Recently I decided to participate in Seoul Model United Nations (SEOMUN) as a delegate of Kenya for the Human Rights Council (HRC) to gain a better perspective on the issue of the death penalty.

SEO Model United Nations is a conference where students stand to represent a country to solve a specific problem with other co-delegates from other countries. 

The SEOMUN Forum discussed means to address the human rights violations involved in the controversial death penalty. 

I recently saw a video circulated around social media that contained a lamentable scene of a death row inmate exclaiming in front of his sobbing family, praying for their welfare right before execution. 

Some videos virtually showed the brutal execution procedure of death row inmates. 

Many abhor the death penalty because they think that they are too harsh and do not render an opportunity for criminals to learn from their punishments. 

It is no exaggeration to say that issues concerning the death penalty have been in the headlines of newspapers and articles. 

I had to concentrate and participate throughout the session as Kenya, the country that I represented, has a belligerent attitude toward the death penalty.. 

During the session, I encouraged the member states to allow the press to report on relevant topics concerning the death penalty’s violation of human rights. 

This would increase public awareness of the death penalty by providing incentives to news companies and organizations to report the issue in the news, thereby cooperating with the Death Penalty Project’s aim to publicize the immorality of the death penalty.

Apart from suggesting reporting on relevant topics of human rights violations, I brought up other methods to address the death penalty. 

There was a lively debate with a great amount of arguments made by different member states.

The Human Rights Council member nations debated and compromised over the issue of addressing the death penalty’s violation of human rights over three days. 

Throughout the session, I readily looked deep inside the problem by actively engaging in laying out solutions and searching for more in-depth information.

The session has also made me understand that all seemingly simple issues have a baffling and complex side.

After the three days of tough debating sessions, I noticed something that I had yet to realize.

I noticed that some organizations and individuals have been taking action to resolve this problem. 

Individuals have been posting videos on social media that would allow people to easily empathize with the brutality of the death penalty. 

Later on, I realized that these small actions would eventually accumulate into massive ones and bring about an immense movement to address the human rights violations in the death penalty. 

The hope is that through a combination of new ideas and negotiation, the world could cease debasing human lives through the death penalty. 

Minjung Kwon

Grade 10 

Seoul Scholars International