Capital punishment
Capital punishment
Issues
Debate
Religious views
Wrongful execution
Participation of medical
professionals (United States)
By country or region
Australia · Brazil · Canada
China · France · Germany
India · Iran · Iraq · Italy · Japan
Malaysia · New Zealand
Pakistan · Philippines
Russia · Singapore
Taiwan · United Kingdom
United States · more
Methods
Decapitation · Electrocution
Firing squad · Gas chamber
Hanging · Lethal injection
Shooting · Stoning
more
Capital punishment, the death penalty or
execution, is the killing of a person by judi-
cial process for retribution, general de-
terrence, and incapacitation. Crimes that can
result in a death penalty are known as capital
crimes or capital offences. The term capital
originates from Latin capitalis, literally "re-
garding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a
capital crime was originally one punished by
the severing of the head.
Capital punishment has been practiced in
virtually every society, excluding those with
state religious proscriptions against it. It is a
matter of active controversy
in various
states, and positions can vary within a single
political ideology or cultural region. A major
exception is in Europe, where Article 2 of the
Charter of Fundamental Rights of
the
European Union prohibits the practice.[1]
Today, most countries are considered by
Amnesty
International as abolitionists,[2]
which allowed a vote on a nonbinding resolu-
tion to the UN to promote the abolition of the
death penalty.[3] But more than 60% of the
worldwide population live in countries where
executions take place insofar as the four
most populous countries in the world (the
People’s Republic of China, India, United
States and Indonesia) apply
the death
penalty.
History
Execution of criminals and political oppon-
ents has been used by nearly all societ-
ies—both to punish crime and to suppress
political dissent. In most places that practice
capital punishment it is reserved for murder,
espionage, treason, or as part of military
justice. In some countries sexual crim