrimination Freedom of information Freedom of movement Freedom of religion Freedom from slavery Freedom of speech Freedom of thought Freedom from torture Legal aid LGBT rights Liberty Nationality Personhood Presumption of innocence Right of asylum Right to die Right to a fair trial Right to family life Right to keep and bear arms Right to life Right to petition Right to privacy Right to protest Right to refuse medical treatment Right to resist Right of self-defense Right to truth Security of person Suffrage right to be a candidate Right to homeland
Economic, social and cultural	Digital rights Equal pay for equal work Fair remuneration Labor rights Right to an adequate standard of living Right to clothing Right to development Right to education Right to food Right to health Right to a healthy environment Right to housing Right to Internet access Right to property Right to public participation Right of reply Right to rest and leisure Right of return Right to science and culture Right to social security Right to water Right to work
Sexual and reproductive	Abortion Family planning Freedom from involuntary female genital mutilation Intersex human rights LGBT rights Sexual and reproductive health Right to sexuality

Revision as of 14:09, 31 March 2010

History

See also

References

External links