Death penalty

"Capital punishment," "Death sentence," and "Execution" redirect here.

Capital punishment, also called the death penalty, is the killing of a person by the state as punishment for a crime. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offenses. Historically, the execution of criminals and political opponents was used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. Among countries around the world, almost all European and many Pacific Area states (including Australia, New Zealand and Timor Leste), and Canada have abolished capital punishment. In Latin America, most states have completely abolished the use of capital punishment, while some countries, however, like Brazil, allow for capital punishment only in exceptional situations, such as treason committed during wartime. The United States (the federal government and 36 of its states), Guatemala, most of the Caribbean and the majority of democracies in Asia (e.g. Japan and India) and Africa (e.g. Botswana and Zambia) retain it.

In most places that practice capital punishment today, the death penalty is reserved as punishment for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy (the formal renunciation of one's religion). In many retentionist countries (countries that use the death penalty), drug trafficking is also a capital offense. In China human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are also punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts-martial have imposed death sentences for offenses such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.

Capital punishment is a very contentious issue in some cultures. Supporters of capital punishment argue that it deters crime, prevents recidivism, and is an appropriate form of punishment for the crime of murder. Opponents of capital punishment argue that it does not deter criminals more than life imprisonment, violates human rights, leads to executions of some who are wrongfully convicted, and discriminates against minorities and the poor.

The latest country looking to abolish the death penalty for all crimes was Gabon which announced on September 14, 2007 that they would no longer apply capital punishment. The latest to have effectively done so was Uzbekistan on January 1, 2008.


The death penalty worldwide

Fore more information see...
Capital punishment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Global distribution of death penalty

Death Penalty World Map

Death Penalty World Map [see also the attached file "Death_Penalty_World_Map" below]

Colour scheme:
Blue: Abolished for all crimes
Green: Abolished for crimes not committed in exceptional circumstances (such as crimes committed in time of war)
Orange: Abolished in practice
Red: Legal form of punishment for certain offenses


Other related links

Capital Punishment Statistics - Statistical information and publications about capital punishment in the United States.

Abolish the Death Penalty - Death penalty action and resources from AIUSA, including information on the use of the death penalty in the USA.

Pro-death penalty.com - A resource for pro-death penalty information and resources. Includes case info on upcoming executions, a collection of death penalty links, current news, etc.

NCADP - The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Death Penalty Links - Information and links to websites on the death penalty.




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