We explain what the right to life is and what international treaties protect it. His conflict with the death penalty.
What is the right to life?
The right to life It's one of the human rights most fundamental, if not the most fundamental, constituted in the vast majority of legal systems modern.
It is the right of any human being of the world to continue living, without existence by the hand of third parties, be these persons or institutions (governmental or not). In addition, it protects them from any form of abuse or violence that make your life an unworthy existence.
The right to life is justified in numerous philosophical, religious, sociological, ethical and even biological approaches. It is considered fundamental in numerous international treaties and laws civil rights, being the basis of any other recognizable set of rights.
It is considered that slavery, terrorism, genocide, forced disappearance and mistreatment violate this basic human right. Any person who engages in such activities may and should be prosecuted and prosecuted by the different governments of the world, without this type of crimes ever prescribing.
However, like other rights, the right to life is neither absolute nor absolute. There are situations in which the violence it is used with legitimate right, such as situations of armed conflict.
Even so, there is a set of rules regarding what situations justify violence to another human being and what crimes are simply unjustifiable and are therefore considered crimes against the humanity.
On the other hand, other cases are particularly controversial when it comes to talking about the right to life, such as the abortion, the euthanasia, suicide or grief death.
International deals
The right to life is enshrined in numerous international orders, the most important of all being Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations Organization, which reads: "Every individual has the right to life, liberty and security of his person."
Other treaties that also contemplate this right are:
- The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- The American Convention on Human Rights;
- The Convention on the Rights of the Child;
- The Pact of San José de Costa Rica;
- The Convention for the Punishment of the Crime of Genocide;
- The International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination;
- The Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment;
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Right to child life
Vaccination is one of the factors that guarantees the right to life of children.
The right to life, in the case of children, is measured through different indices and rates that various international organizations such as the UN use to measure the quality of life in the countries.
For example, the Index of Human development (HDI) is a method designed in 1990 to evaluate the development of countries that considers the preservation of human rights, nor the development of the capacities of the population. This is how it differs from the measurement of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which offers merely economic information.
And together with the HDI, to measure the right to a child's life, the Rate of Mortality Children and Children under 5 years (TMM5), calculated according to the following parameters:
- The knowledge in matters of maternal health;
- The number of doctors available per 1000 inhabitants;
- The country's vaccination rate;
- Access to maternity and child health services;
- The ration of food Per inhabitant;
- Household income and food presence;
- The availability of the drinking water and sanitation processes;
- Social security available for the child.
Death penalty
The death penalty or capital punishment is the sentence to die that is allowed in some countries and legal orders. In them, the State decides that the crimes committed and proven are unforgivable, and merit the execution of the accused. This punishment had its origin in the Roman Law, and it was administered above all for the perduellio (treason to the fatherland).
The death penalty is not welcomed by those who fight for the right to life, since a State that executes its citizens contradicts such right and could, given the conditions, administer this punishment at its discretion.
Even so, currently, of the countries that make up the UN, 55 maintain the death penalty in their legislation, although strongly regulated, and 102 have definitively abolished it.