Saturday, 24 November 2012

Prisoners' Right To Vote: A Human Right?

No.

The right to liberty is in Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Voting and will of the people is in Article 21.  Most people would argue the right to liberty is clearly more important than the right to take part in elections. The purpose and deterrent of legal incarceration is the violation of personal liberty. Nobody would suggest imprisonment in itself was a violation of human rights. Voting is an extension of the same concept. It is illogical to agree that the right to liberty may be violated but that the right to vote is sacred.