CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-

sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a
punishment for an actual or supposed crime.

The sentence ordering the capital punishment is known as a death sentence, and the act
of carrying out the sentence is known as an execution.

Crimes that are punishable by death are known as capital crimes or capital offences, and
vary depending on the jurisdiction, but commonly include serious crimes against the
person, such as murder, mass murder, aggravated cases of rape (often including child
sexual abuse), terrorism, aircraft hijacking, war crimes, crimes against humanity,
and genocide, along with crimes against the state such as attempting to overthrow
government, treason, espionage, sedition, and piracy. 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. However, states have
also imposed punitive executions, for an expansive range of conduct, for political or
religious beliefs and practices, even for sexual crime, such as adultery or sodomy.
Sometimes executions are imposed without employing any significant due process
procedures.

Etymologically, the term capital (lit. "of the head", derived via the Latin capitalis from
caput, "head") refers to execution by beheading, but executions are carried out by many
methods, including hanging, shooting, lethal injection, stoning, electrocution, and
gassing.

Since World War II, there has been a trend toward abolishing the death penalty.
Today, 53 countries retain capital punishment in active use, 111 countries have
completely abolished it for all crimes, 7 have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while
maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 24 are abolitionist in
practice because they have not used it for at least 10 years.
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.

Capital punishment is controversial in several countries and states.

Amnesty International declares that the death penalty breaches human rights, stating
"the right to life and the right to live free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment”. These rights are protected under the ‘Universal Declaration
of Human Rights’, adopted by the United Nations in 1948. In the European Union (EU),
Article 2 of the ‘Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union’ prohibits the use
of capital punishment.

The use of the death penalty is prohibited also by Article 27 of the ‘Italian Constitution’,
which states:

“La responsabilità penale è personale. L'imputato non è considerato colpevole sino alla
condanna definitiva. Le pene non possono consistere in trattamenti contrari al senso di
umanità e devono tendere alla rieducazione del condannato. Non è ammessa la pena di
morte”.
Capital punishment in the USA: