May 23, 2013
The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
Features include interactive map, in-depth stories, and more.
Download now. »
The week's top five must-sees,
delivered to your inbox.
|
Description
Capital punishment or the death penalty is a legal process whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The judicial decree that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence, while the actual process of killing the person is an execution. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head".
Capital punishment has, in the past, been practised by most societies; currently 58 nations actively practise it, and 97 countries have abolished it. It is a matter of active controversy in various countries and states, and positions can vary within a single political ideology or cultural region. In the European Union member states, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment.
Currently, Amnesty International considers most countries abolitionist. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007, 2008 and 2010, non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions, with a view to eventual abolition. Although many nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place, such as the People's Republic of China, India, the United States of America and Indonesia, the four most-populous countries in the world, which continue to apply the death penalty. Each of these four nations voted against the General Assembly resolutions.
(via Freebase)
|
![Bahrainis rally in solidarity with political prisoners sentenced to death [Al-Alam, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-10657000/10657876/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=e1874356cac313784db65c616ef64f14 "Reuters/Benoit Tessier")