In 1815 Kandyan leaders handed over the Kandyan kingdom to the British
and there both the parties signed the famous Kandyan Convention and a
specific factor on Human Rights is included in article 6 of the convention .It
says that the violent torture system which was performed under the
punishment methods which have been implemented under the rule of
Sinhalese kings should come to an end. Although these agreements were
implemented with various differences at the practical level later on, the
expectations of the then community on violent torture and the Death
Sentence were made quite obvious by this article.
Right to life through a Human Rights Perspective
Right to life of all the individuals is ensured as per article 3 of the United
Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights which has been adopted by
the Sri Lankan government as well. Similarly, every individual has a right to
life as per article 6 of the United nations Convention on Civil and Political
Rights. It should be ensured by law. Similarly, people should not be
murdered in an arbitrary manner.
Accordingly, it is evident that United Nations Party countries have accepted
an individual’s right to life as a human right. In the same way, it has been
illustrated by the section 6 of the Civil and Political Rights Convenant that if
a certain country has not abolished the death penalty, they have to follow
particular limitations when it is implemented. Accordingly,
1.
It should be implemented only for cases where very grave offences
have been committed
2.
A person sentenced to Death should have the right to request
pardon, obtain a pardon and to get the punishment reduced.
3.
Death Penalty should not be exercised in the case of persons below18
years and for expecting women.
Even though the right to life has been guaranteed by the United Nations
Universal Declaration on Human Rights and by the United Nations Civil and
Political Rights Convenant, the United Nations introduced the Optional
Protocol .It has been formulated directly targeting the abolition of the
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