Capital Punishment

Capital punishment

Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is the execution of a convicted criminal by the state as punishment for crimes known as capital crimes or capital offences. Historically, the execution of criminals and political opponents was used by nearly all societies--both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. Among democratic countries around the world, most European (all except Belarus), Latin American, many Pacific Area states (including Australia, New Zealand and Timor Leste) and Canada have abolished capital punishment, while the United States, Guatemala, and most of the Caribbean as well as some democracies in Asia (e.g., Japan and India) and Africa (e.g., Botswana and Zambia) retain it. Among nondemocratic countries, the use of the death penalty is common but not universal.

In most places that practice capital punishment today, the death penalty is reserved as a punishment for premeditated murder, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries with a Muslim majority, sexual crimes, including adultery and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as apostasy from Islam, 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 contentious issue. Supporters of capital punishment argue that it deters crime, prevents recidivism, and is an appropriate 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 to abolish the death penalty for all crimes was the Philippines in June 2006.

The death penalty worldwide:

Global distribution of death penalty:

*Note that, while laws vary between U.S. states, it is considered retentionist as the federal death penalty is still in active use.At least since World War II, there has been a consistent trend towards abolishing the death penalty. In 1977, 16 countries were abolitionist, while the figure was 122 for the end of 2005. In more detail, 88 countries have abolished capital punishment for all offences, 11 for all offences except under special circumstances, and 30 others have not used it for at least 10 years. A total of 68 countries retain it. Among retentionist countries, seven use capital punishment on juveniles (under 18). The People's Republic of China performed more than 3400 executions in 2004, amounting to more than 90% of executions worldwide. In China, some inmates are executed by firing squad, but it has been decided that all executions will be by lethal injection in the future. These lethal injections are often performed via mobile Iveco execution vans. Iran performed 159 executions in 2004.[1]. The United States performed 60 executions in 2005. Texas conducts more executions than any of the other U.S. states that still permit capital punishment, with 370 executions between 1976 and 2006. Singapore has the highest execution rate per capita, with 70 hangings for a population of about 4 million.

The use of the death penalty is becoming increasingly restrained in retentionist countries, which is often masked by the population growth because it may nonetheless increase the number of executions being carried out. Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the U.S. are the only fully developed and democratic countries that have the death penalty. The death penalty was overwhelmingly practiced in poor, undemocratic, and authoritarian states, which often employed the death penalty as a tool of political oppression. During the 1980s, the democratization of Latin America (with its long history of progressive and Roman Catholic tradition) swelled the rank of abolitionist countries. This was soon followed by the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, which then aspired to emulate neighbouring Western Europe. In these countries, the public support for the death penalty varies but is decreasing.[citation needed] The European Union and the Council of Europe both strictly require member states not to practice the death penalty.[2] The only European country to do so is Belarus - this is one of the reasons why Belarus is excluded from the Council of Europe. On the other hand, democratisation and rapid industrialisation in Asia have been increasing the number of retentionist countries that are democratic and/or developed. In these countries, the death penalty enjoys strong public support, and the matter receives little attention from the government or the media. This trend has been followed by partial democratisation in some African and Middle Eastern countries where the support for the death penalty is low.

Some countries have resumed practicing the death penalty after having suspended executions for long periods. Notably, the United States had suspended executions in 1973 but resumed them in 1977, there was no execution in India between 1995 and 2004, and Sri Lanka recently declared an end to its moratorium on the death penalty but has not performed any executions. The Philippines had re-introduced the death penalty in 1993 after abolishing it in 1987 but have abolished it again in 2006.

Public opinion:

Support for the death penalty varies widely. Both in abolitionist and retentionist democracies, the government's stance often has wide public support and receives little attention by politicians or the media. In some abolitionist countries, the majority of the public supports or has supported the death penalty. Abolition was often adopted due to political change, such as when countries shifted from authoritarianism to democracy, or when it became an entry condition for the European Union. The United States is a notable exception: some states have had bans on capital punishment for decades (the earliest is Michigan, where it was abolished in 1846), while others actively use it today. The death penalty there remains a contentious issue which is hotly debated. Elsewhere, however, it is rare for the death penalty to be abolished due to an active public discussion of its merits.

Public execution in Iran In abolitionist countries, debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders