Related Research Articles
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned homicide of a natural person as punishment for a crime. The sentence ordering that someone is punished with the death penalty is called a death sentence, and the act of carrying out such a sentence is known as an execution. A prisoner awaiting his or her execution is condemned and is "on death row". 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 the person such as murder, mass murder, aggravated cases of rape, child rape, child sexual abuse, terrorism, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, along with crimes against the state including, but not limited to, attempting to overthrow government, treason, espionage, sedition, piracy, and aircraft hijacking. 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.
The following is a summary of the use of capital punishment by country. Globally, of the 195 independent states that are UN members or have UN observer status, 106 countries have completely abolished it de jure for all crimes, 7 have abolished it for ordinary crimes and 28 are abolitionist in practice, while 54 countries retain capital punishment.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the mainland of the People's Republic of China. It is mostly enforced for murder and drug trafficking, and executions are carried out by lethal injection or gun shot.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Belarus. At least four executions were carried out in the country in 2018.
Capital punishment in France is banned by Article 66-1 of the Constitution of the French Republic, voted as a constitutional amendment by the Congress of the French Parliament on 19 February 2007 and simply stating "No one can be sentenced to the death penalty". The death penalty was already declared illegal on 9 October 1981 when President François Mitterrand signed a law prohibiting the judicial system from using it and commuting the sentences of the six people on death row to life imprisonment. The last execution took place by guillotine, being the main legal method since the French Revolution; Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian citizen convicted of torture and murder on French soil, who was put to death in September 1977 in Marseille.
The death penalty has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not conducted an execution since September 1996. The absolute ban on the death penalty is enshrined in both the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe, and is thus considered a central value. Of all modern European countries, San Marino, Portugal and the Netherlands were the first to abolish capital punishment, whereas only Belarus still practices capital punishment in some form or another. In 2012, Latvia became the last EU Member State to abolish capital punishment in wartime.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Malaysia. It is a mandatory punishment for murder, drug trafficking, treason, and waging war against Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Recently, the law was extended to include acts of terrorism. Any terrorists, and anyone who aids terrorists, financially or otherwise, is liable to face the death penalty. Since January 2003, the death penalty in Malaysia has been a mandatory punishment for rapists that cause death and child rapists. A 1961 law states that kidnapping carried a life sentence or a death sentence, preceded by a whipping.
Capital punishment in Armenia was a method of punishment that was implemented within Armenia’s Criminal Code and Constitution until its eventual relinquishment in the 2003 modifications made to the Constitution. Capital punishment’s origin in Armenia is unknown, yet it remained present in the Armenia Criminal Code of 1961, which was enforced and applied until 1999. Capital punishment was incorporated in Armenian legislation and effectuated for capital crimes, which were crimes that were classified to be punishable by death, this included: treason, espionage, first-degree murder, acts of terrorism and grave military crimes.
Capital punishment in modern Greece was carried out using the guillotine or by firing squad. It was last applied in 1972, and the death penalty was abolished in stages between 1975 and 2005.
Boris Dekanidze was the head of the Vilnius Brigade criminal organization in Lithuania. In 1994, he was convicted of ordering the murder of Lithuanian journalist Vitas Lingys and was executed by Lithuania. Dekanidze was the last person executed in Lithuania prior to the abolition of death penalty in 1998.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in South Korea. As of December 2012, there were at least 60 people in South Korea on death row. Executions are carried out by hanging.
Capital punishment has been abolished in Mongolia since 2016, following a previous eight-year moratorium.
Capital punishment in Nepal has been abolished.
In Papua New Guinea (PNG), also officially known as the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, capital punishment is a legal form of punishment. Despite its legality, capital punishment has not been imposed in PNG in over sixty years. The last known execution took place under the colonial administration of Australia. The last execution is understood to have been done by way of hanging and took place in the capital city of PNG, Port Moresby, in November 1954.
Capital punishment in Kazakhstan was abolished for all crimes in 2021.
Capital punishment in Luxembourg was abolished for all crimes in 1979.
Capital punishment in Kyrgyzstan has been abolished.
Capital punishment in Uzbekistan has been abolished.
Steven W. Hawkins is an American social justice leader and litigator who currently serves as the executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. Prior to assuming his current role, he was the executive director of Amnesty International USA. He was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Program Officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He also held position as executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, as senior program manager at Justice, Equality, Human Dignity and Tolerance Foundation, and as program executive at Atlantic Philanthropies and as an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Hawkins is known for bringing litigation that led to the release of three teenagers wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row in Tennessee.
References
- ↑ "Death Penalty | Amnesty International". Amnesty.org. 2014-03-15. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
- 1 2 "HANDS OFF CAIN against death penalty in the world". Handsoffcain.info. Retrieved 2015-06-18.
 | This Monaco-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |