View source for Capital punishment

{{Short description|Legal killing of a person as punishment for committing a crime}}
{{distinguish|Corporal punishment}}
{{redirect-several|Death penalty|Death sentence|Execution|Capital punishment}}
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{{homicide}}
'''Capital punishment''', also known as the '''death penalty''' and formerly called '''judicial [[homicide]]''',<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shipley |first=Maynard |date=1906 |title=The Abolition of Capital Punishment in Italy and San Marino |url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/amlr40&i=248 |journal=American Law Review |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=240–251 |via=[[HeinOnline]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grann |first=David |title=[[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]] |year=2018 |publisher=[[Vintage Books]] |isbn=978-0-307-74248-3 |page=153 |oclc=993996600 |author-link=David Grann}}</ref> is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct.<ref name="iep.utm.edu"/> The [[sentence (law)|sentence]] ordering that an offender be punished in such a manner is called a '''death sentence''', and the act of carrying out the sentence is an '''execution'''. A prisoner who has been sentenced to death and awaits execution is ''condemned'' and is commonly referred to as being "on [[death row]]". Etymologically, the term ''capital'' ({{lit|of the head}}, derived via the [[Latin]] ''{{lang|la|capitalis}}'' from ''{{lang|la|caput}}'', "head") refers to execution by [[Decapitation|beheading]],<ref name="KronenwetterP202">{{Harvnb|Kronenwetter|2001|p=202}}</ref> but executions are carried out by [[List of methods of capital punishment|many methods]], including [[hanging]], [[Execution by shooting|shooting]], [[lethal injection]], [[stoning]], [[Electric chair|electrocution]], and [[Gas chamber|gassing]].

Crimes that are punishable by death are known as ''capital crimes'', ''capital offences'', or ''capital felonies'', and vary depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly include serious crimes against a person, such as [[murder]], [[assassination]], [[mass murder]], [[child murder]], [[Aggravation (law)|aggravated]] [[rape]], [[terrorism]], [[aircraft hijacking]], [[war crime]]s, [[crimes against humanity]], and [[genocide]], along with crimes against the state such as attempting to [[Coup d'état|overthrow government]], [[treason]], [[espionage]], [[sedition]], and [[piracy]]. Also, in some cases, acts of [[recidivism]], aggravated robbery, and [[kidnapping]], in addition to drug trafficking, drug dealing, and drug possession, are capital crimes or enhancements. However, states have also imposed punitive executions, for an expansive range of conduct, for political or religious beliefs and practices, for a status beyond one's control, or without employing any significant due process procedures.<ref name="iep.utm.edu"/> [[Judicial murder]] is the intentional and premeditated killing of an innocent person by means of capital punishment.<ref name="Fowler"/> For example, the executions following the show trials in the [[Soviet Union]] during the [[Great Purge|Great Purge of 1936–1938]] were an instrument of political repression.

As of 2021, [[Capital punishment by country|56 countries retain capital punishment]], 111 countries have taken a position to abolished it ''[[de jure]]'' for all crimes, 7 have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 24 are abolitionist in practice.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-24 |title=Death Penalty 2021: Facts and Figures |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/05/death-penalty-2021-facts-and-figures/ |access-date=2024-06-18 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}}</ref> Although the majority of countries have abolished capital punishment, over half of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, including India, China, the U.S., Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and DR Congo. As of 2023, only 2 out of [[OECD#Member countries|38 OECD member countries]] (the [[Capital punishment in the United States|United States]] and [[Capital punishment in Japan|Japan]]) allow capital punishment.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 April 2022 |title=Why Japan retains the death penalty |url=https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2022/04/26/why-japan-retains-the-death-penalty |access-date=2024-06-18 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

Capital punishment is controversial, with many people, organisations, religious groups, and states holding differing views on whether it is ethically permissible. [[Amnesty International]] declares that the death penalty breaches [[human rights]], specifically "the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."<ref name="Das 2022 p. 192" /> These rights are protected under the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]], adopted by the [[United Nations]] in 1948.<ref name="Das 2022 p. 192">{{cite book | last=Das | first=J.K. | title=Human rights law and practice| edition=2nd | publisher=PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. | year=2022 | isbn=978-81-951611-6-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYplEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA192 | access-date=2022-05-08 | page=192}}</ref> In the [[European Union]] (EU), Article 2 of the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] prohibits the use of capital punishment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf |title=Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union |publisher=[[European Union]] |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529042731/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/text_en.pdf |archive-date=29 May 2010}}</ref> The [[Council of Europe]], which has 46 member states, has worked to end the death penalty and no execution has taken place in its current member states since 1997. The [[United Nations General Assembly]] has adopted, throughout the years from 2007 to 2020,<ref>[https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/news/a-record-120-nations-adopt-un-death-penalty-moratorium-resolution A Record 120 Nations Adopt UN Death-Penalty Moratorium Resolution], 18 December 2018, Death Penalty Information Center</ref> eight non-binding resolutions calling for a [[UN moratorium on the death penalty|global moratorium on executions]], with support for eventual abolition.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24679&Cr=general&Cr1=assembly |title=moratorium on the death penalty |publisher=United Nations |date=15 November 2007 |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110127183625/http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24679&Cr=general&Cr1=assembly |archive-date=27 January 2011}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Auguste Vaillant execution.jpg|thumb|upright|Anarchist [[Auguste Vaillant]] about to be guillotined in France in 1894]]
Execution of criminals and [[dissident]]s has been used by nearly all societies since the [[beginning of civilizations|beginning of civilisations]] on Earth.<ref>{{cite web |title= Criminal Justice: Capital Punishment Focus |url= https://www.criminaljusticedegreeschools.com/criminal-justice-resources/criminal-justice-capital-punishment-focus/ |publisher= criminaljusticedegreeschools.com |access-date= 27 August 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170827171830/https://www.criminaljusticedegreeschools.com/criminal-justice-resources/criminal-justice-capital-punishment-focus/ |archive-date= 27 August 2017}}</ref> Until the nineteenth century, without developed prison systems, there was frequently no workable alternative to ensure [[deterrence (penology)|deterrence]] and incapacitation of criminals.<ref>{{cite web |title= Furman v. Georgia – Mr. Justice Brennan, concurring |url= https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/408/238#writing-USSC_CR_0408_0238_ZC1 |publisher= law.cornell.edu |quote= When this country was founded, memories of the Stuart horrors were fresh and severe corporal punishments were common. Death was not then a unique punishment. The practice of punishing criminals by death, moreover, was widespread and by and large acceptable to society. Indeed, without developed prison systems, there was frequently no workable alternative. Since that time, successive restrictions, imposed against the background of a continuing moral controversy, have drastically curtailed the use of this punishment. |access-date= 19 July 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170718190721/https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/408/238#writing-USSC_CR_0408_0238_ZC1 |archive-date= 18 July 2017}}</ref> In [[pre-modern]] times the executions themselves often involved torture with painful methods, such as the [[breaking wheel]], [[keelhauling]], [[Death by sawing|sawing]], [[Hanged, drawn and quartered|hanging, drawing and quartering]], [[Death by burning|burning at the stake]], [[crucifixion]], [[flaying]], [[Lingchi|slow slicing]], [[boiling alive]], [[impalement]], [[mazzatello]], [[blowing from a gun]], [[schwedentrunk]], and [[scaphism]]. Other methods which appear only in legend include the [[blood eagle]] and [[brazen bull]].{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishments for wrongdoing generally included [[Blood money (restitution)|blood money]] compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, [[shunning]], banishment and execution. In tribal societies, compensation and shunning were often considered enough as a form of justice.<ref>So common was the practice of compensation that the word ''murder'' is derived from the French word ''mordre'' (bite) a reference to the heavy compensation one must pay for causing an unjust death. The "bite" one had to pay was used as a term for the crime itself: "Mordre wol out; that se we day by day." – [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] (1340–1400), [[The Canterbury Tales]], ''The Nun's Priest's Tale'', l. 4242 (1387–1400), repr. In ''The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer'', ed. Alfred W. Pollard, et al. (1898).</ref> The response to crimes committed by neighbouring tribes, clans or communities included a formal apology, compensation, blood feuds, and [[tribal warfare]].

A [[Feud|blood feud]] or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails, or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished."<ref>Translated from Waldmann, ''op.cit.'', p. 147.</ref>

In most countries that practice capital punishment, it is now reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries, [[sexual crime]]s, such as rape, [[fornication]], [[adultery]], [[incest]], [[sodomy]], and [[bestiality]] carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as [[Hudud]], [[Zina]], and [[Qisas]] crimes, such as [[Apostasy from Islam|apostasy]] (formal renunciation of the [[state religion]]), [[Islam and blasphemy|blasphemy]], [[moharebeh]], [[hirabah]], [[Fasad]], [[Mofsed-e-filarz]] and witchcraft. In many [[Use of capital punishment by nation|countries that use the death penalty]], drug trafficking and often drug possession is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption and [[financial crime]]s are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world, [[courts-martial]] have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, [[desertion]], [[insubordination]], and [[mutiny]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shotatdawn.org.uk/ |title=Shot at Dawn, campaign for pardons for British and Commonwealth soldiers executed in World War I |access-date=20 July 2006 |publisher=Shot at Dawn Pardons Campaign |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060703143147/http://www.shotatdawn.org.uk/ |archive-date=3 July 2006 }}</ref>

===Ancient history===
[[File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer - Walters 37113.jpg|thumb|left|''The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer'', by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]] (1883). [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Circus Maximus]].]]
Elaborations of tribal arbitration of [[feud]]s included peace settlements often done in a religious context and compensation system. Compensation was based on the principle of ''substitution'' which might include material (for example, cattle, slaves, land) compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, or transfers of property or [[Blood money (term)|blood money]] or in some case an offer of a person for execution. The person offered for execution did not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the social system was based on tribes and clans, not individuals. Blood feuds could be regulated at meetings, such as the [[Norsemen]] ''[[Thing (assembly)|things]]''.<ref>Lindow, ''op.cit.'' (primarily discusses Icelandic ''things'').</ref> Systems deriving from blood feuds may survive alongside more advanced legal systems or be given recognition by courts (for example, [[trial by combat]] or blood money). One of the more modern refinements of the blood feud is the [[duel]].

[[File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_187.png|thumb|[[Beheading of John the Baptist]], woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld]], 1860]]
In certain parts of the world, nations in the form of ancient republics, monarchies or tribal oligarchies emerged. These nations were often united by common linguistic, religious or family ties. Moreover, expansion of these nations often occurred by conquest of neighbouring tribes or nations. Consequently, various classes of royalty, nobility, various commoners and slaves emerged. Accordingly, the systems of tribal arbitration were submerged into a more unified system of justice which formalized the relation between the different "social classes" rather than "tribes". The earliest and most famous example is [[Code of Hammurabi]] which set the different punishment and compensation, according to the different class or group of victims and perpetrators. [[Capital punishment in the Bible|The Torah/Old Testament]] lays down the death penalty for murder,<ref>{{bibleverse|Genesis|9:6|HE}}, "Whosoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed."</ref> kidnapping, practicing magic, violation of the [[Shabbat|Sabbath]], blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes, although evidence{{Specify|date=June 2023}} suggests that actual executions were exceedingly rare, if they occurred at all.<ref>{{Cite book|first=William|last=Schabas|year=2002|title=The Abolition of the Death Penalty in International Law|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81491-1}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=June 2023}}

A [[Peshotanu (punishment)|Peshotanu]] was a condemned person in Ancient Persia. 

A further example comes from [[Ancient Greece]], where the [[Athenian]] legal system replacing [[customary law|customary]] [[oral law]] was first written down by [[Draco (lawgiver)|Draco]] in about 621 BC: the death penalty was applied for a particularly wide range of crimes, though [[Solon]] later repealed Draco's code and published new laws, retaining capital punishment only for intentional homicide, and only with victim's family permission.<ref>{{cite web|author=Robert|url=http://history-world.org/draco_and_solon_laws.htm|title=Greece, A History of Ancient Greece, Draco and Solon Laws|publisher=History-world.org|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101021023919/http://history-world.org/draco_and_solon_laws.htm|archive-date=21 October 2010}}</ref> The word [[wikt:draconian|draconian]] derives from Draco's laws. The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] also used the death penalty for a wide range of offences.<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/93902/capital-punishment|title=capital punishment (law) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Britannica.com|access-date=12 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121122091559/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/93902/capital-punishment|archive-date=22 November 2012}}</ref>

===Ancient Greece===
[[File:David - The Death of Socrates.jpg|thumb|[[The Death of Socrates]] (1787), in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] in New York City]]
[[Protagoras]] (whose thought is reported by [[Plato]]) criticised the principle of revenge, because once the damage is done it cannot be cancelled by any action. So, if the death penalty is to be imposed by society, it is only to protect the latter against the criminal or for a dissuasive purpose.<ref>{{harvnb|Jean-Marie Carbasse|2002|p=15|id=Carbasse2002}}</ref> "The only right that Protagoras knows is therefore human right, which, established and sanctioned by a sovereign collectivity, identifies itself with positive or the law in force of the city. In fact, it finds its guarantee in the death penalty which threatens all those who do not respect it."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9Y2aYV5RTkC&q=Protagoras+%22peine+de+mort%22&pg=PA58|title = Platonisme politique et théorie du droit naturel: Le platonisme politique dans l'antiquité|isbn = 9789068317688|last1 = Neschke|first1 = Ada Babette|last2 = Follon|first2 = Jacques|year = 1995| publisher=Peeters Publishers }}</ref><ref>{{cite book| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=N9Y2aYV5RTkC| title = Platonisme politique et théorie du droit naturel: Le platonisme politique dans l'antiquité| isbn = 9789068317688| last1 = Neschke| first1 = Ada Babette| last2 = Follon| first2 = Jacques| year = 1995| publisher = Peeters Publishers}}</ref>

Plato saw the death penalty as a means of purification, because crimes are a "defilement". Thus, in the [[Laws (dialogue)|Laws]], he considered necessary the execution of the animal or the destruction of the object which caused the death of a man by accident. For the murderers, he considered that the act of homicide is not natural and is not fully consented by the criminal. Homicide is thus a disease of the [[soul]], which must be reeducated as much as possible, and, as a last resort, sentence to death if no rehabilitation is possible.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.puf.com/content/La_peine_de_mort_0| title = La peine de mort| access-date = 26 October 2020| archive-date = 29 October 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201029153208/https://www.puf.com/content/La_peine_de_mort_0| url-status = dead}}</ref>

According to [[Aristotle]], for whom free will is proper to man, a person is responsible for their actions. If there was a crime, a judge must define the penalty allowing the crime to be annulled by compensating it. This is how pecuniary compensation appeared for criminals the least recalcitrant and whose rehabilitation is deemed possible. However, for others, he argued, the death penalty is necessary.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://ihd.edu.umontpellier.fr/jean-marie-carbasse/| title = Jean-Marie Carbasse| access-date = 27 October 2020| archive-date = 9 July 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230709192102/https://ihd.edu.umontpellier.fr/jean-marie-carbasse/| url-status = dead}}</ref>

This philosophy aims on the one hand to protect society and on the other hand to compensate to cancel the consequences of the crime committed. It inspired Western criminal law until the 17th century, a time when the first reflections on the abolition of the death penalty appeared.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://deathpenalty.procon.org/historical-timeline/| title = 1700 BC – 1799| date = 5 February 2025}}</ref>

===Ancient Rome===
The [[Twelve Tables]], the body of laws handed down from archaic Rome, prescribe the death penalty for a variety of crimes including libel, arson and theft.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Melusky |first1=Joseph Anthony |title=Capital punishment |last2=Pesto |first2=Keith A. |date=2011 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-1-4408-0057-3 |series=Historical guides to controversial issues in America |location=Santa Barbara, Calif |page=8}}</ref> During the [[Late Republic]], there was consensus among the public and legislators to reduce the incidence of capital punishment. This opinion led to [[voluntary exile]] being prescribed in place of the death penalty, whereby a convict could either choose to leave in exile or face execution.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bauman |first=Richard A. |title=Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2002 |isbn=9781134823949 |location=New York |pages=6–7 |language=en}}</ref>

A historic debate, followed by a vote, took place in the [[Roman Senate]] to decide the fate of [[Catiline]]'s allies when he attempted to seize power in December, 63 BC. Cicero, then [[Roman consul]], argued in support of the killing of conspirators without judgment by decision of the Senate ([[Senatus consultum ultimum]]) and was supported by the majority of senators; among the minority voices opposed to the execution, the most notable was [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>{{cite journal| url = https://www.jstor.org/stable/3306244| title = Freedom and Slavery in Roman Law| jstor = 3306244| last1 = Shumway| first1 = Edgar S.| journal = The American Law Register | year = 1901| volume = 49| issue = 11| pages = 636–653| doi = 10.2307/3306244|issn = 1558-3562| url-access = subscription}}</ref> The custom was different for [[peregrini|foreigners]] who did not hold rights as [[Roman citizenship|Roman citizen]]s, and especially for slaves, who were transferrable property.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

[[Crucifixion]] was a form of punishment first employed by the Romans against [[Slavery in ancient Rome#Rebellions|slaves who rebelled]], and throughout the Republican era was [[Slavery in ancient Rome#Crucifixion|reserved for slaves]], [[latrocinium|bandits]], and [[Law of majestas|traitors]]. Intended to be a punishment, a humiliation, and a deterrent, the condemned could take up to a few days to die. Corpses of the crucified were typically left on the crosses to decompose and to be eaten by animals.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web|url=http://www.mercaba.org/FICHAS/upsa/crucifixion.htm|title=Crucifixion in Antiquity: The Evidence|last=Zias|first=Joseph|date=1998|website=www.mercaba.org|access-date=25 September 2023}}</ref>

===China===
There was a time in the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907) when the death penalty was abolished.<ref name="benn 8">{{Cite book |last=Benn |first=Charles D. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/845680499 |title=China's golden age everyday life in the Tang dynasty |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-517665-0 |oclc=845680499}}</ref> This was in the year 747, enacted by [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] (r. 712–756). When abolishing the death penalty, Xuanzong ordered his officials to refer to the nearest regulation by analogy when sentencing those found guilty of crimes for which the prescribed punishment was execution. Thus, depending on the severity of the crime a punishment of severe scourging with the thick rod or of exile to the remote Lingnan region might take the place of capital punishment. However, the death penalty was restored only 12 years later in 759 in response to the [[An Lushan Rebellion]].<ref>Benn, pp. 209–210</ref> At this time in the Tang dynasty only the emperor had the authority to sentence criminals to execution. Under Xuanzong capital punishment was relatively infrequent, with only 24 executions in the year 730 and 58 executions in the year 736.<ref name="benn 8"/>

The two most common forms of execution in the Tang dynasty were strangulation and decapitation, which were the prescribed methods of execution for 144 and 89 offences respectively. Strangulation was the prescribed sentence for lodging an accusation against one's parents or grandparents with a magistrate, scheming to kidnap a person and sell them into slavery and opening a coffin while desecrating a tomb. Decapitation was the method of execution prescribed for more serious crimes such as treason and sedition. Despite the great discomfort involved, most of the Tang Chinese preferred strangulation to decapitation, as a result of the traditional Tang Chinese belief that the body is a gift from the parents and that it is, therefore, disrespectful to one's ancestors to die without returning one's body to the grave intact.

Some further forms of capital punishment were practiced in the Tang dynasty, of which the first two that follow at least were extralegal.{{Clarify|if they were extra-legal, they fail the definition of CapPun|date=July 2016}} The first of these was scourging to death with the thick rod{{Clarify|what is scourging with a thick rod? Anal?|date=July 2016}} which was common throughout the Tang dynasty especially in cases of gross corruption. The second was truncation, in which the convicted person was cut in two at the waist with a fodder knife and then left to bleed to death.<ref name=Benn210>Benn, p. 210</ref> A further form of execution called Ling Chi ([[slow slicing]]), or death by/of a thousand cuts, was used from the close of the Tang dynasty (around 900) to its abolition in 907.

When a minister of the fifth grade or above received a death sentence the emperor might grant him a special dispensation allowing him to commit suicide in lieu of execution. Even when this privilege was not granted, the law required that the condemned minister be provided with food and ale by his keepers and transported to the execution ground in a cart rather than having to walk there.

Nearly all executions under the Tang dynasty took place in public as a warning to the population. The heads of the executed were displayed on poles or spears. When local authorities decapitated a convicted criminal, the head was boxed and sent to the capital as proof of identity and that the execution had taken place.<ref name=Benn210 />

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Lamanie kolem L 001xx.jpg|thumb|left|The [[breaking wheel]] was used during the Middle Ages and was still in use into the 19th century.]]
In [[Medieval Europe|medieval]] and early modern Europe, before the development of modern prison systems, the death penalty was also used as a generalised form of punishment for even minor offences.<ref>{{Citation |last=Ward |first=Richard |title=Introduction: A Global History of Execution and the Criminal Corpse |date=2015 |url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK379343/ |work=A Global History of Execution and the Criminal Corpse |editor-last=Ward |editor-first=Richard |access-date=2023-04-03 |series=Wellcome Trust–Funded Monographs and Book Chapters |place=Basingstoke (UK) |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1-137-44401-1 |pmid=27559562}}</ref>

In early modern Europe, a mass panic regarding witchcraft swept across Europe and later the [[European colonization of the Americas|European colonies in North America]]. During this period, there were widespread claims that malevolent [[Satanism|Satanic]] [[Witchcraft|witches]] were operating as an organised threat to [[Christendom]]. As a result, tens of thousands of women were prosecuted for witchcraft and executed through the [[Witch trials in the early modern period|witch trials of the early modern period]] (between the 15th and 18th centuries).

[[File:Rohrbach-verbrennung-1525.jpg|thumb|The burning of Jakob Rohrbach, a leader of the peasants during the [[German Peasants' War]]]]
The death penalty also targeted sexual offences such as [[sodomy]]. In the early history of Islam (7th–11th centuries), there is a number of "purported (but mutually inconsistent) reports" (''athar'') regarding the punishments of sodomy ordered by some of the [[Caliphate|early caliphs]].<ref name=iranica-law>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Rowson |first=Everett K. |author-link=Everett K. Rowson |title=Homosexuality in Islamic Law |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/homosexuality-ii |volume=XII/4 |pages=441–445 |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] |publisher=[[Columbia University]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] |date= 2012 |orig-year= 2004 |doi=10.1163/2330-4804_EIRO_COM_11037 |doi-access=free |issn=2330-4804 |access-date=13 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517035334/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/homosexuality-ii |archive-date=17 May 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality">{{cite book |author-last=Wafer |author-first=Jim |year=1997 |chapter=Muhammad and Male Homosexuality |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Zw-AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA88 |editor1-last=Murray |editor1-first=Stephen O. |editor1-link=Stephen O. Murray |editor2-last=Roscoe |editor2-first=Will |title=[[Islamic Homosexualities|Islamic Homosexualities: Culture, History, and Literature]] |location=[[New York City|New York]] and [[London]] |publisher=[[NYU Press]] |pages=88–96 |doi=10.18574/nyu/9780814761083.003.0006 |isbn=9780814774687 |jstor=j.ctt9qfmm4 |oclc=35526232 |s2cid=141668547}}</ref> [[Abu Bakr]], the first caliph of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]], apparently recommended toppling a wall on the culprit, or else [[Death by burning|burning him alive]],<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/> while [[Ali ibn Abi Talib]] is said to have ordered [[Stoning in Islam|death by stoning]] for one sodomite and had another thrown head-first from the top of the highest building in the town; according to [[Ibn Abbas]], the latter punishment must be followed by stoning.<ref name="Muhammad Homosexuality"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=1986 |title=Liwāṭ |editor1-last=Bosworth |editor1-first=C. E. |editor1-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |editor2-last=van Donzel |editor2-first=E. J. |editor2-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel |editor3-last=Heinrichs |editor3-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs |editor4-last=Lewis |editor4-first=B. |editor5-last=Pellat |editor5-first=Ch. |editor5-link=Charles Pellat |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of Islam#2nd edition, EI2|Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition]] |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=5 |doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_4677 |isbn=978-90-04-16121-4}}</ref> Other medieval Muslim leaders, such as the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid caliphs]] in [[Baghdad]] (most notably [[al-Mu'tadid]]), were often cruel in their punishments.<ref>''The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall.'', [[William Muir]]</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2017}} In early modern England, the [[Buggery Act 1533]] stipulated hanging as punishment for "[[buggery]]". [[James Pratt and John Smith]] were the last two Englishmen to be executed for sodomy in 1835.<ref>{{cite book | title=A Gay History of Britain: Love and Sex Between Men Since the Middle Ages | publisher=[[Greenwood World Publishing]] | last1=Cook |first1=Matt | last2=Mills |first2=Robert | last3=Trumback |first3=Randolph | last4=Cocks |first4=Harry | year=2007 |page=109| isbn=978-1846450020}}</ref> In 1636 the laws of [[Puritan]] governed [[Plymouth Colony]] included a sentence of death for sodomy and buggery.<ref>{{cite book |title=Chicago Whispers: A History of LGBT Chicago before Stonewall |date=2012 |publisher=University of Wisconsin Press |page=248}}</ref> The [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] followed in 1641. Throughout the 19th century, U.S. states repealed death sentences from their sodomy laws, with South Carolina being the last to do so in 1873.<ref>{{cite book |title=Gay and Lesbian Educators: Personal Freedoms, Public Constraints |date=1997 |publisher=Amethyst |page=153}}</ref>

Historians recognise that during the [[Early Middle Ages]], the Christian populations living in the [[Early Muslim conquests|lands invaded by the Arab Muslim armies]] between the 7th and 10th centuries suffered [[religious discrimination]], [[religious persecution]], [[religious violence]], and [[Martyrdom in Christianity|martyrdom]] multiple times at the hands of Arab Muslim officials and rulers.<ref name="Sahner 2020">{{cite book |last=Sahner |first=Christian C. |year=2020 |orig-year=2018 |title=Christian Martyrs under Islam: Religious Violence and the Making of the Muslim World |chapter=Introduction: Christian Martyrs under Islam |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZqzDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |location=[[Princeton, New Jersey]] and [[Woodstock, Oxfordshire]] |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |pages=1–28 |isbn=978-0-691-17910-0 |lccn=2017956010}}</ref><ref name="Runciman 1987">{{cite book |last=Runciman |first=Steven |author-link=Steven Runciman |year=1987 |orig-year=1951 |chapter=The Reign of Antichrist |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uDj9sNezWzEC&pg=PA20 |title=[[A History of the Crusades|A History of the Crusades, Volume 1: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem]] |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=20–37 |isbn=978-0-521-34770-9}}</ref> As [[People of the Book]], Christians under Muslim rule were subjected to ''[[dhimmi]]'' status (along with [[Jews]], [[Samaritans]], [[Gnostics]], [[Mandeans]], and Zoroastrians), which was inferior to the status of Muslims.<ref name="Runciman 1987" /><ref name="Stillman 1998">{{cite book |last=Stillman |first=Norman A. |author-link=Norman Stillman |year=1998 |title=The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book |chapter=Under the New Order |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bFN2ismyhEYC&pg=PA22 |location=[[Philadelphia]] |publisher=[[Jewish Publication Society]] |pages=22–28 |isbn=978-0-8276-0198-7}}</ref> Christians and other religious minorities thus faced [[religious discrimination]] and [[religious persecution]] in that they were banned from [[Proselytism|proselytising]] (for Christians, it was forbidden to [[Evangelism|evangelise or spread Christianity]]) in the lands invaded by the Arab Muslims on pain of death, they were banned from bearing arms, undertaking certain professions, and were obligated to dress differently in order to distinguish themselves from Arabs.<ref name="Stillman 1998" /> Under ''[[sharia]]'', Non-Muslims were obligated to pay ''[[jizya]]'' and ''[[kharaj]]'' taxes,<ref name="Runciman 1987" /><ref name="Stillman 1998" /> together with periodic heavy [[ransom]] levied upon Christian communities by Muslim rulers in order to fund military campaigns, all of which contributed a significant proportion of income to the Islamic states while conversely reducing many Christians to poverty, and these financial and social hardships forced many Christians to convert to Islam.<ref name="Stillman 1998" /> Christians unable to pay these taxes were forced to surrender their children to the Muslim rulers as payment who would [[History of slavery in the Muslim world|sell them as slaves]] to Muslim households where they [[Forced conversion#Islam|were forced to convert to Islam]].<ref name="Stillman 1998" /> Many Christian martyrs [[Capital punishment in Islam|were executed under the Islamic death penalty]] for defending their Christian faith through dramatic acts of resistance such as refusing to convert to Islam, [[Apostasy in Islam|repudiation of the Islamic religion]] and subsequent [[Conversion to Christianity|reconversion to Christianity]], and [[Islam and blasphemy|blasphemy towards Muslim beliefs]].<ref name="Sahner 2020"/>

Despite the wide use of the death penalty, calls for reform were not unknown. The 12th-century Jewish legal scholar [[Moses Maimonides]] wrote: "It is better and more satisfactory to acquit a thousand guilty persons than to put a single innocent man to death." He argued that executing an accused criminal on anything less than absolute certainty would lead to a slippery slope of decreasing [[Legal burden of proof|burdens of proof]], until we would be convicting merely "according to the judge's caprice". Maimonides's concern was maintaining popular respect for law, and he saw errors of commission as much more threatening than errors of omission.<ref name="Moses Maimonides 1967">Moses Maimonides, ''The Commandments, Neg. Comm. 290'', at 269–71 (Charles B. Chavel trans., 1967).</ref>

===Enlightenment philosophy===
While during the Middle Ages the expiatory aspect of the death penalty was taken into account, this is no longer the case under the [[Lumières]]. These define the place of man within society no longer according to a divine rule, but as a contract established at birth between the citizen and the society, it is the [[Contractualism|social contract]]. From that moment on, capital punishment should be seen as useful to society through its dissuasive effect, but also as a means of protection of the latter vis-à-vis criminals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kashiwazaki |first=Masanori |date=2021 |title=Improvement as the Foundation of Liberty: Locke on Labour, Equality, and Civic Membership |url=https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/locke/article/view/11110 |journal=Locke Studies |language=en |volume=21 |pages=56–87–56–87 |doi=10.5206/ls.2021.11110 |s2cid=250934172 |issn=2561-925X|doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Modern era===
[[File:Beccaria - Dei delitti e delle pene - 6043967 A.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Wikt:antiporta|''Antiporta'']] of ''Dei delitti e delle pene'' (''On Crimes and Punishments''), 1766 ed.]]
In the last several centuries, with the emergence of modern [[nation state]]s, justice came to be increasingly associated with the concept of [[natural and legal rights]]. The period saw an increase in standing police forces and permanent penitential institutions. [[Rational choice theory (criminology)|Rational choice theory]], a [[utilitarian]] approach to [[criminology]] which justifies punishment as a form of deterrence as opposed to retribution, can be traced back to [[Cesare, Marquis of Beccaria|Cesare Beccaria]], whose influential treatise ''On Crimes and Punishments'' (1764) was the first detailed analysis of capital punishment to demand the abolition of the death penalty.<ref>Marcello Maestro, "A pioneer for the abolition of capital punishment: Cesare Beccaria." ''Journal of the History of Ideas'' 34.3 (1973): 463–68. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2708966 online]</ref> In England, [[Jeremy Bentham]] (1748–1832), the founder of modern utilitarianism, called for the abolition of the death penalty.<ref name="deathpenalty">{{Cite journal|doi=10.2307/1143143|author1=Bedau, Hugo Adam|title=Bentham's Utilitarian Critique of the Death Penalty|journal=The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology|volume=74|issue=3|date=Autumn 1983|pages=1033–65|jstor=1143143|url=http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol74/iss3/12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831041015/http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc/vol74/iss3/12/|archive-date=31 August 2017|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Beccaria, and later [[Charles Dickens]] and [[Karl Marx]] noted the incidence of increased violent criminality at the times and places of executions. Official recognition of this phenomenon led to executions being carried out inside prisons, away from public view.

In England in the 18th century, when there was no police force, Parliament drastically increased the number of capital offences to more than 200. These were mainly property offences, for example cutting down a cherry tree in an orchard.<ref name="JonesJohnstone2011">{{cite book|author1=Mark Jones|author2=Peter Johnstone|title=History of Criminal Justice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qhPdaCJWQikC&pg=PA152|date=22 July 2011|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-4377-3491-1|pages=150–}}</ref> In 1820, there were 160, including crimes such as shoplifting, petty theft or stealing cattle.<ref>Durant, Will and Ariel, ''The Story of Civilization, Volume IX: The Age of Voltaire'' New York, 1965, p. 71</ref> The severity of the so-called [[Bloody Code]] was often tempered by juries who refused to convict, or judges, in the case of petty theft, who arbitrarily set the value stolen at below the statutory level for a capital crime.<ref>Durant, p. 72,</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Mexican execution, 1914.jpg|left|thumb|Mexican execution by [[firing squad]], 1916]]
In [[Nazi Germany]], there were three types of capital punishment; hanging, decapitation, and death by shooting.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gN0QgcW4Td0C&pg=PA289|page= 289|title=The criminal law of Japan: the general part|author=Dando Shigemitsu|year=1999|publisher= F.B. Rothman|isbn= 9780837706535}}</ref> Also, modern military organisations employed capital punishment as a means of maintaining military discipline. In the past, [[cowardice]], absence without leave, [[desertion]], [[insubordination]], shirking under enemy fire and disobeying orders were often crimes punishable by death (see [[Decimation (Roman army)|decimation]] and [[running the gauntlet]]). One method of execution, since firearms came into common use, has also been firing squad, although some countries use execution with a single shot to the head or neck.

[[File:German announcement General Government Poland 1944.jpg|thumb|50 Poles tried and sentenced to death by a ''[[drumhead court-martial|Standgericht]]'' in retaliation for the assassination of 1 German policeman in [[Nazi crimes against the Polish nation|Nazi-occupied Poland]], 1944]]
Various authoritarian states employed the death penalty as a potent means of [[political repression|political oppression]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1992-06-15 |title=Internal Workings of the Soviet Union – Revelations from the Russian Archives {{!}} Exhibitions – Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/intn.html |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> Anti-Soviet author [[Robert Conquest]] claimed that more than one million [[Soviet Union#Stalin era (1927–1953)|Soviet citizens were executed]] during the [[Great Purge]] of 1936 to 1938, almost all by a bullet to the back of the head.<ref>Conquest, Robert, ''[[The Great Terror]]: A Reassessment'', New York, pp. 485–86</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2019-09-19 |title=The Desperate Plight Behind "Darkness at Noon" |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/30/the-desperate-plight-behind-darkness-at-noon |access-date=2023-04-03 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Mao Zedong]] publicly stated that "800,000" people had been executed in China during the [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–1976). Partly as a response to such excesses, civil rights organisations started to place increasing emphasis on the concept of human rights and an abolition of the death penalty.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}

===Contemporary era===
By continent, all European countries but one have abolished capital punishment;{{NoteTag|name=Belarus.|content=[[Capital punishment in Belarus|Belarus]]}} many Oceanian countries have abolished it;{{NoteTag|content=including [[Capital punishment in Australia|Australia]] and [[Capital punishment in New Zealand|New Zealand]].|name=ANZ}} most countries in the Americas have abolished its use,{{NoteTag|content=Most Latin American countries and [[Capital punishment in Canada|Canada]] have completely abolished capital punishment, while a few such as [[Capital punishment in Brazil|Brazil]] and [[Capital punishment in Guatemala|Guatemala]] allow for it only in exceptional situations (such as treason committed during wartime).|name=Americas}} while a few actively retain it;{{NoteTag|content=The [[Capital punishment in the United States|United States]] and some Caribbean countries.|name=US&Carib.}} less than half of countries in Africa retain it;{{NoteTag|content=For example [[Capital punishment in South Africa|South Africa]] abolished the death penalty in 1995, while [[Capital punishment in Botswana|Botswana]] and [[Capital punishment in Zambia|Zambia]] retain it.|name=Africa}} and the majority of countries in Asia retain it, for example, [[Capital punishment in China|China]], [[Capital punishment in Japan|Japan]] and [[Capital punishment in India|India]].<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Duggal |first1=Hanna |last2=Ali |first2=Marium |title=Map: Which countries still have the death penalty? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/16/map-which-countries-still-have-the-death-penalty-2023 |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en}}</ref>

Abolition was often adopted due to political change, as when countries shifted from authoritarianism to democracy, or when it became an entry condition for the EU. The United States is a notable exception: some states have had bans on capital punishment for decades, the earliest being [[Michigan]], where it was abolished in 1846, while other states still actively use it today. The death penalty in the United States remains a contentious issue which is [[Capital punishment debate in the United States|hotly debated]].

In retentionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived when a miscarriage of justice has occurred though this tends to cause legislative efforts to improve the judicial process rather than to abolish the death penalty. In abolitionist countries, the debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders, though few countries have brought it back after abolishing it. However, a spike in serious, violent crimes, such as murders or terrorist attacks, has prompted some countries to effectively end the moratorium on the death penalty. One notable example is [[Capital punishment in Pakistan|Pakistan]] which in December 2014 lifted a six-year moratorium on executions after the [[2014 Peshawar school massacre|Peshawar school massacre]] during which 132 students and 9 members of staff of the Army Public School and Degree College Peshawar were killed by [[Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan]] terrorists, a group distinct from the [[Afghan Taliban]], who condemned the attack.<ref name="IBT">{{cite news |last=Sridharan |first=Vasudevan |url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/peshawar-massacre-afghan-taliban-condemn-un-islamic-pakistan-school-carnage-1479853 |title=Afghanistan: Afghan Taliban condemned 'un-Islamic' Pakistan school carnage |work=International Business Times |date=17 December 2014 |access-date=17 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622032821/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/peshawar-massacre-afghan-taliban-condemn-un-islamic-pakistan-school-carnage-1479853 |archive-date=22 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Since then, Pakistan has executed over 400 convicts.<ref>{{cite web |title=465 prisoners sent to gallows since 2014, says report |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1451615/465-prisoners-sent-gallows-since-2014-says-report/ |publisher=tribune.com.pk |access-date=19 July 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706181850/https://tribune.com.pk/story/1451615/465-prisoners-sent-gallows-since-2014-says-report/ |archive-date=6 July 2017 |date=6 July 2017}}</ref>

In 2017, two major countries, [[Capital punishment in Turkey|Turkey]] and the [[Capital punishment in the Philippines|Philippines]], saw their executives making moves to reinstate the death penalty.<ref name="dpnythouse">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/world/asia/philippines-death-penalty.html|title=Philippines Moves Closer to Reinstating Death Penalty|first=Felipe|last=Villamor|date=1 March 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170302103805/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/01/world/asia/philippines-death-penalty.html|archive-date=2 March 2017|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> In the same year, passage of the law in the Philippines failed to obtain the Senate's approval.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=Romero|first1=Alexis|last2=Romero|first2=Paolo|title=Death penalty dead in Senate – Drilon|url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/04/27/1689114/death-penalty-dead-senate-drilon|access-date=10 October 2020|website=philstar.com}}</ref>

On 29 December 2021, after a 20-year moratorium, the Kazakhstan government enacted the 'On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the Abolition of the Death Penalty' signed by President [[Kassym-Jomart Tokayev]] as part of series of Omnibus reformations of the Kazak legal system 'Listening State' initiative.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-29 |title=Kazakhstan's President Signs Law Abolishing Death Penalty and Law on Commissioner for Human Rights |url=https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/308223?lang=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222112551/https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa/press/news/details/308223?lang=en |archive-date=2022-02-22 |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=Government of Kazakhstan |language=}}</ref>

==History of abolition==
{{See also|Use of capital punishment by country#Abolition chronology}}
[[File:Emperor Shomu.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Emperor Shōmu]] banned the death penalty in Japan in 724.]]
In 724 AD in Japan, the death penalty was banned during the reign of [[Emperor Shōmu]] but the abolition only lasted a few years.<ref name=Marazziti>{{cite book|author=Mario Marazziti|title=13 ways of looking at the death penalty|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_5MBAAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=Seven Stories Press|isbn=978-1-60980-567-8|page=5}}</ref> In 818, [[Emperor Saga]] abolished the death penalty under the influence of [[Shinto]] and it lasted until 1156.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1472|title=Encyclopedia of Shinto|publisher=kokugakuin.ac.jp|access-date=5 September 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519153543/http://eos.kokugakuin.ac.jp/modules/xwords/entry.php?entryID=1472|archive-date=19 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="horj">{{cite web|url=https://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_rchome.nsf/html/rchome/shiryo/houmu_200806_shikeiseido.pdf/$File/houmu_200806_shikeiseido.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120153327/https://www.shugiin.go.jp/internet/itdb_rchome.nsf/html/rchome/shiryo/houmu_200806_shikeiseido.pdf/$File/houmu_200806_shikeiseido.pdf|script-title=ja:死刑制度に関する資料|page=6|language=ja|publisher=[[House of Representatives (Japan)|House of Representatives]]|archive-date=20 November 2022|access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> In China, the death penalty was banned by [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang]] in [[AD 747|747]], replacing it with exile or [[scourging]]. However, the ban only lasted 12 years.<ref name=Marazziti/> Following his conversion to Christianity in 988, [[Vladimir the Great]] abolished the death penalty in [[Kievan Rus']], along with torture and mutilation; corporal punishment was also seldom used.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ware |first=Timothy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UY8UnwEACAAJ&pg=PT85 |title=The Orthodox Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity |date=1993 |publisher=Penguin UK |isbn=978-0-14-192500-4 |language=en}}</ref>

In England, a public statement of opposition was included in [[The Twelve Conclusions of the Lollards]], written in 1395.
In the [[Post-classical history|post-classical]] [[Republic of Poljica]], life was ensured as a basic right in its [[Poljica Statute]] of 1440.
Sir [[Thomas More]]'s ''[[Utopia (More book)|Utopia]]'', published in 1516, debated the benefits of the death penalty in dialogue form, coming to no firm conclusion. More was himself executed for treason in 1535.

[[File:Leopold II as Grand Duke of Tuscany by Joseph Hickel 1769.jpg|thumb|upright|Leopold I, [[Grand Duke of Tuscany]] (later [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor]]), abolished the death penalty throughout [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|his realm]] in 1786, making it the first country in modern history to do so.]]
More recent opposition to the death penalty stemmed from the book of the Italian [[Cesare Beccaria]] ''Dei Delitti e Delle Pene'' ("[[On Crimes and Punishments]]"), published in 1764. In this book, Beccaria aimed to demonstrate not only the injustice, but even the futility from the point of view of [[social policy|social welfare]], of torture and the death penalty. Influenced by the book, [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Grand Duke Leopold II]] of Habsburg, the future emperor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], abolished the death penalty in the then-independent [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]], the first abolition in modern times. On 30 November 1786, after having ''de facto'' blocked executions (the last was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the [[penal code]] that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. In 2000, Tuscany's regional authorities instituted an annual holiday on 30 November to commemorate the event. The event is commemorated on this day by 300 cities around the world celebrating [[Cities for Life Day]]. Leopold's brother [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph]], the then emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, abolished in his immediate lands in 1787 capital punishment, which though only lasted until 1795, after both had died and Leopold's son [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis]] abolished it in his immediate lands. In Tuscany it was reintroduced in 1790 after Leopolds departure becoming emperor. Only after 1831 capital punishment was again at times stopped, though it took until 2007 to abolish [[capital punishment in Italy]] completely.

The [[Kingdom of Tahiti]] (when the island was independent) was the first legislative assembly in the world to abolish the death penalty in 1824. Tahiti commuted the death penalty to banishment.<ref name="Tahiti">Alexandre Juster, L'histoire de la Polynésie française en 101 dates : 101 événements marquants qui ont fait l'histoire de Tahiti et ses îles, Les éditions de Moana, 2016 ({{ISBN|9782955686010}}), p. 40</ref>

In the United States, Michigan was the first state to ban the death penalty, on 18 May 1846.<ref>See Caitlin [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;rgn=full%20text;idno=APK1036.0001.001;didno=APK1036.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000444 pp. 420–22] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520203016/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;rgn=full%20text;idno=APK1036.0001.001;didno=APK1036.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000444 |date=20 May 2011 }}</ref>

The short-lived revolutionary [[Roman Republic (19th century)|Roman Republic]] banned capital punishment in 1849. [[State of Venezuela|Venezuela]] followed suit and abolished the death penalty in 1863<ref>Roger G. Hood. ''The death penalty: a worldwide perspective'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2002. p. 10</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Capital punishment {{!}} Definition, Debate, Examples, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/capital-punishment |access-date=2023-04-03 |website=Britannica  |language=en}}</ref> and [[Use of capital punishment by nation|San Marino]] did so in 1865. The last execution in San Marino had taken place in 1468. In Portugal, after legislative proposals in 1852 and 1863, the death penalty was abolished in 1867. The last execution in Brazil was 1876; from then on all the condemnations were commuted by the Emperor [[Pedro II of Brazil|Pedro II]] until its abolition for civil offences and military offences in peacetime in 1891. The penalty for crimes committed in peacetime was then reinstated and abolished again twice (1938–1953 and 1969–1978), but on those occasions it was restricted to acts of terrorism or subversion considered "internal warfare" and all sentences were commuted and not carried out.

Many countries have abolished capital punishment either in law or in practice. Since [[World War II]], there has been a trend toward abolishing capital punishment. Capital punishment has been completely abolished by 108 countries, a further seven have done so for all offences except under special circumstances and 26 more have abolished it in practice because they have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice against carrying out executions.<ref name="amnesty2015">{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/3487/2016/en/ |title=Death Sentences and Executions Report 2015 |date=5 April 2016 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=10 August 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814003146/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/3487/2016/en/ |archive-date=14 August 2016}}</ref>

In the United States between 1972 and 1976 the death penalty was declared unconstitutional based on the ''[[Furman v. Georgia]]'' case, but the 1976 ''[[Gregg v. Georgia]]'' case once again permitted the death penalty under certain circumstances. Further limitations were placed on the death penalty in ''[[Atkins v. Virginia]]'' (2002; death penalty unconstitutional for people with an [[intellectual disability]]) and ''[[Roper v. Simmons]]'' (2005; death penalty unconstitutional if defendant was under age 18 at the time the crime was committed). In the United States, 23 of the 50 states and [[Washington, D.C.]] ban capital punishment.

In the United Kingdom, it was abolished for murder (leaving only treason, [[piracy with violence]], [[arson in royal dockyards]] and a number of wartime military offences as capital crimes) for a five-year experiment in 1965 and permanently in 1969, the last execution having taken place in 1964. It was abolished for all offences in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/capital_hist.htm|title=History of Capital Punishment|first=Stephen |last=Stratford|access-date=19 May 2022|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808063231/http://www.stephen-stratford.co.uk/capital_hist.htm|archive-date=8 August 2010}}</ref> Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, first entering into force in 2003, prohibits the death penalty in all circumstances for those states that are party to it, including the United Kingdom from 2004.

Abolition occurred in [[Capital punishment in Canada#History|Canada in 1976]] (except for some military offences, with complete abolition in 1998); in [[Capital punishment in France#Abolition|France in 1981]]; and in [[Capital punishment in Australia#Commonwealth|Australia in 1973]] (although the state of [[Capital punishment in Australia#Western Australia|Western Australia]] retained the penalty until 1984). In South Australia, under the premiership of then-Premier Dunstan, the ''Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935'' (SA) was modified so that the death sentence was changed to life imprisonment in 1976.

In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly affirmed in a formal resolution that throughout the world, it is desirable to "progressively restrict the number of offences for which the death penalty might be imposed, with a view to the desirability of abolishing this punishment".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsbatch.com/deathpenalty.htm|title=Death Penalty|publisher=Newsbatch.com|date=1 March 2005|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724130457/http://www.newsbatch.com/deathpenalty.htm|archive-date=24 July 2010}}</ref>

==Contemporary use==
{{scalable image|Capital punishment in the world.svg|1580px|{{legend|#008080|Abolitionist countries: 110}}	{{legend|#80E000|Abolitionist-in-law countries for all crimes except those committed under exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in wartime): 9}}	{{legend|#D59348|Abolitionist-in-practice countries (have not executed anyone during the past 10 years or more and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions): 23}}	{{legend|#FF0000|Retentionist countries: 53}}}}

===By country===
{{main|Capital punishment by country}}
Most nations, including almost all [[Developed country|developed countries]], have abolished capital punishment either in law or in practice; notable exceptions are the [[Capital punishment in the United States|United States]], [[Capital punishment in Japan|Japan]], [[Capital punishment in Taiwan|Taiwan]], and [[Capital punishment in Singapore|Singapore]]. Additionally, capital punishment is also carried out in [[Capital punishment in China|China]], [[Capital punishment in India|India]], and most [[Religion and capital punishment#Islam|Islamic states]].<ref name="Bienen2010">{{cite book|author=Leigh B. Bienen|title=Murder and Its Consequences: Essays on Capital Punishment in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmpEQUhpNXUC&pg=PA143|edition=2nd|date=2010|publisher=Northwestern University Press|isbn=978-0-8101-2697-8|page=143}}</ref><ref name="Tonry2000">{{cite book|author=Michael H. Tonry|title=The Handbook of Crime & Punishment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MePbzYyZ2YC&pg=PA3|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-514060-6|page=3}}</ref><ref name="Reichert2011">{{cite book|author=Elisabeth Reichert|title=Social Work and Human Rights: A Foundation for Policy and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2LylU2Yp6NYC&pg=PA89|year=2011|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-52070-6|page=89}}</ref><ref name="Durrant2013">{{cite book|author=Russil Durrant|title=An Introduction to Criminal Psychology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIpMUpsoy90C&pg=PA268|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-23434-7|page=268}}</ref><ref name="BryantPeck2009">{{cite book|author1=Clifton D. Bryant|author2=Dennis L. Peck|title=Encyclopedia of Death & Human Experience |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LFOn7rpkVdQC&pg=PA144|year=2009|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-1-4129-5178-4|page=144}}</ref><ref name="Roberson2015">{{cite book|author=Cliff Roberson|title=Constitutional Law and Criminal Justice, Second Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oHu9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA188|year=2015|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4987-2120-2|page=188}}</ref>
{{Anchor|Legend}}
[[File:Death penalty in the United States.svg|thumb|350px|upright=1.15|A map showing U.S. states where the death penalty is authorized for certain crimes, even if not recently used. The death penalty is also authorized [[Capital punishment in the United States#Capital crimes|for certain federal and military crimes]].
{{legend|#FF0000|States with a valid death penalty statute}}
{{legend|#008080|States without the death penalty}}]]

Since [[World War II]], there has been a trend toward abolishing the death penalty. 54 countries retain the death penalty in active use, 112 countries have abolished capital punishment altogether, 7 have done so for all offences except under special circumstances, and 22 more have abolished it in practice because they have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice against carrying out executions.<ref name="Amnesty2018">{{cite web |title=Abolitionist and Retentionist Countries as of July 2018 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ACT5066652017ENGLISH.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210408153822/https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ACT5066652017ENGLISH.pdf |archive-date=8 April 2021 |access-date=3 December 2018 |publisher=Amnesty International}}</ref>

[[File:Number of abolitionist and retentionist countries by year.png|thumb|350px|
Number of abolitionist and retentionist countries by year
{{legend|#4285F4|Number of retentionist countries}}
{{legend|#EA4335|Number of abolitionist countries}}
]]

According to Amnesty International, 20 countries are known to have performed executions in 2022.<ref name="Amnesty2022">{{cite web |title=Death sentences and executions 2022 |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/6548/2023/en/ |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=28 July 2023 |date=16 May 2023}}</ref> There are countries which do not publish information on the use of capital punishment, most significantly China and [[Capital punishment in North Korea|North Korea]]. According to Amnesty International, around 1,000 prisoners were executed in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/amnesty-1000-prisoners-executed-worldwide-2017-180411131143832.html|title=Amnesty: Almost 1,000 prisoners executed worldwide in 2017|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=8 August 2018}}</ref> Amnesty reported in 2004 and 2009 that Singapore and Iraq respectively had the world's highest per capita execution rate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-08-05 |title=Singapore has highest death penalty rate |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3958717 |website=[[NBC News]], [[Associated Press]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2010 |title=death sentences and executions 2009| page= 8 |url=https://www.amnesty.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AIDeathSentencesandExecutions09.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201230012416/https://www.amnesty.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/AIDeathSentencesandExecutions09.pdf |archive-date=2020-12-30 |website=[[Amnesty International]]}}</ref> According to [[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] and UN Special Rapporteur [[Ahmed Shaheed]], Iran has had the world's highest per capita execution rate.<ref>{{Cite web |date=24 April 2019 |title=Zarif slams US silence on mass executions in Saudi Arabia |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/4/24/zarif-slams-us-silence-on-mass-executions-in-saudi-arabia |website=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lynch |first=Colum |date=27 October 2015 |title=Iran Wins World Record for Most Executions Per Capita |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/27/rouhani-zarif-state-department-human-rightsiran-wins-world-record-for-most-executions-per-capita/ |website=[[Foreign Policy]] |language=en-US}}</ref> A 2012 EU report from the [[Directorate-General for External Relations]]' policy department pointed to [[Capital punishment in the Gaza Strip|Gaza]] as having the highest per capita execution rate in the [[MENA]] region.<ref>{{Cite web |first1=Anastasia |last1=Calvieri |first2=Pekka |last2=Hakala |first3=Anete |last3=Bandone |date=4 December 2012 |title=Quick policy insight The death penalty in the Middle East and North Africa (page 6) |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/briefing_note/join/2012/491450/EXPO-JOIN_SP(2012)491450_EN.pdf |website=[[European Parliament]]}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right;"
|-
!rowspan=2| Country !!colspan=2|Total executed (2022)
|-
!Capital<br>Punishments<br>UK	<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/overview.html|title=Death sentences and executions 2022|publisher=Capital Punishments UK|year=2022|location=London}}</ref>!!Amnesty<br>International<br><ref name="Amnesty2022"/>
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|China}} || Unknown || >{{nts|1000}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Iran}} || >{{nts|596}} || >{{nts|576}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Saudi Arabia}} || {{nts|146}} || {{nts|196}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Egypt}} || {{nts|13}} || {{nts|24}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Somalia}} (including {{Flag|Somaliland}})
| {{nts|19}} || >{{nts|6}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|United States}} || {{nts|18}} || {{nts|18}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Singapore}} || {{nts|11}} || {{nts|11}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Iraq}} || {{nts|4}} || >{{nts|11}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Kuwait}} || {{nts|7}} || {{nts|7}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Palestine}} || {{nts|5}} || {{nts|5}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|South Sudan}} || {{nts|2}} || >{{nts|5}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Bangladesh}} || {{nts|4}} || {{nts|4}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Myanmar}} || {{nts|4}} || {{nts|4}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Yemen}} || {{nts|1}} || >{{nts|4}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Belarus}} || {{nts|0}} || {{nts|3}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Japan}} || {{nts|1}} || {{nts|1}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Syria}} || {{nts|1}} || Unknown
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Jordan}} || {{nts|1}} || {{nts|0}}
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Afghanistan}} || {{nts|0}} || Unknown
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|North Korea}} || Unknown || Unknown
|-
| style="text-align:left;" | {{flag|Vietnam}} || Unknown || Unknown
|}

The use of the death penalty is becoming increasingly restrained in some retentionist countries including [[Taiwan]] and Singapore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/3493-heroin-smuggler-challenges-singapore-death-sentence |title=Heroin smuggler challenges Singapore death sentence |publisher=Singapore Democratic Party |date=16 March 2010 |access-date=30 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323124649/http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/3493-heroin-smuggler-challenges-singapore-death-sentence |archive-date=23 March 2012 }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable, appearing to be a govt source without its own article ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=March 2022}} Indonesia carried out no executions between November 2008 and March 2013.<ref name="hrw-ind">{{cite web|title=Indonesia: First Execution in 4 Years a Major Setback|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/21/indonesia-first-execution-4-years-major-setback|work=Human Rights Watch |access-date=17 May 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528043848/http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/03/21/indonesia-first-execution-4-years-major-setback|archive-date=28 May 2013|date=21 March 2013}}</ref> Singapore, Japan and the United States are the only developed countries that are classified by Amnesty International as 'retentionist' (South Korea is classified as 'abolitionist in practice').<ref name="amnesty.org">{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries |title=Abolitionist and retentionist countries |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209075925/http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries |archive-date=9 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2015/02/death-sentences-and-executions-2014/|title=Error – Amnesty International|website=www.amnesty.org|date=28 February 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231222052/https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2015/02/death-sentences-and-executions-2014/|archive-date=31 December 2015}}</ref> Nearly all retentionist countries are situated in Asia, Africa and the [[Caribbean]].<ref name="amnesty.org"/> The only retentionist country in Europe is Belarus and in March 2023 Belarusian President [[Alexander Lukashenko]] signed a law which allows to use capital punishment against officials and soldiers convicted of high [[treason]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Belarus approves death penalty for officials convicted of high treason |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-approves-death-penalty-officials-convicted-high-treason-2023-03-09/ |website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> During the 1980s, the democratisation of Latin America swelled the ranks of abolitionist countries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Why a world day against the death penalty? |url=https://www.equaltimes.org/why-a-world-day-against-the-death?lang=en |access-date=28 July 2023 |work=Equal Times |date=9 October 2015}}</ref>

This was soon followed by the [[revolutions of 1989|overthrow]] of the [[Eastern Bloc|socialist states in Europe]]. Many of these countries aspired to enter the EU, which strictly requires member states not to practice the death penalty, as does the [[Council of Europe]] (see [[Capital punishment in Europe]]). Public support for the death penalty in the EU varies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=2165 |title=International Polls & Studies |publisher=The [[Death Penalty Information Center]] |access-date=1 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203428/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=2165 |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref> The last execution in a member state of the present-day Council of Europe took place in 1997 in [[Ukraine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hub.coe.int/what-we-do/human-rights/death-penalty |title=Death Penalty – Council of Europe |publisher=Hub.coe.int |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140205224923/http://hub.coe.int/what-we-do/human-rights/death-penalty |archive-date=5 February 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.handsoffcain.info/bancadati/schedastato.php?idcontinente=20&nome=ukraine |title=Hands Off Cain HANDS – against death penalty in the world |publisher=Handsoffcain.info |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203235754/http://www.handsoffcain.info/bancadati/schedastato.php?idcontinente=20&nome=ukraine |archive-date=3 February 2014}}</ref> In contrast, the rapid industrialisation in Asia has seen an increase in the number of developed countries which are also retentionist. In these countries, the death penalty retains strong public support, and the matter receives little attention from the government or the media; in China there is a small but significant and growing movement to abolish the death penalty altogether.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cadpnet.com/show.asp?id=689 |title=China Against Death Penalty (CADP) |publisher=Cadpnet.com |date=31 March 2012 |access-date=12 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027173245/https://www.cadpnet.com/show.asp?id=689 |archive-date=27 October 2012}}</ref> This trend has been followed by some African and Middle Eastern countries where support for the death penalty remains high.

Some countries have resumed practising the death penalty after having previously suspended the practice for long periods. The United States suspended executions in 1972 but resumed them in 1976; there was no execution in India between 1995 and 2004; and [[Sri Lanka]] declared an end to its [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] on the death penalty on 20 November 2004,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details_p.asp?NewsID=16269 |title=AIUK : Sri Lanka: President urged to prevent return to death penalty after 29-year moratorium |publisher=Amnesty.org.uk |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605115738/http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details_p.asp?NewsID=16269 |archive-date=5 June 2011 }}</ref> although it has not yet performed any further executions. The [[Capital punishment in the Philippines|Philippines]] re-introduced the death penalty in 1993 after abolishing it in 1987, but again abolished it in 2006.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jha |first1=Preeti |title=Philippines death penalty: A fight to stop the return of capital punishment |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53762570.amp |date=16 August 2020 |access-date=6 September 2021 |agency=BBC News}}</ref>

The United States and Japan are the only developed countries to have recently carried out executions. The U.S. federal government, the U.S. military, and 27 states have a valid death penalty statute, and over 1,400 executions have been carried in the United States since it reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Japan has 106 inmates with finalized death sentences {{as of|2024|December|26|lc=y|df=US}}, after [[Chisako Kakehi]], who was the 78-year-old death row inmate convicted of murdering her husband and common-law spouses to inherit their assets, has died while in custody.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/12/26/japan/crime-legal/cyanide-murder-death/|title=Chisako Kakehi, sentenced to death for cyanide murders, dies in custody |publisher=[[Japan Times]] |date=26 December 2024|access-date=19 February 2025}}</ref>

{{As of|2025|05|post=,}} the most recent country to abolish the death penalty was [[Zimbabwe]] on 31 December 2024, almost twenty years after the last execution in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe abolishes death penalty almost 20 years after its last hanging |url=https://apnews.com/article/zimbabwe-death-penalty-abolished-ccbdd774559f5bbf097176d42effbb60 |last=Mutsaka |first=Farai |date=2024-12-31 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Zimbabwe abolishes death penalty |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8gqz7n559o |last=Chothia |first=Farouk |date=2024-12-31 |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

According to an Amnesty International report released in April 2020, [[Egypt]] ranked regionally third and globally fifth among the countries that carried out most executions in 2019. The country increasingly ignored international human rights concerns and criticism. In March 2021, Egypt executed 11 prisoners in a jail, who were convicted in cases of "murder, theft, and shooting".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/egypt-executes-11-prisoners-amid-criticism/2161705|title=Egypt executes 11 prisoners amid criticism|access-date=2 March 2021|website=Anadolu Agency}}</ref>

According to Amnesty International's 2021 report, at least 483 people were executed in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The figure excluded the countries that classify death penalty data as state secret. The top five executioners for 2020 were China, Iran, Egypt, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/04/death-penalty-2020-despite-covid-19-some-countries-ruthlessly-pursued-death-sentences-and-executions/|title=Death penalty 2020: Despite Covid-19, some countries ruthlessly pursued death sentences and executions|access-date=21 April 2021|work=Amnesty International|date=21 April 2021}}</ref>

===Modern-day public opinion===
The public opinion on the death penalty varies considerably by country and by the crime in question. Countries where a majority of people are against execution include Norway, where only 25% support it.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2011-07-27-Norway-punishment-lenient-death-penalty_n.htm |title=Can Norwegian punishment fit the crime? |work=USA Today |access-date=9 July 2014}}</ref> Most French, Finns, and Italians also oppose the death penalty.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/international-polls-and-studies |title=International Polls and Studies &#124; Death Penalty Information Center |publisher=Deathpenaltyinfo.org |access-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519112648/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/international-polls-and-studies |archive-date=19 May 2014}}</ref> In 2020, 55% of Americans supported the death penalty for an individual convicted of murder, down from 60% in 2016, 64% in 2010, 65% in 2006, and 68% in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/1606/death-penalty.aspx |title=Death Penalty |date=24 October 2006 |publisher=Gallup |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918200018/http://news.gallup.com:80/poll/1606/Death-Penalty.aspx |archive-date=18 September 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/196676/death-penalty-support.aspx|title=U.S. Death Penalty Support at 60%|work=Gallup.com|access-date=20 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319132515/http://www.gallup.com/poll/196676/death-penalty-support.aspx|archive-date=19 March 2017|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15028665|work=BBC News|title=Troy Davis' execution and the limits of Twitter|date=23 September 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923093611/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15028665|archive-date=23 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/144284/support-death-penalty-cases-murder.aspx|title=In U.S., 64% Support Death Penalty in Cases of Murder|date=8 November 2010|publisher=Gallup.com|access-date=30 April 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429084914/http://www.gallup.com/poll/144284/Support-Death-Penalty-Cases-Murder.aspx|archive-date=29 April 2012}}</ref> In 2020, 43% of Italians expressed support for the death penalty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thevision.com/attualita/pena-morte-italia/|title = Il 43% degli italiani vuole la pena di morte: Una conseguenza della crisi e della cultura dell'odio|date = 15 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.affaritaliani.it/coronavirus/covid-censis-la-meta-degli-italiani-a-favore-della-pena-di-morte-709965.html|title=Covid, 2020 anno della paura. 43% degli italiani a favore della pena di morte|date=4 December 2020|website=Affaritaliani.it}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lastampa.it/topnews/lettere-e-idee/2020/12/05/news/pena-di-morte-il-43-degli-italiani-e-a-favore-l-odio-e-diventato-quotidiano-miseria-e-brutalita-nel-paese-di-beccaria-1.39620527 |title=Pena di morte, il 43% degli italiani è a favore: l'odio è diventato quotidiano. Miseria e brutalità nel Paese di Beccaria |work=La Stampa |language=it |last=Di Cesare |first=Donatella |date=5 December 2020 |access-date=16 November 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205051917/https://www.lastampa.it/topnews/lettere-e-idee/2020/12/05/news/pena-di-morte-il-43-degli-italiani-e-a-favore-l-odio-e-diventato-quotidiano-miseria-e-brutalita-nel-paese-di-beccaria-1.39620527 |archive-date=5 December 2020 }}</ref>

In Taiwan, polls and research have consistently shown strong support for the death penalty at 80%. This includes a survey conducted by the [[National Development Council (Taiwan)|National Development Council of Taiwan]] in 2016, showing that 88% of Taiwanese people disagree with abolishing the death penalty.<ref>{{cite web |title=八成八民眾不贊成廢除死刑 |url=https://www.ndc.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1A876BE08B130FDA&sms=C494EE4722A59019&s=EB579320CE2D72C6 |website=National Development Council |date = 21 April 2016|access-date=20 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=張 |first1=乃文 |title=ET民調／92.1％民眾支持維持死刑 93％挺政府立即執行 |url=https://www.ettoday.net/news/20191228/1612437.htm |access-date=20 April 2021 |agency=ETtoday |publisher=東森新媒體控股股份有限公司 |date=28 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=蕭 |first1=承訓 |last2=陳 |first2=志賢 |last3=郭 |first3=建伸 |last4=周 |first4=毓翔 |title=本報民調 8成反廢死！8成6促盡速執行死刑 |url=https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180717000504-260106?chdtv |access-date=20 April 2021 |agency=中國時報 |publisher=China Times Group |date=17 July 2018}}</ref> Its continuation of the practice drew criticism from local rights groups.<ref>{{cite news |title=Taiwan woman faces execution over fire that killed 46 |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/taiwan-woman-faces-execution-over-fire-that-killed-46/articleshow/89037410.cms |work=The Times of India |date=21 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

The support and sentencing of capital punishment has been growing in India in the 2010s<ref name="slate.com">{{cite web |last=Keating |first=Joshua |url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/04/04/gang_rapists_sentenced_to_death_in_india_is_capital_punishment_starting.html |title=Gang rapists sentenced to death in India: Is capital punishment making a global comeback? |publisher=Slate.com |date=4 April 2014 |access-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140706073215/http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_world_/2014/04/04/gang_rapists_sentenced_to_death_in_india_is_capital_punishment_starting.html |archive-date=6 July 2014}}</ref> due to anger over several recent brutal cases of rape, even though actual executions are comparatively rare.<ref name="slate.com"/> While support for the death penalty for murder is still high in China, executions have dropped precipitously, with 3,000 executed in 2012 versus 12,000 in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/china/21582557-most-worlds-sharp-decline-executions-can-be-credited-china-strike-less-hard |title=The death penalty: Strike less hard – Most of the world's sharp decline in executions can be credited to China |newspaper=The Economist |date=3 August 2013 |access-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803145708/http://www.economist.com/news/china/21582557-most-worlds-sharp-decline-executions-can-be-credited-china-strike-less-hard |archive-date=3 August 2014}}</ref> A poll in South Africa, where capital punishment is abolished, found that 76% of millennial South Africans support re-introduction of the death penalty due to increasing incidents of rape and murder.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Youth-want-death-penalty-reinstated-20130222 |title=Youth 'want death penalty reinstated' |work=News24 |date=22 February 2013 |access-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519221606/http://www.news24.com/southafrica/news/youth-want-death-penalty-reinstated-20130222 |archive-date=19 May 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://businesstech.co.za/news/government/86844/why-the-death-penalty-wont-solve-sas-crime-problem/|title=Why the death penalty won't solve SA's crime problem|date=9 May 2015|website=BusinessTech}}</ref>
A 2017 poll found younger Mexicans are more likely to support capital punishment than older ones.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://phys.org/news/2017-03-death-penalty-mexico.html |title=Study examines death penalty support in Mexico |date=28 March 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228172630/https://phys.org/news/2017-03-death-penalty-mexico.html |archive-date=28 December 2017}}</ref> 57% of Brazilians support the death penalty. The age group that shows the greatest support for execution of those condemned is the 25 to 34-year-old category, in which 61% say they support it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2018/01/1949074-support-for-death-penalty-at-record-levels-among-brazilians-datafolha-finds.shtml/ |title=Folha de S.Paulo: Notícias, Imagens, Vídeos e Entrevistas |access-date=10 January 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109153132/http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2018/01/1949074-support-for-death-penalty-at-record-levels-among-brazilians-datafolha-finds.shtml |archive-date=9 January 2018}}</ref>

A 2023 poll by Research Co. found that 54% of Canadians support reinstating the death penalty for murder in their country.<ref>{{cite web |title=Majority of Canadians are in favour of bringing back the death penalty, new poll suggests |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2023/03/17/majority-of-canadians-are-in-favour-of-bringing-back-the-death-penalty-new-poll-suggests.html |website=[[Toronto Star]] |date=2023-03-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327073227/https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2023/03/17/majority-of-canadians-are-in-favour-of-bringing-back-the-death-penalty-new-poll-suggests.html |archive-date=2023-03-27 |url-status=live |last1=Jiang |first1=Kevin}}</ref> In April 2021 a poll found that 54% of Britons said they would support reinstating the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism in the UK, while 23% of respondents said they would be opposed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com/slight-increase-in-support-for-death-penalty-for-convicted-terrorists/|title=Slight Increase in Support for Death Penalty for Convicted Terrorists|website=Redfieldandwiltonstrategies.com|date=7 April 2021|access-date=2 March 2022}}</ref> In 2020, an Ipsos/Sopra Steria survey showed that 55% of the French people support re-introduction of the death penalty; this was an increase from 44% in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20200917-new-poll-shows-jump-in-number-of-french-people-in-favour-of-the-death-penalty|title = Massive jump in number of French people in favour of the death penalty – poll|date = 17 September 2020}}</ref>

===Juvenile offenders===
{{category see also|Executed juvenile offenders}}
The death penalty for juvenile offenders (criminals aged under 18 years at the time of their crime although the legal or accepted definition of ''juvenile offender'' may vary from one jurisdiction to another) has become increasingly rare. Considering the age of majority is not 18 in some countries or has not been clearly defined in law, since 1990 ten countries have executed offenders who were considered juveniles at the time of their crimes: [[China]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], Iran, [[Iraq]], Japan, Nigeria, [[Pakistan]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Sudan]], the United States, and [[Yemen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/juvWorld.cfm |title=Juvenile executions (except US) |publisher=Internationaljusticeproject.org |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726182207/https://www.internationaljusticeproject.org/juvWorld.cfm |archive-date=26 July 2011}}</ref> China, Pakistan, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen have since raised the minimum age to 18.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2020-04-27 |title=Saudi Arabia ends executions for crimes committed by minors, says commission |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-52436335 |access-date=2023-09-19}}</ref> Amnesty International has recorded 61 verified executions since then, in several countries, of both juveniles and adults who had been convicted of committing their offences as juveniles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/executions-of-child-offenders-since-1990 |title=Executions of juveniles since 1990 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=12 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204044639/http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/executions-of-child-offenders-since-1990 |archive-date=4 December 2012 }}</ref> China does not allow for the execution of those under 18, but child executions have reportedly taken place.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/015/2004/en/|title=Stop Child Executions! Ending the death penalty for child offenders|publisher=Amnesty International|year=2004|access-date=12 February 2008}}</ref>

[[File:Martyrs of Guernsey (cropped).jpg|thumb|Mother Catherine Cauchés (center) and her two daughters Guillemine Gilbert (left) and Perotine Massey (right) with her infant son burning for heresy]]
One of the youngest children ever to be executed was the infant son of Perotine Massey on or around 18 July 1556. His mother was one of the [[Guernsey Martyrs]] who was executed for heresy, and his father had previously fled the island. At less than one day old, he was ordered to be burned by Bailiff Hellier Gosselin, with the advice of priests nearby who said the boy should burn due to having inherited moral stain from his mother, who had given birth during her execution.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Butler|first=Sara M.|date=21 March 2018|title=Pleading the Belly: A Sparing Plea? Pregnant Convicts and the Courts in Medieval England|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004364950/B9789004364950_009.xml|journal=Crossing Borders: Boundaries and Margins in Medieval and Early Modern Britain|language=en|pages=131–52|doi=10.1163/9789004364950_009|isbn=9789004364950|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Since 1642 in [[Colonial history of the United States|Colonial America]] and in the United States, an estimated 365<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=27&did=203#execsus |title=Execution of Juveniles in the U.S. and other Countries |publisher=Deathpenaltyinfo.org |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513015221/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=27&did=203 |archive-date=13 May 2008 }}</ref> juvenile offenders were executed by various [[Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies|colonial authorities]] and (after the [[American Revolution]]) the [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]].<ref>Rob Gallagher,{{cite web|url=http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/JUVENILE.htm |title=Table of juvenile executions in British America/United States, 1642–1959 |access-date=5 February 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615094320/http://users.bestweb.net/~rg/execution/JUVENILE.htm |archive-date=15 June 2006}}</ref> The U.S. Supreme Court abolished capital punishment for offenders under the age of 16 in ''[[Thompson v. Oklahoma]]'' (1988), and for all juveniles in ''[[Roper v. Simmons]]'' (2005).

In [[Prussia]], children under the age of 14 were exempted from the death penalty in 1794.<ref>General State Laws for the Prussian States (1794), Part 20, § 17, Part 1, § 25</ref> Capital punishment was cancelled by the [[Electorate of Bavaria]] in 1751 for children under the age of 11<ref>Codex Iuris Bavarici Criminalis (1751), § 14</ref> and by the [[Kingdom of Bavaria]] in 1813 for children and youth under 16 years.<ref>Bavarian Criminal Law (1813), Art. 99, par. 1 nr. 1</ref> In Prussia, the exemption was extended to youth under the age of 16 in 1851.<ref>Prussian Criminal Law (1851), § 43 nr. 1</ref> For the first time, all juveniles were excluded for the death penalty by the [[North German Confederation]] in 1871,<ref>North German Confederation Criminal Law (1871), § 57 par. 1 nr. 1</ref> which was continued by the [[German Empire]] in 1872.<ref>German Criminal Law (1872), § 57 par. 1 nr. 1</ref> In [[Nazi Germany]], capital punishment was reinstated for juveniles between 16 and 17 years in 1939.<ref>Kasseckert, Christian (2009), ''Straftheorie im Dritten Reich – Entwicklung des Strafgedankens im Dritten Reich'', Logos: Berlin, pp. 99–100</ref> This was broadened to children and youth from age 12 to 17 in 1943.<ref>Kasseckert, Christian (2009), ''Straftheorie im Dritten Reich – Entwicklung des Strafgedankens im Dritten Reich'', Logos: Berlin, p. 100</ref> The death penalty for juveniles was abolished by [[West Germany]], also generally, in 1949 and by [[East Germany]] in 1952.

In the Hereditary Lands, [[Austrian Silesia]], [[Bohemia]] and [[Moravia]] within the [[Habsburg monarchy]], capital punishment for children under the age of 11 was no longer foreseen by 1770.<ref>Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana (1770), § 6 par. 1, 2</ref> The death penalty was, also for juveniles, nearly abolished in 1787 except for emergency or military law, which is unclear in regard of those. It was reintroduced for juveniles above 14 years by 1803,<ref>Austrian Criminal Law (1803), § 2(d)</ref> and was raised by general criminal law to 20 years in 1852<ref>Austrian Criminal Law (1852), §§ 2 d), 53</ref> and this exemption<ref>Publication Patent of the Austrian Criminal Law (1852), Art. 1</ref> and the alike one of military law in 1855,<ref>Austrian Military Criminal Law (1855), § 121</ref> which may have been up to 14 years in wartime,<ref>Austrian Military Criminal Law (1855), § 3 d)</ref> were also introduced into all of the [[Austrian Empire]].

In the [[Helvetic Republic]], the death penalty for children and youth under the age of 16 was abolished in 1799<ref>Helvetic Punishing Law (1799), § 48 par. 2</ref> yet the country was already dissolved in 1803 whereas the law could remain in force if it was not replaced on cantonal level. In the [[canton of Bern]], all juveniles were exempted from the death penalty at least in 1866.<ref>Bern Criminal Law (1866), Art. 48</ref> In [[Canton of Fribourg|Fribourg]], capital punishment was generally, including for juveniles, abolished by 1849. In [[Canton of Ticino|Ticino]], it was abolished for youth and young adults under the age of 20 in 1816.<ref>Ticino Penal Code (1816), Art. 75</ref> In [[Canton of Zurich|Zurich]], the exclusion from the death penalty was extended for juveniles and young adults up to 19 years of age by 1835.<ref>Zurich Criminal Law (1835), §§ 81–82</ref> In 1942, the death penalty was almost deleted in criminal law, as well for juveniles, but since 1928 persisted in military law during wartime for youth above 14 years.<ref>Swiss Military Criminal Law (1928), Art. 14 par. 1</ref> If no earlier change was made in the given subject, by 1979 juveniles could no longer be subject to the death penalty in military law during wartime.<ref>Swiss Military Criminal Law (1979), Art. 14</ref>

Between 2005 and May 2008, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen were reported to have executed child offenders, the largest number occurring in Iran.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/children/HRW.Juv.Death.Penalty.053008.pdf|title=HRW Report|publisher=Human Rights Watch|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081113084648/http://www.hrw.org/pub/2008/children/HRW.Juv.Death.Penalty.053008.pdf|archive-date=13 November 2008}}</ref>

During [[Hassan Rouhani]]'s tenure as president of Iran from 2013 until 2021, at least 3,602 death sentences have been carried out. This includes the executions of 34 juvenile offenders.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://iran-hrm.com/index.php/2018/10/08/cruel-and-inhuman-executions-in-iran/ | title=Annual report on the death penalty in Iran, October 2018| date=8 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | url=https://irannewswire.org/iran-executes-female-juvenile-offender-despite-grossly-unfair-legal-process/ | title=Iran executes female juvenile offender despite grossly unfair legal process| date=2 October 2018}}</ref>

The United Nations [[Convention on the Rights of the Child]], which forbids capital punishment for juveniles under article 37(a), has been signed by all countries and subsequently [[ratification|ratified]] by all signatories with the exception of the United States (despite the [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]] decisions abolishing the practice).<ref>UNICEF, [http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_30229.html Convention of the Rights of the Child – FAQ] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125094459/http://www.unicef.org/crc/index_30229.html |date=25 January 2016 }}: "The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history. Only the United States has not ratified this celebrated agreement. By signing the Convention, the United States has signaled its intention to ratify but has yet to do so."</ref> The [[United Nations Human Rights Council|UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights]] maintains that the death penalty for juveniles has become contrary to a [[jus cogens]] of [[customary international law]]. A majority of countries are also party to the U.N. [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]] (whose Article 6.5 also states that "Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age...").

Iran, despite its ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]], was the world's largest executioner of juvenile offenders, for which it has been the subject of broad international condemnation; the country's record is the focus of the [[Stop Child Executions Campaign]]. But on 10 February 2012, Iran's parliament changed controversial laws relating to the execution of juveniles. In the new legislation the age of 18 (solar year) would be applied to accused of both genders and juvenile offenders must be sentenced pursuant to a separate law specifically dealing with juveniles.<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web |date=10 February 2012 |title=Iran changes law for execution of juveniles |url=http://www.iranwpd.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3066:iran-changes-law-for-execution-of-juveniles&Itemid=64 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429231704/http://iranwpd.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=3066%3Airan-changes-law-for-execution-of-juveniles&Itemid=64 |archive-date=29 April 2012 |access-date=30 April 2012 |publisher=Iranwpd.com}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web |title=مجازات قصاص برای افراد زیر 18 سال ممنوع شد |url=http://ghanoononline.ir/NSite/FullStory/News/?Serv=19&Id=16270 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213111337/http://www.ghanoononline.ir/NSite/FullStory/News/?Serv=19&Id=16270 |archive-date=13 February 2012 |access-date=12 December 2012 |publisher=Ghanoononline.ir}}</ref> Based on the Islamic law which now seems to have been revised, girls at the age of 9 and boys at 15 of lunar year (11 days shorter than a solar year) are deemed fully responsible for their crimes.<ref name=autogenerated2 /> Iran accounted for two-thirds of the global total of such executions, and currently{{update after|2014|8|15}} has approximately 140 people considered as juveniles awaiting execution for crimes committed (up from 71 in 2007).<ref name=AP>[http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-09-17-child-executions_N.htm Iranian activists fight child executions], Ali Akbar Dareini, [[Associated Press]], 17 September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=O'Toole|first=Pam|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6244126.stm|title=Iran rapped over child executions|work=BBC News|date=27 June 2007|access-date=12 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204021152/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6244126.stm|archive-date=4 December 2012}}</ref> The past executions of [[Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni|Mahmoud Asgari, Ayaz Marhoni]] and Makwan Moloudzadeh became the focus of Iran's child capital punishment policy and the judicial system that hands down such sentences.<ref name=Fox>{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/iran-does-far-worse-than-ignore-gays-critics-say|title=Iran Does Far Worse Than Ignore Gays, Critics Say|publisher=Foxnews.com|date=25 September 2007|access-date=12 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022014203/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297982,00.html|archive-date=22 October 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7130380.stm Iranian hanged after verdict stay] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071207005203/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7130380.stm |date=7 December 2007 }}; BBCnews.co.uk; 6 December 2007; Retrieved 6 December 2007</ref> In 2023 Iran executed a minor who had knifed a man that fought him for following a girl in the street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iranintl.com/202311245025|title=اختصاصی؛ حمیدرضا آذری، اعدام شده در زندان سبزوار، کمتر از ۱۸ سال داشت|date=9 December 2023|website=ایران اینترنشنال}}</ref>

Saudi Arabia also executes criminals who were minors at the time of the offence.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/juveniles-among-five-men-beheaded-saudi-arabia-20090512 |title=Juveniles among five men beheaded in Saudi Arabia |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=dead |date= 12 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311042739/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/juveniles-among-five-men-beheaded-saudi-arabia-20090512 |archive-date=11 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21767667 |title= Saudi Arabia executes seven men for armed robbery |date=13 March 2013 |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027024755/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21767667 |archive-date=27 October 2013|work=BBC News }}</ref> In 2013, Saudi Arabia was the center of an international controversy after it executed [[Execution of Rizana Nafeek|Rizana Nafeek]], a Sri Lankan domestic worker, who was believed to have been 17 years old at the time of the crime.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20959228 |title= Sri Lankan maid Rizana Nafeek beheaded in Saudi Arabia |date=9 January 2013 |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116033909/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20959228 |archive-date=16 January 2017|work=BBC News }}</ref> Saudi Arabia banned execution for minors, except for terrorism cases, in April 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saudi Arabia ends death penalty for minors and floggings |url=https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-ends-death-penalty-151128365.html |website=news.yahoo.com |date=26 April 2020 |access-date=26 April 2020}}</ref>

Japan has not executed juvenile criminals after August 1997, when they executed [[Norio Nagayama]], a [[spree killer]] who had been convicted of shooting four people dead in the late 1960s. Nagayama's case created the eponymously named [[Norio Nagayama|''Nagayama standards'']], which take into account factors such as the number of victims, brutality and social impact of the crimes. The standards have been used in determining whether to apply the death sentence in murder cases. Teruhiko Seki, convicted of murdering four family members including a 4-year-old daughter and raping a 15-year-old daughter of a family in 1992, became the second inmate to be hanged for a crime committed as a minor in the first such execution in 20 years after Nagayama on 19 December 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|date=19 December 2017|url=https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2017/12/881eeda07930-japan-hangs-2-death-row-inmates-sources.html |title=Japan hangs 2 inmates including man who killed 4 as minor |publisher=Kyodo News|access-date=24 July 2018}}</ref> [[Takayuki Fukuda|Takayuki Otsuki]], who was convicted of raping and strangling a 23-year-old woman and subsequently strangling her 11-month-old daughter to death on 14 April 1999, when he was 18, is another inmate sentenced to death, and his request for retrial has been rejected by the [[Supreme Court of Japan]].<ref>{{cite news|date=30 October 2012|url=https://japantoday.com/category/crime/man-sentenced-to-death-for-killing-mother-baby-daughter-in-1999-seeks-retrial |title=Man sentenced to death for killing mother, baby daughter in 1999 seeks retrial |newspaper=Japan Today|access-date=24 July 2018}}</ref>

There is evidence that child executions are taking place in the parts of Somalia controlled by the [[Islamic Courts Union]] (ICU). In October 2008, a girl, [[Stoning of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow|Aisha Ibrahim Dhuhulow]] was buried up to her neck at a football stadium, then stoned to death in front of more than 1,000 people. Somalia's established [[Transitional Federal Government]] announced in November 2009 (reiterated in 2013)<ref name="Somalia to Ratify UN Child Rights Treaty">[http://allafrica.com/stories/201311210066.html "Somalia to Ratify UN Child Rights Treaty"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203012729/http://allafrica.com/stories/201311210066.html |date=3 December 2013 }}, allAfrica.com, 20 November 2013.</ref> that it plans to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This move was lauded by [[UNICEF]] as a welcome attempt to secure children's rights in the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/20/content_12510818.htm|title=UNICEF lauds move by Somalia to ratify child convention|agency=Xinhua News Agency|date=20 November 2009|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113110138/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-11/20/content_12510818.htm|archive-date=13 January 2010}}</ref>

===Methods===
{{Main|List of methods of capital punishment}}
[[File:Rättvisa skipas.jpg|thumb|[[Red Guards (Finland)|Red Guard]] prisoners being executed by the [[White Guard (Finland)|Whites]] in [[Varkaus]], [[North Savonia]] during the 1918 [[Finnish Civil War]].]]
The following methods of execution have been used by various countries:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nutzworld.com/amerikaarticles/methods_of_execution_by_country.htm|title=Methodes of execution by country|publisher=Nutzworld.com|access-date=23 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714212707/http://www.nutzworld.com/amerikaarticles/methods_of_execution_by_country.htm|archive-date=14 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution|title=Methods of execution – Death Penalty Information Center|publisher=Deathpenaltyinfo.org|access-date=23 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225054450/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/methods-execution|archive-date=25 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://translate.google.no/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amnesty.no%2Fd%25C3%25B8dsstraffbulletin-nr-4-2010|title=Death penalty Bulletin No. 4-2010|language=no|publisher=Translate.google.no|access-date=23 February 2011}}{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://translate.google.no/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amnesty.no%2Faktuelt%2Fflere-nyheter%2Farkiv-bakgrunn%2Fopplysninger-om-d%25C3%25B8dsstraff|title=Information on Death Penalty|language=no|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=23 February 2011|archive-date=3 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303155741/http://translate.google.no/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amnesty.no%2Faktuelt%2Fflere-nyheter%2Farkiv-bakgrunn%2Fopplysninger-om-d%C3%B8dsstraff|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://executions.justsickshit.com/execution-methods-by-country/|title=execution methods by country|publisher=Executions.justsickshit.com|access-date=23 February 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101114045725/http://executions.justsickshit.com/execution-methods-by-country/|archive-date=14 November 2010}}</ref>
* Hanging ([[Capital punishment in Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[Capital punishment in Iran|Iran]], [[Capital punishment in Iraq|Iraq]], [[Capital punishment in Japan|Japan]], [[Capital punishment in South Korea|South Korea]], [[Capital punishment in Malaysia|Malaysia]], [[Capital punishment in Nigeria|Nigeria]], [[Capital punishment in Sudan|Sudan]], [[Capital punishment in Pakistan|Pakistan]], [[State of Palestine|Palestinian National Authority]], [[Capital punishment in Israel|Israel]], [[Capital punishment in Yemen|Yemen]], [[Capital punishment in Egypt|Egypt]], [[Capital punishment in India|India]], [[Capital punishment in Oman|Oman]], Myanmar, [[Capital punishment in Singapore|Singapore]], [[Capital punishment in Sri Lanka|Sri Lanka]], [[Capital punishment in Syria|Syria]], Zimbabwe, Malawi, Liberia)
* Shooting (the [[Capital punishment in the People's Republic of China|People's Republic of China]], [[Capital punishment in the Republic of China|Republic of China]], [[Capital punishment in Vietnam|Vietnam]] (until 2011), [[Capital punishment in Belarus|Belarus]], Ethiopia, Nigeria, [[Capital punishment in Somalia|Somalia]], [[Somaliland]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Halstead |first=Chelsea |date=2024-07-31 |title=Calling for Somaliland to Release Abshir Saleban Hussein, a Child, from Death Row — Cornell Center on the Death Penalty Worldwide |url=https://dpw.lawschool.cornell.edu/calling-for-somaliland-to-release-abshir-saleban-hussein-a-child-from-death-row/ |access-date=2025-02-13 |language=en-US}}</ref> [[Capital punishment in North Korea|North Korea]], [[Capital punishment in Indonesia|Indonesia]], the [[Capital punishment in the United Arab Emirates|UAE]], [[Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia|Saudi Arabia]], Bahrain, [[Capital punishment in Qatar|Qatar]], [[Capital punishment in Oman|Oman]], [[Capital punishment in Yemen|Yemen]], and in the US states of [[Capital punishment in Oklahoma|Oklahoma]], [[Capital punishment in Utah|Utah]], and [[Capital punishment in South Carolina|South Carolina]])
* Lethal injection (United States, [[Capital punishment in Guatemala|Guatemala]], [[Capital punishment in Thailand|Thailand]], the People's Republic of China, Vietnam (after 2011))
* Beheading (Saudi Arabia)
* Stoning (Nigeria, Sudan)
* Electrocution and gas inhalation (some U.S. states, but only if the prisoner requests it or if lethal injection is unavailable)
*Inert gas asphyxiation (some U.S. states: [[Capital punishment in Alabama|Alabama]], [[Capital punishment in Louisiana|Louisiana]])

===Public execution===
{{main|Public execution}}
A public execution is a form of capital punishment which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend". This definition excludes the presence of a small number of witnesses randomly selected to assure executive accountability.<ref name=blum>{{cite journal |last=Blum |first=Steven A. |date=Winter 1992 |title=Public Executions: Understand the 'Cruel and Unusual Punishments' Clause |url=http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V19/I2/Blum.pdf |journal=Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly |volume=19 |issue=2 |page=415 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326225628/http://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/archives/V19/I2/Blum.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2014}}</ref> While today the great majority of the world considers public executions to be distasteful and most countries have outlawed the practice, throughout much of history executions were performed publicly as a means for the state to demonstrate "its power before those who fell under its jurisdiction be they criminals, enemies, or political opponents". Additionally, it afforded the public a chance to witness "what was considered a great spectacle".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cawthorne |first=Nigel |date=2006 |title=Public Executions: From Ancient Rome to the Present Day |url=https://archive.org/details/publicexecutions0000cawt/page/6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/publicexecutions0000cawt/page/6 6–7] |publisher=Chartwell Books |isbn=978-0-7858-2119-9 }}</ref>

Social historians note that beginning in the 20th century in the U.S. and western Europe, death in general became increasingly shielded from public view, occurring more and more behind the closed doors of the hospital.<ref name=chambliss>{{cite book|author=William J. Chambliss|title=Corrections|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2011|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NMF1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|pages=4–5|isbn=9781452266435}}</ref> Executions were likewise moved behind the walls of the penitentiary.<ref name=chambliss/> The last formal public executions occurred in 1868 in Britain, in 1936 in the U.S. and in 1939 in France.<ref name=chambliss/>

According to Amnesty International, in 2012, "public executions were known to have been carried out in Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Somalia".<ref>{{cite news |date=12 April 2013 |title=Death penalty statistics, country by country |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/mar/29/death-penalty-countries-world |newspaper=The Guardian |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231222052/http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/mar/29/death-penalty-countries-world |archive-date=31 December 2015}}</ref> There have been reports of public executions carried out by state and non-state actors in [[Hamas]]-controlled [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]], Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Yemen.<ref>{{cite news |date=22 August 2014 |title=Haunting Images Emerge of Hamas Public Execution of 18 Alleged Collaborators |url=http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/08/22/haunting-images-emerge-of-hamas-public-execution-of-18-alleged-collaborators-photos/ |newspaper=The Algemeiner |access-date=14 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915072828/http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/08/22/haunting-images-emerge-of-hamas-public-execution-of-18-alleged-collaborators-photos/ |archive-date=15 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/isis-extremist-reportedly-kills-his-mother-in-public-execution-in-syria/ |title=ISIS extremist reportedly kills his mother in public execution in Syria |work=Fox News |date=8 January 2016 |access-date=30 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531212145/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/08/isis-extremist-executes-his-mother-in-syria-for-urging-him-to-flee-group.html |archive-date=31 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/08/world/asia/afghanistan-public-execution/ |title=Video: Taliban shoot woman 9 times in public execution as men cheer |work=CNN|date=9 July 2012 |access-date=30 May 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602090138/http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/08/world/asia/afghanistan-public-execution/ |archive-date=2 June 2016}}</ref> Executions which can be classified as public were also carried out in the U.S. states of Florida and Utah {{as of|1992|lc=yes}}.<ref name=blum/>

==Capital crime==
{{Redirect|Capital crimes|the novel|Capital Crimes}}

===Atrocity crimes===
[[Atrocity crime]]s such as [[war crime]]s, [[crimes against humanity]] and [[genocide]] are usually punishable by death in countries retaining capital punishment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ohlin |first=Jens David |date=2005 |title=Applying the Death Penalty to Crimes of Genocide |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3396668 |journal=The American Journal of International Law |volume=99 |issue=4 |pages=747–777 |doi=10.2307/3396668 |jstor=3396668 |s2cid=145298403 |issn=0002-9300|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Death sentences for such crimes were handed down and carried out during the [[Nuremberg Trials]] in 1946 and the [[Tokyo Trials]] in 1948, but starting in the 1990s, ad hoc tribunals such as the [[International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia]] (ICTY) and the [[International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda]] (ICTR) forbade the death penalty and can only impose life imprisonment as a maximum penalty.<ref name=vkstk>{{cite web|title=The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law: Death Penalty|url=https://guide-humanitarian-law.org/content/article/3/death-penalty/|publisher=[[Médecins Sans Frontières]]}}</ref> This tradition is carried on by the current [[International Criminal Court]].<ref name=vkstk/><ref>{{cite web |title=Understanding the International Criminal Court |url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/pids/publications/uicceng.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/pids/publications/uicceng.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live |publisher=International Criminal Court |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref>

===Murder===
Intentional homicide is punishable by death in most countries retaining capital punishment, but generally provided it involves an aggravating factor required by statute or judicial precedents.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Some countries, including Singapore and [[Malaysia]], made the death penalty mandatory for murder, though Singapore later changed its [[Death penalty in Singapore|laws since 2013]] to reserve the mandatory death sentence for intentional murder while providing an alternative sentence of life imprisonment with/without [[caning in Singapore|caning]] for murder with no intention to cause death, which allowed some convicted murderers on death row in Singapore (including [[Kho Jabing]]) to apply for the reduction of their death sentences after the courts in Singapore confirmed that they committed murder without the intention to kill, and are thus eligible for re-sentencing under the new death penalty laws in Singapore.<ref name="Tang">{{Cite news |first=Louisa |last=Tang |date=30 November 2018 |url=https://www.todayonline.com/big-read/big-read-capital-punishment-little-more-conversation-matter-life-and-death|title=The Big Read: Capital punishment – a little more conversation on a matter of life and death|website=Today Singapore|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="channelnewsasia.com">{{Cite web |first1=Imelda |last1=Saad |first2=S |last2=Ramesh |date=9 July 2012 |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/singapore-completes-review-mandatory-death-penalty-1906591 |title=Singapore completes review of mandatory death penalty |website=Channel NewsAsia |access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> In October 2018 the [[Malaysian Government]] imposed a [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] on all executions until the passage of a new law that would abolish the death penalty.<ref name="NST 11 Oct 18">{{cite news |title=Death penalty to be abolished |url=https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/419931/death-penalty-be-abolished |access-date=11 October 2018 |newspaper=[[New Straits Times]] |date=10 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="CNA 10 Oct 18">{{cite news |title=Malaysia to abolish death penalty; Bill may be tabled soon |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-to-abolish-death-penalty-bill-may-be-tabled-soon-10812718 |access-date=11 October 2018 |publisher=[[Channel News Asia]] |date=10 October 2018 |archive-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010160445/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/malaysia-to-abolish-death-penalty-bill-may-be-tabled-soon-10812718 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="ABC 11 Oct 2018">{{cite news |last1=Shelton |first1=Tracey |last2=Renaldi |first2=Erwin |title=Malaysian Government's plans to abolish death penalty could save Sydney grandmother's life |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-11/malaysia-to-abolish-the-death-penalty/10363948 |access-date=11 October 2018 |work=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |date=11 October 2018}}</ref> In April 2023, legislation abolishing the mandatory death penalty was passed in Malaysia. The death penalty would be retained, but courts have the discretion to replace it with other punishments, including [[whipping]] and imprisonment of 30–40 years.<ref name=abcapr2023>{{cite web | title=Malaysia passes sweeping legal reforms to remove the mandatory death penalty| website =[[ABC News (Australia)]] | date=3 April 2023 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-03/malaysia-scraps-mandatory-death-penalty-legal-reforms/102182802 | access-date=4 April 2023}}</ref>

===Drug trafficking===
{{main|Capital punishment for drug trafficking}}
[[File:CKS Airport drugs sign.JPG|thumb|Sign at the [[Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport]] warning that drug trafficking is a capital crime in the Republic of China (2005)]]
In 2018, at least 35 countries retained the death penalty for drug trafficking, drug dealing, drug possession and related offences. People had been regularly sentenced to death and executed for drug-related offences in China, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Vietnam. Other countries may retain the death penalty for symbolic purposes.<ref name="Girelli-2019">{{Cite book|last=Girelli|first=Giada|title=The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2018|publisher=Harm Reduction International|year=2019|isbn=978-0-9935434-8-7|location=London}}</ref>

The death penalty was mandated for drug trafficking in Singapore and Malaysia. Since 2013, Singapore ruled that those who were certified to have diminished responsibility (e.g. [[major depressive disorder]]) or acting as drug couriers and had assisted the authorities in tackling drug-related activities, would be sentenced to life imprisonment instead of death, with the offender liable to at least 15 strokes of the cane if he was not sentenced to death and was simultaneously sentenced to caning as well.<ref name="Tang"/><ref name="channelnewsasia.com"/> Notably, drug couriers like [[Yong Vui Kong]] and [[Cheong Chun Yin]] successfully applied to have their death sentences replaced with life imprisonment and 15 strokes of the cane in 2013 and 2015 respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Selina|last=Lum|date=24 November 2013|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/a-street-urchins-journey-to-death-row-and-back|title=A street urchin's journey to Death Row and back|website=The Straits Times|access-date=16 April 2022|archive-date=25 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025195341/https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/a-street-urchins-journey-to-death-row-and-back|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=20 April 2015 |url=https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/two-convicted-drug-traffickers-escape-gallows-imprisoned-life |title=Duo who trafficked heroin escape gallows, get life in prison |newspaper=Today }}</ref>

In April 2023, legislation abolishing the mandatory death penalty was passed in Malaysia.<ref name=abcapr2023/>

===Other offences===
{{See also|Capital punishment for non-violent offenses|Capital punishment by country}}
Other crimes that are punishable by death in some countries include:
*Firearm offences (e.g. [[Arms Offences Act]] of Singapore)
*Terrorism
*Treason (a capital crime in most countries that retain capital punishment)
*Espionage 
*Crimes against the state, such as attempting to overthrow government (most countries with the death penalty)
*Political protests (Saudi Arabia)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/News/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-death-penalty-executions-capital-punishment-six-killed-one-day-outcry-a7834726.html|title=Saudi Arabia executed six people yesterday|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|date=11 July 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170825123739/http://www.independent.co.uk/News/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-death-penalty-executions-capital-punishment-six-killed-one-day-outcry-a7834726.html|archive-date=25 August 2017}}</ref> 
*Rape (China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Brunei, etc.)
*Economic crimes (China, Iran) 
*Human trafficking (China)
*Corruption (China, Iran)
*Kidnapping (China, Singapore, Bangladesh, the US states of Georgia<ref>{{cite web |url=https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2019/title-16/chapter-5/article-3/section-16-5-40/ |title=2019 Georgia Code Title 16 – Crimes and Offenses Chapter 5 – Crimes Against the Person Article 3 – Kidnapping, False Imprisonment, and Related Offenses § 16-5-40. Kidnapping |website=Justia.com |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209114755/https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2019/title-16/chapter-5/article-3/section-16-5-40/ |archive-date=9 December 2020 }}</ref> and Idaho,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title18/T18CH45/SECT18-4504/ |title=Idaho Statutes: Title 18: Crimes and Punishments |publisher=Idaho Legislature |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208123527/https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/Title18/T18CH45/SECT18-4504/ |archive-date=8 December 2020 }}</ref> etc.) 
*[[Separatism]] (China{{noteTag|In 2024, China imposed a judicial order based on its [[Anti-Secession Law]] that established punishments for those who promote [[Taiwan independence|independence of Taiwan]], and capital punishment can be used in the worst cases. [[Reuters]] indicated that the order will rarely be enforced, since China has no jurisdiction in [[Taiwan]].<ref>{{cite news |title=中國發布「懲治台獨分子」司法新規 最高可判死刑 |url=https://www.dw.com/zh-hant/a-69441049 |access-date=12 April 2025 |work=dw.com |publisher=[[Deutsche Welle]] |date=2024-06-21 |language=zh}}</ref> }})
*[[Zina|Unlawful sexual behaviour]] (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, Brunei, Nigeria, etc.)<!--Adultery, rape, and sodomy fall under the same criminal category in sharia.-->
*Religious [[Hudud]] offences such as [[Apostasy in Islam|apostasy]] (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan etc.) 
*Blasphemy (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, certain states in Nigeria)
*[[Hirabah|Moharebeh]] (Iran)
*Drinking [[alcohol (drug)|alcohol]] (Iran) 
*[[Witchcraft]] and [[Magic (paranormal)|sorcery]] (Saudi Arabia)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/saudi-arabias-war-on-witchcraft/278701/|title=Saudi Arabia's War on Witchcraft|first=Ryan|last=Jacobs|website=[[The Atlantic]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218084707/http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/saudi-arabias-war-on-witchcraft/278701/|archive-date=18 December 2016|date=19 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/07/the-anti-sorcery-squad-of-saudi-arabia/|title=The Anti-Sorcery Squad of Saudi Arabia – Mysterious Universe|website=mysteriousuniverse.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102081146/http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/07/the-anti-sorcery-squad-of-saudi-arabia/|archive-date=2 January 2017}}</ref>
*Arson (Algeria, Tunisia, Mali, Mauritania, etc.)
*[[Hirabah]]; [[brigandage]]; [[armed robbery|armed]] or aggravated robbery (Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia, the US state of Georgia<ref>{{cite web |url=https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2019/title-16/chapter-8/article-2/section-16-8-41/ |title=2019 Georgia Code Title 16 – Crimes and Offenses Chapter 8 – Offenses Involving Theft Article 2 – Robbery § 16-8-41. Armed robbery; robbery by intimidation; taking controlled substance from pharmacy in course of committing offense |website=Justia.com |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212233833/https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2019/title-16/chapter-8/article-2/section-16-8-41/ |archive-date=12 December 2020 }}</ref> etc.)<ref name="Amnesty2014">{{Cite web | url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/act50/001/2013/en/ | title=Death Sentences and Executions in 2012 | date=10 April 2013 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704072918/http://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ACT50/001/2013/en/ |archive-date=4 July 2015 }}</ref>
*[[Homosexuality]] (Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brunei, Uganda, Nigeria (Northern states), Mauritania, etc.) (Unclear for United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iran, Libya, Somalia, etc.)

==Controversy and debate<!--'Anti-death penalty' redirects here-->==
{{See also|Capital punishment debate in the United States}}
Death penalty opponents regard the death penalty as inhumane<ref name="amnesty-ill">{{Cite magazine|title=Cruel and Unusual: Executing the mentally ill|url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.do?id=1105184In|author=Dan Malone|magazine=Amnesty International Magazine|date=Fall 2005|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116081317/http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.do?id=1105184In|archive-date=16 January 2009}}</ref> and criticize it for its irreversibility.<ref name="amnesty-irreversible">{{cite web|url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/Our_Issues/Death_Penalty/page.do?id=1011005&n1=3&n2=28|title=Abolish the death penalty|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=25 January 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119233113/http://www.amnestyusa.org/Our_Issues/Death_Penalty/page.do?id=1011005&n1=3&n2=28|archive-date=19 January 2008}}</ref> They argue also that capital punishment lacks deterrent effect,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence/ |title=The Death Penalty and Deterrence |publisher=Amnestyusa.org |date=22 February 2008 |access-date=23 May 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823161110/https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/death-penalty/death-penalty-facts/the-death-penalty-and-deterrence/ |archive-date=23 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~lamperti/capitalpunishment.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20010813164705/http://www.math.dartmouth.edu/~lamperti/capitalpunishment.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 August 2001 |title=John W. Lamperti &#124; Capital Punishment |publisher=Math.dartmouth.edu |date=10 March 1973 |access-date=23 May 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/discussion-recent-deterrence-studies |title=Discussion of Recent Deterrence Studies &#124; Death Penalty Information Center |publisher=Deathpenaltyinfo.org |access-date=23 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429191414/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/discussion-recent-deterrence-studies |archive-date=29 April 2009}}</ref> or has a [[brutalization]] effect,<ref name=sf>{{cite journal|last1=King|first1=D. R.|title=The Brutalization Effect: Execution Publicity and the Incidence of Homicide in South Carolina|journal=Social Forces|date=1 December 1978|volume=57|issue=2|pages=683–687|doi=10.1093/sf/57.2.683}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1214/p09s01-coop.html | title=Why not all executions deter murder | work=Christian Science Monitor | date=14 December 2005 | access-date=17 April 2022 | author=Shepherd, Joanna}}</ref> discriminates against minorities and the poor, and that it encourages a "culture of violence".<ref name="deathPenaltyFocus">{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42|title=The High Cost of the Death Penalty|publisher=[[Death Penalty Focus]]|access-date=27 June 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080428180241/http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42|archive-date=28 April 2008}}</ref> There are many organizations worldwide, such as Amnesty International,<ref>{{cite web|url =http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/DeathPenaltyFactsMay2012.pdf|title =Death Penalty Facts|url-status=live|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20151026041955/http://www.amnestyusa.org/pdfs/DeathPenaltyFactsMay2012.pdf|archive-date =26 October 2015}}</ref> and country-specific, such as the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU), whose main purpose includes abolition of the death penalty.<ref>Brian Evans, [http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/the-death-penalty-in-2011-three-things-you-should-know/ "The Death Penalty In 2011: Three Things You Should Know"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731081723/http://blog.amnestyusa.org/us/the-death-penalty-in-2011-three-things-you-should-know/ |date=31 July 2013 }}, [[Amnesty International]], 26 March 2012, in particular the map, [http://betablog.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/death_penalty_world_map.jpg "Executions and Death Sentences in 2011"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217160324/http://betablog.amnestyusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/death_penalty_world_map.jpg |date=17 February 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment |title=ACLU Capital Punishment Project (CPP) |publisher=Aclu.org |access-date=14 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130412231652/http://www.aclu.org/capital-punishment |archive-date=12 April 2013}}</ref>

Advocates of the death penalty argue that it deters crime,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/sunstein1.pdf|title=Home – Stanford Law Review|first=Stanford Law|last=Review|website=www.stanfordlawreview.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903214330/http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/sunstein1.pdf|archive-date=3 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/us/18deter.html|title=Does Death Penalty Save Lives? A New Debate|first=Adam|last=Liptak|date=18 November 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117190641/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/us/18deter.html|archive-date=17 November 2015|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> is a good tool for police and prosecutors in [[plea bargain]]ing,<ref>{{cite web|author=James Pitkin|url=http://wweek.com/editorial/3411/10288/|title="Killing Time" &#124; January 23rd, 2008|publisher=Wweek.com|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080124040746/http://wweek.com/editorial/3411/10288/|archive-date=24 January 2008}}</ref> makes sure that convicted criminals do not offend again, and that it ensures justice for crimes such as homicide, where other penalties will not inflict the desired retribution demanded by the crime itself. Capital punishment for non-lethal crimes is usually considerably more controversial, and abolished in many of the countries that retain it.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/04/06/what-it-means-if-the-death-penalty-is-dying/the-death-penalty-needs-to-be-an-option-for-punishment|title=The Death Penalty Needs to Be an Option for Punishment|website=[[The New York Times]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161207140843/http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/04/06/what-it-means-if-the-death-penalty-is-dying/the-death-penalty-needs-to-be-an-option-for-punishment|archive-date=7 December 2016}}</ref><ref>Schillinger, Ted (2007) ''[[Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead]]'', film about retributive justice and capital punishment</ref>

===Retribution===
{{See also|Revenge#Revenge dynamics}}
[[File: Karl Morgenschweis prays for condemned prisoner.jpg|thumb|Execution of a [[war crimes|war criminal]] in Germany in 1946]]
Supporters of the death penalty argued that death penalty is morally justified when applied in murder especially with aggravating elements such as for murder of police officers, [[child murder]], [[torture murder]], multiple [[homicide]] and [[mass killing]] such as [[terrorism]], cillvilain war crimes, [[massacre]]ing, and genocide. This argument is strongly defended by [[New York Law School]]'s Professor [[Robert Blecker Wants Me Dead|Robert Blecker]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty_profiles/robert_blecker/ |title=New York Law School :: Robert Blecker |publisher=Nyls.edu |access-date=14 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902231929/http://www.nyls.edu/faculty/faculty_profiles/robert_blecker/ |archive-date=2 September 2013}}</ref> who says that the punishment must be painful in proportion to the crime. Eighteenth-century philosopher [[Immanuel Kant]] defended a more extreme position, according to which every murderer deserves to die on the grounds that loss of life is incomparable to any penalty that allows them to remain alive, including life imprisonment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.american.edu/dgolash/Kant_on_Punishment.html/ |title=Immanuel Kant, The Philosophy of Right |publisher=American.edu |access-date=6 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140217232041/http://www1.american.edu/dgolash/Kant_on_Punishment.html |archive-date=17 February 2014 }}</ref>

Some abolitionists argue that retribution is simply revenge and cannot be condoned. Others while accepting retribution as an element of criminal justice nonetheless argue that [[life without parole]] is a sufficient substitute. It is also argued that the punishing of a killing with another death is a relatively unusual punishment for a violent act, because in general violent crimes are not punished by subjecting the perpetrator to a similar act (e.g. rapists are, typically, not punished by [[judicial corporal punishment|corporal punishment]], although it may be inflicted in Singapore, for example).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_1.shtml#section_4 |title=Ethics – Capital punishment: Arguments against capital punishment |publisher=BBC |date=1 January 1970 |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209003504/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/capitalpunishment/against_1.shtml#section_4 |archive-date=9 February 2014}}</ref>

===Human rights===
Abolitionists believe capital punishment is the worst violation of human rights, because the [[right to life]] is the most important, and capital punishment violates it without necessity and inflicts to the condemned a [[psychological torture]]. Human rights activists oppose the death penalty, calling it "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment". Amnesty International considers it to be "the ultimate irreversible denial of Human Rights".<ref name="Abolish the death penalty">{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty|title=Abolish the death penalty|publisher=Amnesty International|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830062328/http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty|archive-date=30 August 2010}}</ref> [[Albert Camus]] wrote in a 1956 book called ''Reflections on the Guillotine, Resistance, Rebellion & Death'':

{{Blockquote|An execution is not simply death. It is just as different from the privation of life as a concentration camp is from prison. [...] For there to be an equivalency, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://people.smu.edu/rhalperi/ |title=Death Penalty News & Updates |publisher=People.smu.edu |access-date=14 April 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130413081015/http://people.smu.edu/rhalperi/ |archive-date=13 April 2013}}</ref>}}

In the classic doctrine of natural rights as expounded by for instance [[John Locke|Locke]] and [[William Blackstone|Blackstone]], on the other hand, it is an important idea that the right to life can be forfeited, as most other rights can be given [[due process]] is observed, such as the [[right to property]] and the [[habeas corpus|right to freedom]], [[remand (detention)|including provisionally]], in anticipation of an actual verdict.<ref name=feinberg>Joel Feinberg: [http://www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/lectures/documents/feinberg80.pdf Voluntary Euthanasia and the Inalienable Right to Life] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021073901/http://www.tannerlectures.utah.edu/lectures/documents/feinberg80.pdf |date=21 October 2012 }} [[Tanner Lectures on Human Values|The Tanner Lecture on Human Values]], 1 April 1977.</ref> As [[John Stuart Mill]] explained in a speech given in Parliament against an amendment to abolish capital punishment for murder in 1868:

{{Blockquote|And we may imagine somebody asking how we can teach people not to inflict suffering by ourselves inflicting it? But to this I should answer – all of us would answer – that to deter by suffering from inflicting suffering is not only possible, but the very purpose of penal justice. Does fining a criminal show want of respect for property, or imprisoning him, for personal freedom? Just as unreasonable is it to think that to take the life of a man who has taken that of another is to show want of regard for human life. We show, on the contrary, most emphatically our regard for it, by the adoption of a rule that he who violates that right in another forfeits it for himself, and that while no other crime that he can commit deprives him of his right to live, this shall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ethics.sandiego.edu/books/Mill/Punishment/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508233912/http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Books/Mill/Punishment/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 May 2013 |title=John Stuart Mill, Speech on Capital Punishment |publisher=Sandiego.edu |access-date=6 July 2014 }}</ref>}}

In one of the most recent cases relating to the [[death penalty in Singapore]], activists like [[Jolovan Wham]], [[Kirsten Han]] and Kokila Annamalai and even the international groups like the [[United Nations]] and [[European Union]] argued for Malaysian drug trafficker [[Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam]], who has been on [[death row]] at Singapore's [[Changi Prison]] since 2010, should not be executed due to an alleged intellectual disability, as they argued that Nagaenthran has low IQ of 69 and a psychiatrist has assessed him to be mentally impaired to an extent that he should not be held liable to his crime and execution. They also cited international law where a country should be prohibiting the execution of mentally and intellectually impaired people in order to push for Singapore to commute Nagaenthran's death penalty to [[life imprisonment]] based on protection of human rights. However, the [[Singapore government]] and both Singapore's [[High Court of Singapore|High Court]] and [[Court of Appeal of Singapore|Court of Appeal]] maintained their firm stance that despite his certified low IQ, it is confirmed that Nagaenthran is not mentally or intellectually disabled based on the joint opinion of three government psychiatrists as he is able to fully understand the magnitude of his actions and has no problem in his daily functioning of life.<ref>{{cite news|date=11 November 2021|title=High Court found Malaysian drug trafficker did not have mild intellectual disability: Singapore envoy|website=The Straits Times|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/high-court-found-malaysian-drug-trafficker-did-not-have-mild-intellectual-disability|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="straitstimes.com">{{cite news|title=Death penalty protest at Speakers' Corner as it reopens 2 years after Covid-19 closure|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/death-penalty-protest-at-speakers-corner-as-it-reopens-2-years-after-covid-19-closure|website=The Straits Times|date=3 April 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=16 April 2022 |title=Nagaenthran son of K Dharmalingam v Attorney-General |url=https://www.elitigation.sg/gd/s/2022_SGCA_26 |website=Singapore Court of Appeal |quote=[31] In Nagaenthran (CM) (at [71] and [75]), the High Court found that the appellant had borderline intellectual functioning; not that he was suffering from mild intellectual disability.}}</ref> Despite the international outcry, Nagaenthran was executed on 27 April 2022.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.todayonline.com/world/singapore-executes-malaysian-drugs-charges-after-rejecting-mental-disability-appeal-1884021|title=Singapore executes Malaysian on drugs charges after rejecting mental disability appeal|website=Today|date=27 April 2022|access-date=27 April 2022|archive-date=27 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427032144/https://www.todayonline.com/world/singapore-executes-malaysian-drugs-charges-after-rejecting-mental-disability-appeal-1884021|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Non-painful execution===
{{Further|Cruel and unusual punishment}}
[[File:SQ Lethal Injection Room.jpg|thumb|A gurney at [[San Quentin State Prison]] in California formerly used for executions by [[lethal injection]]]]
Trends in most of the world have long been to move to private and less painful executions. France adopted the [[guillotine]] for this reason in the final years of the 18th century, while Britain banned hanging, drawing, and quartering in the early 19th century. Hanging by turning the victim off a ladder or by kicking a stool or a bucket, which causes death by strangulation, was replaced by [[Hanging#Standard drop|long drop "hanging"]] where the subject is dropped a longer distance to dislocate the neck and sever the spinal cord. [[Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar]], [[Qajar dynasty#Qajar Shahs of Iran, 1789–1925|Shah of Persia (1896–1907)]] introduced throat-cutting and [[blowing from a gun]] (close-range cannon fire) as quick and relatively painless alternatives to more torturous methods of executions used at that time.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://explorion.net/ride-india-across-persia-and-baluchistan/chapter-vii-ispahan-shiraz?page=3&quicktabs_3=1|title=A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan|year=1901|chapter=Ispahan – Shiraz|publisher=Explorion.net|access-date=23 February 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718200923/http://explorion.net/ride-india-across-persia-and-baluchistan/chapter-vii-ispahan-shiraz?page=3&quicktabs_3=1|archive-date=18 July 2011}}</ref> In the United States, electrocution and gas inhalation were introduced as more humane alternatives to hanging, but have been almost entirely superseded by lethal injection. A small number of countries, for example Iran and Saudi Arabia, still employ slow hanging methods, decapitation, and stoning.

A study of executions carried out in the United States between 1977 and 2001 indicated that at least 34 of the 749 executions, or 4.5%, involved "unanticipated problems or delays that caused, at least arguably, unnecessary agony for the prisoner or that reflect gross incompetence of the executioner". The rate of these "[[List of botched executions|botched executions]]" remained steady over the period of the study.<ref>Borg and Radelet, pp. 144–47</ref> A separate study published in ''[[The Lancet]]'' in 2005 found that in 43% of cases of lethal injection, the blood level of [[hypnotic]]s was insufficient to guarantee unconsciousness.<ref>Van Norman p. 287</ref> However, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled in 2008 (''[[Baze v. Rees]]'') and again in 2015 (''[[Glossip v. Gross]]'') that lethal injection does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment.<ref>Paternoster, R. (18 September 2012). Capital Punishment. Oxford Handbooks Online. Retrieved 15 June 2016, from {{cite book |title=Capital Punishment |series=The Oxford Handbook of Crime and Criminal Justice|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195395082.001.0001 |date=29 September 2011 |last1=Paternoster |first1=Ray |editor1-first=Michael|editor1-last=Tonry|isbn=9780195395082 }}.</ref> In ''[[Bucklew v. Precythe]]'', the majority verdict – written by Judge [[Neil Gorsuch]] – further affirmed this principle, stating that while the ban on cruel and unusual punishment affirmatively bans penalties that ''deliberately inflict'' pain and degradation, it does in no sense limit the possible infliction of pain in the execution of a capital verdict.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/bucklew-v-precythe-supreme-court-turns-cruelty/586471 |title=Unusual Cruelty at the Supreme Court |work=The Atlantic |last=Epps |first=Garrett |date=4 April 2019 |access-date=20 July 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404112711/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/bucklew-v-precythe-supreme-court-turns-cruelty/586471/ |archive-date=4 April 2019 }}</ref>

===Wrongful execution===
{{Main|Wrongful execution}}
{{See also|List of wrongful convictions in the United States}}
[[File:Timothy Evans Grave.JPG|thumb|Capital punishment was abolished in the United Kingdom in part because of the case of [[Timothy Evans]], who was executed in 1950 after being wrongfully convicted of two murders that had in fact been committed by his landlord, [[John Christie (murderer)|John Christie]]. The case was considered vital in bolstering opposition, which limited the scope of the penalty in 1957 and abolished it completely for murder in 1965.]]
It is frequently argued that capital punishment leads to [[miscarriage of justice]] through the wrongful execution of innocent persons.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=412|title=Innocence and the Death Penalty|publisher=Deathpenaltyinfo.org|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080701205425/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=412|archive-date=1 July 2008}}</ref> Many people have been proclaimed innocent victims of the death penalty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/innocent.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070804222621/http://capitaldefenseweekly.com/innocent.html|url-status=unfit|title=Thirty Years of Executions with Reasonable Doubts: A Brief Analysis of Some Modern Executions|archivedate=4 August 2007|website=Capital Defense Weekly}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justicedenied.org/executed.htm|title=Executed Innocents|publisher=Justicedenied.org|access-date=23 August 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124184742/http://justicedenied.org/executed.htm|archive-date=24 November 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://mitglied.lycos.de/PeterWill/penal9.htm|archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090522224521/http://mitglied.lycos.de/PeterWill/penal9.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 May 2009|title=Wrongful executions|publisher=Mitglied.lycos.de|access-date=23 August 2010}}</ref>

Some have claimed that as many as 39 executions have been carried out in the face of compelling evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt in the US from 1992 through 2004. Newly available [[DNA evidence]] prevented the pending execution of more than 15 death row inmates during the same period in the US,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/575.php |title=The Innocence Project – News and Information: Press Releases |publisher=Innoccenceproject.org |access-date=23 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702223208/http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/575.php |archive-date=2 July 2010}}</ref> but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases.<ref name="CB2">{{cite web|last=Lundin|first=Leigh|title=Casey Anthony Trial– Aftermath|url=http://criminalbrief.com/?p=17459|work=Capital Punishment|publisher=Criminal Brief|location=Orlando|date=10 July 2011|quote=With 400 condemned on death row, Florida is an extremely aggressive death penalty state, a state that will even execute for drug trafficking.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911200202/http://criminalbrief.com/?p=17459|archive-date=11 September 2011}}</ref> {{as of|2017}}, 159 prisoners on death row have been exonerated by DNA or other evidence, which is seen as an indication that innocent prisoners have almost certainly been executed.<ref>Van Norman p. 288</ref><ref name=DPIC2015>{{cite web|title=Facts about the Death Penalty|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf|publisher=Death Penalty Information Center|access-date=23 December 2015|date=9 December 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151212150147/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/documents/FactSheet.pdf|archive-date=12 December 2015}}</ref> The National Coalition to
Abolish the Death Penalty claims that between 1976 and 2015, 1,414 prisoners in the United States have been executed while 156 sentenced to death have had their death sentences vacated.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ncadp.org/pages/innocence#_ftn6| title=Innocence| publisher=National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty| access-date=26 July 2019| archive-date=18 July 2019| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190718072653/http://www.ncadp.org/pages/innocence#_ftn6| url-status=dead}}</ref> It is impossible to assess how many have been wrongly executed, since courts do not generally investigate the innocence of a dead defendant, and defense attorneys tend to concentrate their efforts on clients whose lives can still be saved; however, there is strong evidence of innocence in many cases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent#also|title=Executed But Possibly Innocent &#124; Death Penalty Information Center|publisher=Deathpenaltyinfo.org|access-date=30 April 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413152426/http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent#also|archive-date=13 April 2012}}</ref>

Improper procedure may also result in unfair executions. For example, Amnesty International argues that in Singapore "the [[Misuse of Drugs Act (Singapore)|Misuse of Drugs Act]] contains a series of presumptions which shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the accused. This conflicts with the universally guaranteed right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty".<ref>Amnesty International, [https://www.amnesty.org/documents/asa36/001/2004/en "Singapore – The death penalty: A hidden toll of executions"] (January 2004)</ref> Singapore's Misuse of Drugs Act presumes one is guilty of possession of drugs if, as examples, one is found to be present or escaping from a location "proved or presumed to be used for the purpose of smoking or administering a controlled drug", if one is in possession of a key to a premises where drugs are present, if one is in the company of another person found to be in possession of illegal drugs, or if one tests positive after being given a mandatory [[drug test|urine drug screening]]. Urine drug screenings can be given at the discretion of police, without requiring a search warrant. The onus is on the accused in all of the above situations to prove that they were not in possession of or consumed illegal drugs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Misuse of Drugs Act (CHAPTER 185)|page=PART III EVIDENCE, ENFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT|url=http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=Id%3A%223f9aff0b-a3bd-41da-be16-66daab867d04%22%20Status%3Apublished%20%20TransactionTime%3A20151123000000;rec=0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305015714/http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/aol/search/display/view.w3p;page=0;query=Id%3A%223f9aff0b-a3bd-41da-be16-66daab867d04%22%20Status%3Apublished%20%20TransactionTime%3A20151123000000;rec=0|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 March 2016|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref>

===Volunteers===
{{main|Volunteer (capital punishment)}}
Some prisoners have volunteered or attempted to expedite capital punishment, often by waiving all appeals. Prisoners have made requests or committed further crimes in prison as well. In the United States, execution volunteers constitute approximately 11% of prisoners on death row. Volunteers often bypass legal procedures which are designed to designate the death penalty for the "worst of the worst" offenders. Opponents of execution volunteering cited the prevalence of mental illness among volunteers comparing it to suicide. Execution volunteers have received considerably less attention and effort at legal reform than those who were exonerated after execution.<ref name="file_">{{Cite web| title = Volunteers for Execution: Directions for Further Research into Grief, Culpability, and Legal Structures| author = Rountree, Meredith Martin| work = Northwestern University School of Law| year = 2014| access-date = 2 July 2020| url = https://files.deathpenaltyinfo.org/legacy/documents/VolunteersForExecution.pdf}}</ref>

===Racial, ethnic, and social class bias===
Opponents of the death penalty argue that this punishment is being used more often against perpetrators from racial and ethnic minorities and from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, than against those criminals who come from a privileged background; and that the background of the victim also influences the outcome.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-and-race |title=Death Penalty and Race &#124; Amnesty International USA |publisher=Amnestyusa.org |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209235831/http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/death-penalty/us-death-penalty-facts/death-penalty-and-race |archive-date=9 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eji.org/deathpenalty/racialbias |title=Racial Bias &#124; Equal Justice Initiative |publisher=Eji.org |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001080516/http://www.eji.org/deathpenalty/racialbias |archive-date=1 October 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncadp.org/pages/racial-bias |title=Racial Bias &#124; National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty |publisher=Ncadp.org |date=18 March 1999 |access-date=9 July 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140602161510/http://www.ncadp.org/pages/racial-bias |archive-date=2 June 2014}}</ref> Researchers have shown that white Americans are more likely to support the death penalty when told that it is mostly applied to black Americans,<ref name="peffley-2007">{{cite journal|last1=Peffley|first1=Mark|last2=Hurwitz|first2=Jon|title=Persuasion and Resistance: Race and the Death Penalty in America|journal=American Journal of Political Science|year=2007|volume=51|issue=4|pages=996–1012|url=http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/teaching/articles/AJPS-20007-Peffley.pdf|access-date=3 May 2014|doi=10.1111/j.1540-5907.2007.00293.x|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503085353/http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/teaching/articles/AJPS-20007-Peffley.pdf|archive-date=3 May 2014}}</ref> and that more stereotypically black-looking or dark-skinned defendants are more likely to be sentenced to death if the case involves a white victim.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Eberhardt|first1=J. L.|last2=Davies|first2=P. G.|last3=Purdie-Vaughns|first3=V. J.|last4=Johnson|first4=S. L.|title=Looking Deathworthy: Perceived Stereotypicality of Black Defendants Predicts Capital-Sentencing Outcomes|journal=Psychological Science|date=1 May 2006|volume=17|issue=5|pages=383–386|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01716.x|pmid=16683924|url=http://works.bepress.com/sheri_johnson/12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043144/https://works.bepress.com/sheri_johnson/12/|archive-date=31 August 2017|citeseerx=10.1.1.177.3897|s2cid=15737940}}</ref> However, a study published in 2018 failed to replicate the findings of earlier studies that had concluded that white Americans are more likely to support the death penalty if informed that it is largely applied to black Americans; according to the authors, their findings "may result from changes since 2001 in the effects of racial stimuli on white attitudes about the death penalty or their willingness to express those attitudes in a survey context."<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Butler|first1=Ryden|last2=Nyhan|first2=Brendan|last3=Montgomery|first3=Jacob M.|last4=Torres|first4=Michelle|date=1 January 2018|title=Revisiting white backlash: Does race affect death penalty opinion?|journal=Research & Politics|language=en|volume=5|issue=1|pages=2053168017751250|doi=10.1177/2053168017751250|issn=2053-1680|doi-access=free}}</ref>

In Alabama in 2019, a death row inmate named [[Dunn v. Ray|Domineque Ray]] was denied his imam in the room during his execution, instead only offered a Christian chaplain.<ref name="Schwartz-2019">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/02/08/692605056/supreme-court-lets-alabama-execute-muslim-murderer-without-imam-by-his-side|title=Justices Let Alabama Execute Death Row Inmate Who Wanted Imam By His Side|newspaper=NPR|date=8 February 2019|language=en|access-date=11 February 2019|last1=Schwartz|first1=Matthew S.}}</ref> After filing a complaint, a federal court of appeals ruled 5–4 against Ray's request. The majority cited the "last-minute" nature of the request, and the dissent stated that the treatment went against the core principle of denominational neutrality.<ref name="Schwartz-2019" />

In July 2019, two [[Shiite]] men, Ali Hakim al-Arab, 25, and Ahmad al-Malali, 24, were executed in Bahrain, despite the protests from the United Nations and rights group. Amnesty International stated that the executions were being carried out on confessions of "terrorism crimes" that were obtained through torture.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dailysunpost.com/bahrain-executes-3-men/|title=Bahrain executes 3 men|access-date=28 July 2019|work=Daily Sun Post|date=28 July 2019|archive-date=29 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729134201/https://dailysunpost.com/bahrain-executes-3-men/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 30 March 2022, despite the appeals by the United Nations and rights activists, 68-year-old [[Malay Singaporean]] [[Abdul Kahar Othman]] was hanged at [[Singapore]]'s [[Changi Prison]] for illegally trafficking [[diamorphine]], which marked the first execution in Singapore since 2019 as a result of an informal moratorium caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Earlier, there were appeals made to advocate for Abdul Kahar's death penalty be commuted to life imprisonment on humanitarian grounds, as Abdul Kahar came from a poor family and has struggled with drug addiction. He was also revealed to have been spending most of his life going in and out of prison, including a ten-year sentence of [[preventive detention]] from 1995 to 2005, and has not been given much time for rehabilitation, which made the activists and groups arguing that Abdul Kahar should be given a chance for rehabilitation instead of subjecting him to execution.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://transformativejusticecollective.org/2022/03/28/when-will-we-stop-killing-small-people-who-need-care/|title=When will we stop killing "small people" who need care?|website=Transformative Justice Collective|date=28 March 2022|access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.yahoo.com/singapore-hangs-drug-trafficker-resumption-045039209.html|title=Singapore hangs drug trafficker in resumption of executions|website=Yahoo News|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/30/man-hanged-in-singapore-amid-concern-over-surge-of-execution-notices|title=Man hanged in Singapore amid concern over surge of execution notices|website=The Guardian|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref> Both the European Union (EU) and [[Amnesty International]] criticised Singapore for finalizing and carrying out Abdul Kahar's execution, and about 400 Singaporeans protested against the government's use of the death penalty merely days after Abdul Kahar's death sentence was authorised.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/03/singapore-new-execution-death-penalty/|title=Singapore: Shameful resumption of executions after more than two years won't end drug-related crime|website=Amnesty International|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/singapore-statement-spokesperson-execution-abdul-kahar-bin-othman_en|title=Singapore: Statement by the Spokesperson on the execution of Abdul Kahar bin Othman|website=European Union|date=30 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Will 2022 signal sea change in the death penalty for drugs?: Jakarta Post contributor|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/will-2022-signal-sea-change-in-the-death-penalty-for-drugs-jakarta-post-contributor|website=The Straits Times|date=6 April 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref><ref name="straitstimes.com"/> Still, over 80% of the public supported the use of the death penalty in Singapore.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/death-penalty-majority-singapore-residents-support-shanmugam-2535331|title=Majority of Singapore residents still support death penalty in latest MHA survey: Shanmugam|website=CNA|date=3 March 2022|access-date=16 April 2022}}</ref>

===International views===
{{anchor|International organisations}}
[[File:World laws pertaining to homosexual relationships and expression.svg|thumb|left|upright=1.15|Same-sex intercourse illegal: {{legend|#800000|[[Death penalty for homosexuality]]}}
{{legend|#cc6633|Death penalty in legislation, but not applied}}]] 
The United Nations introduced a resolution during the General Assembly's 62nd sessions in 2007 calling for a universal ban.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcoalition.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10|title=Journée contre la peine de mort : le monde décide!|author=Thomas Hubert|date=29 June 2007|language=fr|publisher=Coalition Mondiale|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070915094641/http://www.worldcoalition.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10|archive-date=15 September 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-index-eng |title=Abolish the death penalty &#124; Amnesty International |publisher=Web.amnesty.org |access-date=12 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011062214/http://web.amnesty.org/pages/deathpenalty-index-eng |archive-date=11 October 2008 }}</ref> The approval of a draft resolution by the Assembly's third committee, which deals with human rights issues, voted 99 to 52, with 33 abstentions, in support of the resolution on 15 November 2007 and was put to a vote in the Assembly on 18 December.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-set-key-death-penalty-vote-20071209|title=UN set for key death penalty vote|publisher=Amnesty International|date=9 December 2007|access-date=12 February 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215001040/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-set-key-death-penalty-vote-20071209|archive-date=15 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1212297|title=Directorate of Communication – The global campaign against the death penalty is gaining momentum – Statement by Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe|publisher=Wcd.coe.int|date=16 November 2007|access-date=12 December 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121028025126/https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1212297|archive-date=28 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/ga/news/news.asp?NewsID=24679&Cr=general&Cr1=assembly |title=UN General Assembly – News Stories |publisher=Un.org |access-date=12 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109035000/http://www.un.org/ga/news/news.asp?NewsID=24679&Cr=general&Cr1=assembly |archive-date=9 January 2009 }}</ref>

Again in 2008, a large majority of states from all regions adopted, on 20 November in the UN General Assembly (Third Committee), a second resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty; 105 countries voted in support of the draft resolution, 48 voted against and 31 abstained.

The moratorium resolution has been presented for a vote each year since 2007. On 15 December 2022, 125 countries voted in support of the moratorium, with 37 countries opposing, and 22 abstentions. The countries voting against the moratorium included the United States, People's Republic of China, North Korea, and Iran.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Marcus |first1=Josh |title='Inhumane': Critics slam US vote against UN resolution condemning death penalty |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/united-states-un-vote-death-denalty-b2246231.html |access-date=30 January 2023 |work=The Independent |date=15 December 2022}}</ref>

A range of amendments proposed by a small minority of pro-death penalty countries were overwhelmingly defeated. It had in 2007 passed a non-binding resolution (by 104 to 54, with 29 abstentions) by asking its member states for "a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1849885920071218|title=U.N. Assembly calls for moratorium on death penalty|work=Reuters|date=18 December 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417030913/http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN1849885920071218|archive-date=17 April 2009}}</ref>

[[File:04CFREU-Article2-Crop.jpg|thumb|Article 2 of the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] affirms the prohibition on capital punishment in the EU.]]
A number of regional conventions prohibit the death penalty, most notably, the Protocol 6 (abolition in time of peace) and Protocol 13 (abolition in all circumstances) to the European Convention on Human Rights. The same is also stated under Protocol 2 in the [[American Convention on Human Rights]], which, however, has not been ratified by all countries in the Americas, most notably Canada<ref>The reason Canada has not ratified the Convention does not appear to be related to capital punishment, but because the Convention's provision on abortion is likely not consistent with the legal position in Canada relating to abortion: [https://blogs.mcgill.ca/humanrightsinterns/2019/06/23/abortion-in-the-americas-article-41-of-the-american-convention-on-human-rights/ Kelly O'Connor, "Abortion in the Americas: Article 4(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211202224059/https://blogs.mcgill.ca/humanrightsinterns/2019/06/23/abortion-in-the-americas-article-41-of-the-american-convention-on-human-rights/ |date=2 December 2021 }}.</ref> and the United States. Most relevant operative international treaties do not require its prohibition for cases of serious crime, most notably, the [[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]]. This instead has, in common with several other treaties, an optional protocol prohibiting capital punishment and promoting its wider abolition.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr-death.htm |title=Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR |access-date=8 December 2007 |publisher=Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121143327/http://www.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr-death.htm |archive-date=21 November 2007 }}</ref>

Several international organizations have made abolition of the death penalty (during time of peace, or in all circumstances) a requirement of membership, most notably the EU and the [[Council of Europe]]. The Council of Europe are willing to accept a [[Moratorium (law)|moratorium]] as an interim measure. Thus, while [[Capital punishment in Russia|Russia]] was a member of the Council of Europe, and the death penalty remains codified in its law, it has not made use of it since becoming a member of the council – Russia has not executed anyone since 1996. With the exception of Russia (abolitionist in practice) and Belarus (retentionist), all European countries are classified as abolitionist.<ref name="amnesty.org"/>

[[Capital punishment in Latvia|Latvia]] abolished {{lang|la|de jure}} the death penalty for war crimes in 2012, becoming the last EU member to do so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/death-sentences-and-executions-in-2012 |title=The Death Penalty in 2012 |publisher=Amnesty International |date=9 April 2013 |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029232445/http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/death-sentences-and-executions-in-2012 |archive-date=29 October 2013 }}</ref>

Protocol 13 to the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] calls for the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances (including for war crimes). The majority of European countries have signed and ratified it. Some European countries have not done this, but all of them except Belarus have now abolished the death penalty in all circumstances ({{lang|la|de jure}}, and Russia {{lang|la|de facto}}). [[Armenia]] is the most recent country to ratify the protocol, on 19 October 2023.<ref>{{cite web|language=en |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list?module=signatures-by-treaty&treatynum=187 |title=Chart of signatures and ratifications of Treaty 187
 |access-date=14 September 2024 }}</ref>

Protocol 6, which prohibits the death penalty during peacetime, has been ratified by all members of the Council of Europe. It had been signed but not ratified by Russia at the time of its expulsion in 2022.

[[File:ICCPR-OP2 members.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|Signatories to the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR: parties in dark green, signatories in light green, non-members in grey]]
There are also other international abolitionist instruments, such as the [[Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]], which has 90 parties;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-12&chapter=4 |title=UNTC |publisher=Treaties.un.org |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104212752/https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=IV-12&chapter=4 |archive-date=4 January 2014}}</ref> and the Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights to Abolish the Death Penalty (for the Americas; ratified by 13 states).<ref>{{cite web |author=Francisco J Montero |url=http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-53.html |title=:: Multilateral Treaties – Department of International Law – |publisher=OAS |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140507100541/http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-53.html |archive-date=7 May 2014}}</ref>

In [[Turkey]], over 500 people were sentenced to death after the [[1980 Turkish coup d'état]]. About 50 of them were executed, the last one 25 October 1984.<!--- Hidir Aslan ---> Then there was a ''de facto'' moratorium on the death penalty in Turkey. As a move [[Accession of Turkey to the European Union|towards EU membership]], Turkey made some legal changes. The death penalty was removed from peacetime law by [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|the National Assembly]] in August 2002, and in May 2004 Turkey amended [[Constitution of Turkey|its constitution]] to remove capital punishment in all circumstances. It ratified Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights in February 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Death Penalty Cannot be Reinstated in Turkey |url=https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/turkey/death-penalty-cannot-be-reinstated-in-turkey |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=International Federation for Human Rights |language=en}}</ref> As a result, Europe is a continent free of the death penalty in practice, all states, having ratified Protocol 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, with the exceptions of Russia (which has entered a moratorium) and [[Capital punishment in Belarus|Belarus]], which are not members of the Council of Europe.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} The [[Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe]] has been lobbying for Council of Europe observer states who practice the death penalty, the U.S. and Japan, to abolish it or lose their observer status. In addition to banning capital punishment for EU member states, the EU has also banned detainee transfers in cases where the receiving party may seek the death penalty.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Droege |first=Cordula |date=September 2008 |title=Transfers of detainees: legal framework, non-refoulement and contemporary challenges |url=https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/irrc-871-droege2.pdf |journal=International Review of the Red Cross |volume=90 |issue=871 |pages=669–701|doi=10.1017/S1560775508000102 }}</ref>

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[[Sub-Saharan Africa]]n countries that have recently abolished the death penalty include [[Burundi]], which abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 2009,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/burundi-abolishes-death-penalty-bans-homosexuality-20090427 |title=Burundi abolishes the death penalty but bans homosexuality |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140218040338/http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/burundi-abolishes-death-penalty-bans-homosexuality-20090427 |archive-date=18 February 2014}}</ref> and [[Gabon]] which did the same in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.handsoffcain.info/archivio_news/index.php?iddocumento=15302086&mover=0 |title=Death Penalty: Hands Off Cain Announces Abolition in Gabon |publisher=Handsoffcain.info |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225204443/http://www.handsoffcain.info/archivio_news/index.php?iddocumento=15302086&mover=0 |archive-date=25 February 2014}}</ref> On 5 July 2012, [[Benin]] became part of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which prohibits the use of the death penalty.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.handsoffcain.info/bancadati/schedastato.php?idstato=17000190 |title=HANDS OFF CAIN against death penalty in the world |publisher=Handsoffcain.info |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140225204334/http://www.handsoffcain.info/bancadati/schedastato.php?idstato=17000190 |archive-date=25 February 2014}}</ref>

The newly created [[South Sudan]] is among the 111 UN member states that supported the resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly that called for the removal of the death penalty, therefore affirming its opposition to the practice. South Sudan, however, has not yet abolished the death penalty and stated that it must first amend its Constitution, and until that happens it will continue to use the death penalty.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article46452 |title=South Sudan says death penalty remains until constitution amended – Sudan Tribune: Plural news and views on Sudan |work=Sudan Tribune |access-date=11 February 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228053742/http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article46452 |archive-date=28 February 2014}}</ref>

Among non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Amnesty International and [[Human Rights Watch]] are noted for their opposition to capital punishment.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Death Penalty|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/death-penalty/|access-date=1 September 2021|website=Amnesty International|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=10 October 2010|title=Lebanon: Don't Resurrect the Death Penalty|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/10/lebanon-dont-resurrect-death-penalty|url-status=live|access-date=1 September 2021|website=Human Rights Watch|language=en|quote=Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of fundamental rights – the right to life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925203618/https://www.hrw.org/news/2010/10/10/lebanon-dont-resurrect-death-penalty |archive-date=25 September 2015 }}</ref> A number of such NGOs, as well as trade unions, local councils, and bar associations, formed a [[World Coalition Against the Death Penalty]] in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Presentation & History|url=https://worldcoalition.org/who-we-are/presentation-history/|access-date=1 September 2021|website=WCADP|language=en-US}}</ref>

An open letter led by Danish Member of the [[European Parliament]], Karen Melchior was sent to the European Commission ahead of the 26 January 2021 meeting of the Bahraini Minister of Foreign Affairs, [[Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani]] with the members of the [[European Union]] for the signing of a Cooperation Agreement. A total of 16 MEPs undersigned the letter expressing their grave concern towards the extended abuse of [[human rights in Bahrain]] following the arbitrary arrest and detention of activists and critics of the government. The attendees of the meeting were requested to demand from their Bahraini counterparts to take into consideration the concerns raised by the MEPs, particularly for the release of Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja and Sheikh Mohammed Habib Al-Muqdad, the two European-Bahraini dual citizens on death row.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adhrb.org/2021/01/16-meps-urge-bahrain/|title=16 MEPs Urge Bahrain to Release EU-Bahraini Dual Nationals and End Death Penalty Ahead of Brussels Meeting|access-date=25 January 2021|website=Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain|date=25 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://karenmelchior.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Letter-from-MEPs-on-human-rights-abuses-in-Bahrain-in-light-of-EU-cooperation-agreement.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/https://karenmelchior.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Letter-from-MEPs-on-human-rights-abuses-in-Bahrain-in-light-of-EU-cooperation-agreement.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live|title=Letter from MEPs on Human Rights Abuses in Bahrain in Light of EU Cooperation Agreement|access-date=22 January 2021|website=European Parliament}}</ref>

===Religious views===
{{Main|Religion and capital punishment}}
The world's major faiths have differing views depending on the religion, denomination, [[sect]] and the individual adherent.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catholicmoraltheology.com/death-penalty-development-a-conditional-advance-of-justice/|website=catholicmoraltheology.com|title=Death Penalty Development: A Conditional Advance of Justice}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter=[[s:A manual of moral theology for English-speaking countries/Book 6#195|Book 6: Part V. The Fifth Commandment]]|title=A manual of moral theology for English-speaking countries|year=1925|publisher=Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd.|first=Thomas|last=Slater S.J.}}</ref> The [[Catholic Church]] considers the death penalty as "inadmissible" in any circumstance and denounces it as an "attack" on the "inviolability and dignity of the person."<ref name="Taylor Graham-2021">{{Cite web |last=Taylor Graham |first=E. |date=2021-06-03 |title=The Death Penalty Is a Failed Sacrifice |url=https://www.hprweb.com/2021/06/the-death-penalty-is-a-failed-sacrifice/ |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=Homiletic & Pastoral Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Povoledo-2018">{{Cite news |last1=Povoledo |first1=Elisabetta |last2=Goodstein |first2=Laurie |date=2018-08-02 |title=Pope Francis Declares Death Penalty Unacceptable in All Cases |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/02/world/europe/pope-death-penalty.html |access-date=2023-04-24 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Both the [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼí]] and [[Islam]]ic faiths support capital punishment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/KA/ka-103.html|title=Bahá'í Reference Library – The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Pages 203–204|website=reference.bahai.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Siting the Death Penalty Internationally|first1=David F.|last1=Greenberg|first2=Valerie|last2=West|date=2 May 2008|journal=Law & Social Inquiry|volume=33|issue=2|pages=295–343|doi=10.1111/j.1747-4469.2008.00105.x|s2cid=142990687}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Capital punishment for homosexuality]]
* [[Capital punishment in Judaism]]
* [[Death in custody]]
* [[Execution chamber]]
* [[Executioner]]
* [[Judicial dissolution]], sometimes referred to as the "corporate death penalty"
* [[Monopoly on violence]]
* [[Shame culture]]
* ''[[The Death Penalty: Opposing Viewpoints]]'' (book)
* [[Last meal]]
* [[List of prisoners with whole life orders]]

==Notes and references==
===Notes===
====Explanatory notes====
{{NoteFoot}}

====References====
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name="iep.utm.edu">[https://iep.utm.edu/death-penalty-capital-punishment/ 'Capital Punishment'] in [[Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]], access-date: 4 December 2022</ref>
<ref name="Fowler">{{cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=H. W. |title=A Dictionary of Modern English Usage: The Classic First Edition |date=14 October 2010 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-161511-5 |page=310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hrtIDakUpA4C&pg=PA310 |quote="Capital punishment, or 'the death penalty,' is an institutionalized practice designed to result in deliberately executing persons in response to actual or supposed misconduct and following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that the person is responsible for violating norms that warrant execution." |language=en}}</ref>
}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book| language=fr| author=[[Jean-Marie Carbasse]]| title=La peine de mort| location=Paris| publisher=[[Presses universitaires de France]]| series=[[Que sais-je ?]]| year=2002| isbn=2-13-051660-2}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kronenwetter|first=Michael|title=Capital Punishment: A Reference Handbook|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SOiuzOv061EC&pg=PP1|year=2001|edition=2|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-432-9}}
* Marian J. Borg and Michael L. Radelet. (2004). On botched executions. In: Peter Hodgkinson and William A. Schabas (eds.) Capital Punishment. pp.&nbsp;143–68. [Online]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available from: Cambridge Books Online {{doi|10.1017/CBO9780511489273.006}}.
* Gail A. Van Norman. (2010). Physician participation in executions. In: Gail A. Van Norman et al. (eds.) Clinical Ethics in Anesthesiology. pp.&nbsp;285–91. [Online]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available from: Cambridge Books Online {{doi|10.1017/CBO9780511841361.051}}.
{{Wikinews category|Death penalty}}
{{Commons category|Death penalty}}
{{Wikiquote|Capital punishment}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book|chapter=[[s:Sermons from the Latins/Sermon 39|Seventh Sunday: Capital Punishment]] |title=Sermons from the Latins|year=1902|publisher= Benziger Brothers|first=Robert|last=Bellarmine|author-link=Robert Bellarmine}}
* {{cite book|doi=10.4324/9781315673998|year=2016|title=Death ''Quest''|last1=Bohm|first1=Robert M.|isbn=9781315673998}}
* Curry, Tim. "[http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/13/3curry.pdf Cutting the Hangman's Noose: African Initiatives to Abolish the Death Penalty] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120720121914/http://www.wcl.american.edu/hrbrief/13/3curry.pdf |date=20 July 2012 }}." [[American University]] [[Washington College of Law]].
* Davis, David Brion. "The movement to abolish capital punishment in America, 1787–1861." ''American Historical Review'' 63.1 (1957): 23–46. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1847110 online]
* {{Cite book|last=Gaie|first=Joseph B. R|year=2004|title=The ethics of medical involvement in capital punishment : a philosophical discussion|url=https://archive.org/details/springer_10.1007-1-4020-2539-4|publisher=Kluwer Academic|isbn=978-1-4020-1764-3}}
* Hammel, A. ''Ending the Death Penalty: The European Experience in Global Perspective'' (2014).
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1177/1462474501003003001|volume=3|issue=3|pages=331–354|title=Capital Punishment|journal=Punishment & Society|year=2001|last1=Hood|first1=Roger|s2cid=143875533}}
* {{cite book|last1=Johnson|first1=David T.|last2=Zimring|first2=Franklin E.|title=The Next Frontier: National Development, Political Change, and the Death Penalty in Asia|year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-533740-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nZY8E6n-JAAC}}
* {{Cite book|last=McCafferty|first=James A|year=2010|title=Capital Punishment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n8P0BYf62wAC&pg=PP1|publisher=AldineTransaction|isbn=978-0-202-36328-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Mandery|first=Evan J|author-link=Evan Mandery|year=2005|title=Capital punishment: a balanced examination|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KPIf6dPJ_jQC&pg=PP1|publisher=Jones and Bartlett Publishers|isbn=978-0-7637-3308-7}}
* {{Cite book|last=Marzilli|first=Alan|edition=2nd|year=2008|title=Capital Punishment – Point-counterpoint|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nlOU4fUaiV8C&pg=PP1|publisher=Chelsea House|isbn=978-0-7910-9796-0}}
* O'Brien, Doireann. "Investigating the Origin of Europe and America's Diverging Positions on the Issue of Capital Punishment." ''Social and Political Review'' (2018): 98+. [https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a0c4a46c027d8d6e4f77763/t/5ab178a1f950b71e2a211f6b/1521580198095/SPR+Volume+XXVIII.pdf#page=99 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191221151555/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5a0c4a46c027d8d6e4f77763/t/5ab178a1f950b71e2a211f6b/1521580198095/SPR+Volume+XXVIII.pdf#page=99 |date=21 December 2019 }}
* [[Jed S. Rakoff|Rakoff, Jed S.]], "The Last of His Kind" (review of John Paul Stevens, ''The Making of a Justice: Reflections on My First 94 Years'', Little, Brown, 549 pp.), ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'', vol. LXVI, no. 14 (26 September 2019), pp.&nbsp;20, 22, 24. [[John Paul Stevens]], "a throwback to the postwar liberal Republican [U.S. Supreme Court] appointees", questioned the validity of "the doctrine of [[sovereign immunity]], which holds that you cannot sue any state or federal government agency, or any of its officers or employees, for any wrong they may have committed against you, unless the state or federal government consents to being sued" (p.&nbsp;20); the propriety of "the increasing resistance of the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] to most meaningful forms of [[gun control]]" (p.&nbsp;22); and "the constitutionality of the death penalty... because of incontrovertible evidence that innocent people have been sentenced to death." (pp.&nbsp;22, 24.)
* Sarat, Austin and Juergen Martschukat, eds. ''Is the Death Penalty Dying?: European and American Perspectives'' (2011)
* {{Cite book|last=Woolf|first=Alex|year=2004|title=World issues – Capital Punishment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U3McAciWdWYC&pg=PA1|publisher=Chrysalis Education|isbn=978-1-59389-155-8}} for middle school students
* {{Cite book|last=Simon|first=Rita|year=2007|title=A comparative analysis of capital punishment : statutes, policies, frequencies, and public attitudes the world over|url=https://archive.org/details/comparativeanaly0000simo_k7i9|url-access=registration|publisher=Lexington Books|isbn=978-0-7391-2091-0}}
*{{cite book|chapter=[[s:A manual of moral theology for English-speaking countries/Book 6#196|Book 6: On Capital Punishment]]|title=A manual of moral theology for English-speaking countries|year=1925|publisher=Burns Oates & Washbourne Ltd.|first=Thomas|last=Slater S.J.}}
* Steiker, Carol S. "Capital punishment and American exceptionalism." ''Oregon Law Review''. 81 (2002): 97+ [https://capitalpunishmentincontext.org/files/resources/international/CP%20and%20Amer%20Exceptionalism.pdf online]
*{{Cite Catholic Encyclopedia |wstitle=Capital Punishment |volume=12 |first=John Wiley  |last=Willis}}
{{refend}}

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