Newly available DNA evidence prevented the pending execution of more than 15 death row inmates during the same period in the US,[237] but DNA evidence is only available in a fraction of capital cases. 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. China remained the worlds leading executioner but the true extent of its use of the death penalty is unknown as this data is classified as a state secret; the global figures for executions and death sentences thereforeexclude the thousands of people that Amnesty International believes to have been sentenced to death and executed in China. At least 373 new death sentences were handed down in 19 countries, an increase of 22%, due to sharp rises in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mauritania, and despite a significant drop in Zambia. [179] The last formal public executions occurred in 1868 in Britain, in 1936 in the U.S. and in 1939 in France. Many of the countries which restored democracy aspired to enter the EU. In Prussia, children under the age of 14 were exempted from the death penalty in 1794. This argument is strongly defended by New York Law School's Professor Robert Blecker,[217] who says that the punishment must be painful in proportion to the crime. [37], In medieval and early modern Europe, before the development of modern prison systems, the death penalty was also used as a generalized form of punishment for even minor offences.[38]. Then there was a de facto moratorium on the death penalty in Turkey. Amnesty International did not record any executions inIndia, Qatar and Taiwan, having done so in 2020. The maximum penalty available to the International Criminal Court is life imprisonment. In the last several centuries, with the emergence of modern nation states, justice came to be increasingly associated with the concept of natural and legal rights. [192], The death penalty was mandated for drug trafficking in Singapore and Malaysia. 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. 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. Public executions were carried out by four countries in 2013 namely North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Iran. [144] The death penalty was, also for juveniles, nearly abolished in 1787 except for emergency or military law, which is unclear in regard of those. 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 ratified by all signatories with the exception of the United States (despite the US Supreme Court decisions abolishing the practice). 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. [241] 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. Sir Thomas More's Utopia, published in 1516, debated the benefits of the death penalty in dialogue form, coming to no firm conclusion. [citation needed] 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. Although the number of executions worldwide varies from year to year, some countriesincluding Belarus, Congo (Kinshasa), Iran, Jordan, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Yemenexecute criminals regularly. 110 countries and territories around the world have abolished the death penalty, most recently the Central African Republic and Papua New . Hanging is one of the legal and most common methods of execution, but there are more. At least134executions for drug-related offences were known to have been carried out in two countries (China and Iran), an increase of 346% from 2020 (30). Globally, at least 483 people were known to have been executed in 2020 (excluding countries where death penalty data is classified as a state secret, or where limited information is available - China, North Korea, Syria and Viet Nam). Some countries have resumed practicing the death penalty after having previously suspended the practice for long periods. By the mid-1960s some 25 countries had abolished the death penalty for murder. It was reintroduced for juveniles above 14 years by 1803,[145] and was raised by general criminal law to 20 years in 1852[146] and this exemption[147] and the alike one of military law in 1855,[148] which may have been up to 14 years in wartime,[149] were also introduced into all of the Austrian Empire. 1, Austrian Military Criminal Law (1855), 121, Austrian Military Criminal Law (1855), 3 d), Helvetic Punishing Law (1799), 48 par. 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. 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. In July, Sierra Leones parliament unanimously adopted an Act which abolishes the death penalty for all crimes. [266], A range of amendments proposed by a small minority of pro-death penalty countries were overwhelmingly defeated. Despite this number, the most recent execution in South Korea occurred in December 1997. Abolition occurred in Canada in 1976 (except for some military offences, with complete abolition in 1998); in France in 1981; and in Australia in 1973 (although the state of Western Australia retained the penalty until 1984). Vietnam and Laos, two other nations that abstained on the U.N. vote, do not publicize statistics on . capital punishment, also called death penalty, execution of an offender sentenced to death after conviction by a court of law of a criminal offense. Excluding China, three countries were responsible for more than 80% of executions - Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Iran. [105], The public opinion on the death penalty varies considerably by country and by the crime in question. 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. 657 executions were recorded in 2019. Additionally, capital punishment is also carried out in China, India, and most Islamic states. [76][77][78][79][80][81], Since World War II, there has been a trend toward abolishing the death penalty. Poland is the most recent country to ratify the protocol, on 28 August 2013.[271]. [citation needed], By continent, all European states but one have abolished capital punishment;[note 1] many Oceanian states have abolished it;[note 2] most states in the Americas have abolished its use,[note 3] while a few actively retain it;[note 4] less than half of countries in Africa retain it;[note 5] and the majority of countries in Asia retain it. Amnesty International considers it to be "the ultimate irreversible denial of Human Rights". Overall, the worldwide use of capital punishment has trending sharply downward since its peak of approximately 1,600 known executions in 2015. [6][7] Although the majority of nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, such as China, India, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Japan, and Taiwan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [159] The 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. At least 356 people were sentenced to death by Egyptian courts in 2021, a rise of 34% and the highest number of death sentences that Amnesty International was able to record worldwide in 2021. [26], Protagoras (whose thought is reported by Plato) criticizes the principle of revenge, because once the damage is done it cannot be canceled by any action. 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. [185], 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. Proponents of the death penalty often view it as an unpleasant, but necessary way to keep society safe from those who commit the most heinous crimes. [280], 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. In a further three states . [223], 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. In March 2021, Egypt executed 11 prisoners in a jail, who were convicted in cases of "murder, theft, and shooting". Death chamber at a correctional facility in Ohio, Watch: BBC editor's life in Russia since 2022 on piano. According to Amnesty International, around 1,000 prisoners were executed in 2017. In this book, Beccaria aimed to demonstrate not only the injustice, but even the futility from the point of view of social welfare, of torture and the death penalty. [129][130] 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. This includes the executions of 34 juvenile offenders.[157][158]. The death penalty also targeted sexual offences such as sodomy. [218], Some abolitionists argue that retribution is simply revenge and cannot be condoned. The minimum number of executions was down from at least 712 in 2009. The penalty for crimes committed in peacetime was then reinstated and abolished again twice (19381953 and 19691978), 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. [8][9][10][11][12], Capital punishment is controversial, with many people, organizations, and religious groups holding differing views on whether or not it is ethically permissible. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. As per Amnesty International - nine countries have abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes only and 23 have retained death penatly, however, have not executed anyone in the past 10 years. As such, while it is known that China likely puts more people to death than the rest of the world combined, even experts can only speculate as to the full scope of China's use of capital punishment. There were at least 834 new death sentences in 17 countries, a jump of 32%, with sharp increases in Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon. Although the country's precise execution totals are a closely guarded state secret, they are estimated to be in the thousands annually. [84][85] According to Al Jazeera and UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaheed, Iran has had the world's highest per capita execution rate. 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.
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