The Rejected Realms

General Assembly Resolution #500 “International Criminal Protocol” (Category: Civil Rights; Strength: Strong) shall be struck out and rendered null and void.

The General Assembly,

Applauding GA #500 "International Criminal Protocol" for its intended goal, which was ostensibly to preserve the civil liberties of those imprisoned from the horrors of state-sanctioned legal abuses,

Reassuring member states that a replacement resolution has been drafted to carry on the vital protections GA #500 offered concerning prison conditions,

Dismayed, however, that the resolution permits member states to decide the legality of capital punishment; a state-sanctioned penalty that this Assembly regards as inherently abhorrent and as posing a devastating detriment to civil liberties,

Cognizant that many ambassadors were unaware of the resolution’s toleration of the death penalty at the time of its passage, perhaps because of its focus on the rights of prisoners,

Referring to the fact that this body has previously repealed otherwise well-meaning resolutions on such grounds (see also GA#438 Repeal: “Crime And Punishment”),

In particular, it must be noted that:

• The death penalty is always inconsistent with the inherent dignity of the person,
• The costs of the administrative effort necessary to fully prove the guilt of the convicted almost always outweighs any of its possible financial benefits,
• The presumption that the death penalty lowers violent crime rates is based on the empirically false assumption that the circumstances of violent crime can be considered in a vacuum where criminals act rationally,
• The death penalty rarely aids the family of homicide victims, as it merely adds the emotional baggage of yet another life lost, and
• The use of such a severe, irreversible penalty can further exacerbate disparities in justice systems, especially those with existing widespread discrimination,

Further noting that since the justifications presented for the use of the death penalty are insufficient to allow member states to legalize it, this esteemed Assembly ought to prohibit it - which cannot occur in the presence of the target resolution,

Appalled that this resolution stands in the way of preventing the execution of innocent persons for crimes they did not commit, an atrocity that will continue to occur so as long as this resolution remains in force,

Resolved that the numerous benefits and protections this resolution brings forth does not outweigh the crippling blow it inflicts upon civil liberties, a disservice to the good intentions that fostered it,

Hereby repeals GA #500 "International Criminal Protocol".

Co-authored by Pope Saint Peter the Apostle and Tinhampton.

Guy wrote: ↑

15 Jan 2021, 04:36

For, of course.