Encyclopedia of Capital Punishments in the World

Capital punishment also known as the death penalty is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is killed by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence whereas the act of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution. Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes or capital offences and they commonly include offences such as murder treason espionage war crimes crimes against humanity and genocide. Etymologically the term capital (lit. of the head derived via the Latin capitalis from caput head) in this context alluded to execution by beheading. Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment 103 countries have completely abolished it de jure for all crimes six have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes) and 30 are abolitionist in practice. Capital punishment is a matter of active controversy in several countries and states and positions can vary within a single political ideology or cultural region. In the European Union Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment. The Council of Europe which has 47 member states has sought to abolish the use of the death penalty by its members absolutely through Protocol 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. However this only affects those member states which have signed and ratified it and they do not include Armenia Russia and Azerbaijan. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted in 2007 2008 2010 2012 and 2014 non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions with a view to eventual abolition. Although most nations have abolished capital punishment over 60% of the worlds population live in countries where the death penalty is retained such as China India the United States Indonesia Pakistan Bangladesh Japan and Sri Lanka.