Reviewing the Abolishment of the Death Penalty in Bangladesh through the Lens of Human Rights

Md. Shahrier Alam; Kazi Murad Hossain

doi:10.53808/KUS.2025.22.02.1414-lw

Authors

Md. Shahrier Alam Law Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh
Kazi Murad Hossain Law Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53808/KUS.2025.22.02.1414-lw

Keywords:

Abolishment of Death Penalty, Life Imprisonment, Capital Punishment, Reformative Punishment, Human Rights

Abstract

In Bangladesh, the death penalty has been a topic of controversy and discussion. This study evaluated the death penalty-related legal provisions existing in Bangladesh from the point of view of international human rights and empirically explored the prospects and main challenges or barriers to abolishing the death penalty in Bangladesh. This study employed the interpretative approach of the quantitative method for data analysis. Data was retrieved from secondary sources for the purpose of studying and evaluating the death penalty-related legal provisions. In an interpretative approach, data was retrieved from 30 general people and 20 legal experts by interviewing them with two distinctive sets of questions for each. Such demonstrations led the study to find that the general public lacks knowledge regarding human rights. After analyzing the data, the author found that while the majority of respondents said that Bangladesh should not abolish the death penalty, they did believe that life in prison could serve as an alternative and more suitable punishment. However, putting life in prison requires stability in the country's socioeconomic structure, which puts forward a barrier to Bangladesh's abolishing the death penalty.

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Author Biography

Md. Shahrier Alam, Law Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208, Bangladesh

LLB (Hons), LLM, Law Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna-9208.

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