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Should the death penalty be introduced in Namibia?
The introduction of the death penalty for serious crimes is an issue of debate in Namibia because of the recent outbreak of deadly violence, rape and the atrocious abuse of women and children according to the Sun Namibia article (March 4, 2014). The causes, effects and solutions to the problems of violent crime throw up a number of complex issues which are further complicated by the way that crime is reported. This essay will examine this topic firstly by considering the arguments put forward by those in favor of the death penalty and then by looking at the arguments opposed to the idea.
The main arguments in favor of restoring the death penalty are those of deterrence and retribution: the theory is that people will be dissuaded from violent crime if they know they will face the ultimate punishment and that people should face the same treatment that they gave out to others. Amnesty International (2013) claims that it is impossible to prove that capital punishment is a greater deterrent than being given a life sentence in prison and that “evidence….gives no support to the evidence hypothesis theory.” It seems at best that the deterrence theory is yet to be proven. The concept of ‘retribution’ is an interesting one: there is a basic appeal in the simple phrase ‘the punishment should fit the crime’. Calder (2003) neatly summarizes this argument when he says that killers give up their rights when they kill and that if punishments are too lenient then it shows that we undervalue the right to live. There are other points too in support of the death penalty, one of these being cost. It is obviously far cheaper to execute prisoners promptly rather than feed and house them for years on end. According to BBC Ethic’s guide, it is often argued that the death penalty provides closure for victims ' families.
The arguments against the death penalty are mainly ethical in their nature, that it is basically wrong to kill and that when the state kills it sends out the wrong message to the rest of the country. Webber (2005) claims that the death penalty makes people believe that ‘killing people is morally permissible’. This is an interesting argument – would you teach children not to hit by hitting them? Wouldn’t this instead show them that hitting was indeed ‘permissible’? There is also the fact that you might execute innocent people. Innocent people can always be released from prison, but they can never be brought back from the dead. When people have been killed there is no chance of rehabilitation or criminals trying to make up for crimes. For this reason capital punishment has been called ‘the bluntest of blunt instruments’ (Clark, 2005). According to BBC Ethic’s “Everyone thinks human life is valuable. Some of those against the death penalty believe that human life is so valuable that even the worst murderers should not be deprived of the value of their lives.
I strongly condemn corporal punishment, but as human with emotions, feelings, frailties and strengths, I would expect retribution should something dear be taken from me, and even more so when it is the life of someone close. I believe that corporal punishment does not offer sufficient justification for taking human life, and will argue that there are other ways to ensure the offenders do not re-offend, such as imprisonment for life without possibility of parole. Although there have been cases of persons escaping from prison and killing again, these are extremely rare. In addition, I also believe that everyone has an inalienable human right to life, even those who commit murder; sentencing a person to death and executing them violates that right. This is very similar to the 'value of life ' argument, but approached from the perspective of human rights.
Furthermore, I also believe that sooner or later, innocent people will get killed, because of mistakes or flaws in the justice system. Witnesses, (where they are part of the process), prosecutors and jurors can all make mistakes. When this is coupled with flaws in the system it is inevitable that innocent people will be convicted of crimes. Where capital punishment is used such mistakes cannot be put right and according to Source: Amnesty International, there are ample evidence that such mistakes are possible, the Amnesty International sources further claims that in the USA, 130 people sentenced to death have been found innocent since 1973 and released from death row.
I further believe that the death penalty doesn 't seem to deter people from committing serious violent crimes. The thing that deters is the likelihood of being caught and punished.
In conclusion, the arguments put forward by people who support or are against the death penalty often reflect their deeper principles and beliefs. These beliefs and principles are deeply rooted in life experiences and the way people are brought up and are unlikely to be swayed by clever arguments. It is interesting that in this country most people are in favor of the death penalty yet parliament continues to oppose it. In this case it could be argued that parliament is leading the way in upholding human rights and continues to broadcast the clear message that killing is always wrong.

References
Van Vuuren, G. (2014, March 4). Is Capital Punishment Deterrence To Crime? Sun.com. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://sun.comcontent.na//national-news/death-penalty-debate
Cain, K. (2012, June 29) Figures on the death penalty. Amnesty International. Retrieved October 17, 2013, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/numbers
BBC (2012) Capital Punishment, Ethics Guide, bbc.co.uk Retrieved October 17, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_1.shtml

References: Van Vuuren, G. (2014, March 4). Is Capital Punishment Deterrence To Crime? Sun.com. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://sun.comcontent.na//national-news/death-penalty-debate Cain, K. (2012, June 29) Figures on the death penalty. Amnesty International. Retrieved October 17, 2013, http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/numbers BBC (2012) Capital Punishment, Ethics Guide, bbc.co.uk Retrieved October 17, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/, http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_1.shtml