The following is a summary of the use of capital punishment by country.
Video Capital punishment by country
Global overview
Historically, capital punishment has been used in almost every part of the world. Currently, the large majority of countries have either abolished or discontinued the practice. The U.S. is the most developed country to use the death penalty. The use of capital punishment is usually divided into the four categories set out below. As of November 2017, of the 195 independent states that are UN members or have UN observer status:
- 52 retain it in both law and practice.
- 32 have abolished it de facto, namely, according to Amnesty International standards, that they have not executed anyone during the last decade or more and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions.
- 8 have abolished it de facto, namely that they have not executed anyone during the last 14 or more years and have abolished it de jure, but retain it for exceptional or special circumstances (such as crimes committed in wartime).
- 103 have abolished it for all crimes, most recently: Madagascar (2015), Fiji (2015), Republic of the Congo (2015), Suriname (2015), Nauru (2016), Benin (2016), Mongolia (2017).
- Execution of minors
- Since 2009, Iran and Saudi Arabia have executed offenders who were under the age of 18 (or 21) at the time the crime was committed.
- Public execution
- In 2013, public executions were carried out by the governments of Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia.
- Extrajudicial execution
- In some countries the practice of extrajudicial execution outside their own formal legal frameworks occurs sporadically or systematically. Information on this is not covered in this article.
Industrialized countries
Of the countries/regions considered to be industrialized, just four countries continue to perform capital punishment: the United States, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan. (In South Korea, there is a moratorium.)
The European Union holds a strong position against the death penalty; its abolition is a key objective for the Union's human rights policy. Abolition is also a pre-condition for entry into the European Union. In Europe, only Belarus and the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic continue to actively use capital punishment.
No country in South America or Oceania has conducted an execution in the 21st century.
Russian Federation and former Soviet republics
Russia retains the death penalty in law, but there is a moratorium. The last execution on Russian territory was in Chechnya in 1999. Of the other former Soviet republics, only Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan have not formally abolished capital punishment, and only Belarus uses it in practice. In Kazakhstan, it may only be used in exceptional/special circumstances such as for crimes committed in wartime, and only one individual is on death row.
Africa
In Africa, there are several countries that use the death penalty. Chad abolished the death penalty in 2014, but reintroduced it for acts of terrorism in 2015. Botswana and Nigeria are examples of countries that still execute people. Most recently, Benin repealed the death penalty in 2016. In 2018, Gambia announced a moratorium as a first step toward abolition.
Americas
In the Caribbean countries, the death penalty exists at least de jure, except in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which abolished it in 1966 and 1987, respectively. The last execution in the Caribbean, and the last in the Americas outside the United States, was in Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2008. In Central and South America, the death penalty exists in Belize and Guyana, though it has not been used for years. In Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru, the death penalty is only legal in exceptional/special circumstances such as for crimes committed in wartime and was abolished for other crimes. Opinion polls state sentiment for governments to return to the capital punishment remains high in many Caribbean countries and pressure on politicians to retain it factors high.
Asia-Pacific
Most executions worldwide take place in Asia. China is the world's most active death penalty country. In Iran and Saudi Arabia, the numbers of executions are also very high. In North Korea, the state utilizes the death penalty against high level criminals and those suspected of committing "grave" offenses. Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan belong to the few industrialized countries that have the death penalty (South Korea has a moratorium). In 2017 Mongolia repealed the death penalty, but some countries are seeing a return to the practice; in the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte wants to restore executions, and Turkish President Recep Erdogan has promised to do so after the 2017 constitutional referendum. India executes criminals only in extreme cases. Only 26 executions have taken place in India since 1991.
Numbers executed in 2017
At least 22 countries performed executions in 2017:
- Africa (2 countries): Egypt (16), Somalia (24 [Puntland 12, Federal Government of Somalia 12])
- Americas (1 country): United States (23)
- Asia-Pacific (18 countries): Afghanistan (5), Bahrain (3), Bangladesh (6), China (1,551+), Iran (525+), Iraq (111+), Japan (4), Jordan (15), Kuwait (7), Malaysia (4), North Korea (5+), Pakistan (65+), State of Palestine (6 [Hamas authorities, Gaza]), Saudi Arabia (130+), Singapore (3), Syria (unknown number), United Arab Emirates (1), Yemen (2+)
- Europe (1 country): Belarus (2)
Precise numbers are not available for many countries, so the total number of executions is unknown. Other countries like Libya conducted extrajudicial executions.
Maps Capital punishment by country
Capital punishment by continents
Africa
Of the 54 independent states in Africa that are UN members:
- 16 (30%) maintain the death penalty in both law and practice.
- 1 (2%) retains it for crimes committed in exceptional circumstances (such as in time of war).
- 18 (33%) permit its use for ordinary crimes, but have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions, or it is under a moratorium.
- 19 (35%) have abolished it.
Many African countries have carried out no executions for over 10 years, but are not believed to have an abolitionist policy or established practice.
The information above is accurate as of 2016, when Benin abolished capital punishment. Chad abolished the death penalty in 2014, but restored it for terrorism in 2015.
- In 2017, Somalia was Africa's leading executioner, with half the executions taking place in the autonomous region of Puntland. Libya has conducted extrajudicial executions. This century the following African countries have abolished capital punishment; Ivory Coast (2000), Senegal (2004), Rwanda (2007), Burundi (2009), Togo (2009), Gabon (2010), Congo (2015), Madagascar (2015) and Benin (2016).
In 2018, The Gambia announced a moratorium as a first step toward abolition.
Executions in Africa in 2017: Egypt (16), Somalia (24)
Note: The tables can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
Americas
Of the 35 independent states in the Americas that are UN members:
- 13 (37%) maintain the death penalty in both law and practice.
- 5 (14%) retain it for crimes committed in exceptional circumstances (such as in time of war).
- 1 (3%) permit its use for ordinary crimes, but have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions, or it is under a moratorium.
- 16 (46%) have abolished capital punishment.
Many Caribbean countries have carried out no executions for over 10 years, but are not believed to have an abolitionist policy or established practice.
Currently (2018), the United States is the only country in the Americas to carry out executions regularly. The only other country in the Americas to have performed an execution since 2003 is Saint Kitts and Nevis, in 2008. The countries in the Americas that most recently abolished the death penalty are Suriname (2015), Argentina (2009), and Bolivia (2009). Guatemala abolished the death penalty for civil cases in 2017.
Executions in the Americas in 2017: United States (23).
Note: The tables can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
Asia-Pacific
Of the 60 independent countries in the Asia-Pacific region that are UN member or observer states:
- 26 (44%) maintain the death penalty in both law and practice.
- 9 (15%) permit its use for ordinary crimes, but have not used it for at least 10 years and are believed to have a policy or established practice of not carrying out executions, or it is under a moratorium.
- 2 (3%) retain it for crimes committed in exceptional circumstances (such as in time of war).
- 23 (38%) have abolished it.
The information above is accurate as of 2017, when Mongolia abolished the death penalty, and does not include Taiwan, which is not currently a UN member; Taiwan practises the death penalty by shooting, and conducted one execution in 2016. Hong Kong and Macau are also listed below but not included in the figures above as they do not have UN membership separate from China.
- In 2014, Asia had the world's four leading practitioners of capital punishment - China, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The most recent countries to abolish capital punishment in the Asia-Pacific region are; Timor-Leste (2002), Bhutan (2004), Samoa (2004), Philippines (2006), Kyrgyzstan (2007), Uzbekistan (2008), Fiji (2015), Nauru (2016), and Mongolia (2017).
Executions in 2017: China (1,551+), North Korea (5+), Iran (525+), Iraq (111+), Saudi Arabia (130+), Yemen (2+), Afghanistan (5), Japan (4), Palestine (6), Malaysia (4), Singapore (3), Syria (unknown number), Bangladesh (6), Pakistan (65+), Bahrain (3), Jordan (15), Kuwait (7), United Arab Emirates (1).
Note: The tables can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
Europe
Of the 49 independent states in Europe that are UN members or have UN Observer status:
- 1 (2%), Belarus, maintains the death penalty.
- 1 (2%), Russia, maintains the death penalty, but has a moratorium.
- 47 (96%) have completely abolished it.
Abolition of death penalty is a pre-condition for entry into the European Union, which considers capital punishment a "cruel and inhuman" practice and "not been shown in any way to act as a deterrent to crime".
Since 1999, Belarus has been the only recognized country in Europe to carry out executions. 2009 and 2015 were the first two years in recorded history when Europe was completely free of executions. This century the following European countries have abolished capital punishment: Ukraine (2000), Malta (2000), Cyprus (2002), Turkey (2004), Greece (2004), Moldova (2005), Albania (2007), and Latvia (2012).
Executions in Europe in 2017: Belarus (2)
Note: The tables can be sorted alphabetically or chronologically using the icon.
Abolition chronology
The table below lists in chronological order the 103 independent states, that are either UN members or have UN observer status, that have completely abolished the death penalty. In the hundred years following the abolition of capital punishment by Venezuela in 1863 only 11 more countries followed, not counting temporary abolitions which were later reversed. From the 1960s onwards abolition became far more popular. 4 countries abolished capital punishment in the 1960s (a record up to that time for any decade), 11 in the 1970s, and a further 10 in the 1980s. After the end of the Cold War, the rate of abolition greatly increased. 35 countries abolished capital punishment in the 1990s, and a further 23 in the 2000s. Since 1985, there have been only five years when no country has abolished the death penalty: 1988, 2003, 2011, 2013 and 2014.
Note: Where a country has abolished, re-instated, and abolished again (e.g. Philippines, Switzerland, Portugal) only the later abolition date is included. Countries who have abolished and since reinstated (e.g. Liberia) are not included. Non-independent territories are considered to be under the jurisdiction of their parent country - which leads to unexpectedly late abolition dates for the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands, where Jersey (UK), the Cook Is (NZ), and the Netherlands Antilles, were the last territories of those states to abolish capital punishment, and all were rather later than the more well known abolitions on the respective mainlands. Defunct countries such as the GDR (East Germany), which abolished capital punishment in 1987 but was dissolved in 1990, are also not included. References are in the continental tables above and not repeated here.
See also
- List of most recent executions by jurisdiction
- American Convention on Human Rights
- European Convention on Human Rights
- Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- Life imprisonment
- Corporal punishment
References
External links
- Amnesty International
- The Death Penalty Worldwide
- Countries retaining death penalty fail to give details of executions - United Nations, 14 July 2005
- Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- European Convention on Human Rights - Protocol 13
- American Convention on Human Rights - Protocol to Abolish the Death Penalty
- Death Penalty in Asia-Pacific
- Monthly updates of world-wide executions
- Hands Off Cain (results may vary)
- Abolition UK
- Death Penalty Worldwide Academic research database on the laws, practice, and statistics of capital punishment for every death penalty country in the world.
Source of article : Wikipedia
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