Capital punishment - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1130 Capital punishment From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. The sentence that someone be punished in such a manner is referred to as a death sentence, whereas 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 they commonly include offences such as murder, treason, espionage, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Etymologically, the term capital (lit. "of the head", derived via the Latin capitalis from caput, "head") in this context alluded to execution by beheading.[1] Fifty-six countries retain capital punishment, 103 countries have completely abolished it de jure for all crimes, six have abolished it for ordinary crimes (while maintaining it for special circumstances such as war crimes), and 30 are abolitionist in practice.[2] Capital punishment 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, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union prohibits the use of capital punishment.[3] Also, the Council of Europe, which has 47 member states, prohibits the use of the death penalty by its members. The United Nations General Assembly has adopted, in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014,[4] non-binding resolutions calling for a global moratorium on executions, with a view to eventual abolition.[5] Although most nations have abolished capital punishment, over 60% of the world's population live in countries where executions take place, such as China, India, the United States and Indonesia.[6][7][8][9][10] Contents 1 History 1.1 Ancient history 1.2 Tang dynasty 1.3 Middle Ages 1.4 Modern era 1.5 Contemporary era 2 Modern-day public opinion 3 Movements towards non-painful execution 4 Abolition of capital punishment 5 Contemporary use 5.1 Capital punishment by country 5.2 Juvenile offenders 5.3 Methods 5.4 Public execution 6 Capital crime 6.1 Crimes against humanity 6.2 Murder 6.3 Drug trafficking 6.4 Other offences 7 Controversy and debate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment Seite 1 von 42 Capital punishment - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1130 7.1 Retribution 7.2 Human rights 7.3 Wrongful execution 7.4 Racial, ethnic and social class bias 7.5 International views 8 Religious views 8.1 Buddhism 8.2 Christianity 8.2.1 Roman Catholic Church 8.2.2 Protestants 8.2.3 Mormonism 8.3 Hinduism 8.4 Islam 8.5 Judaism 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links 12.1 In favour 12.2 Opposing 12.3 Religious views History Execution of criminals and political opponents has been used by nearly all societies—both to punish crime and to suppress political dissent. Until the nineteenth century without developed prison systems, there was frequently no workable alternative to insure deterrence and incapacitation of criminals.[11] The execution itself was often involving torture with cruel methods such as the breaking wheel. The use of formal execution extends to the beginning of recorded history. Most historical records and various primitive tribal practices indicate that the death penalty was a part of their justice system. Communal punishment for wrongdoing generally included compensation by the wrongdoer, corporal punishment, shunning, banishment and execution. Usually, compensation Anarchist Auguste Vaillant [12] and shunning were enough as a form of justice. The response to crime guillotined in France in 1894 committed by neighbouring tribes or communities included a formal apology, compensation or blood feuds. A blood feud or vendetta occurs when arbitration between families or tribes fails or an arbitration system is non-existent. This form of justice was common before the emergence of an arbitration system based on state or organized religion. It may result from crime, land disputes or a code of honour. "Acts of retaliation underscore the ability of the social collective to defend itself and demonstrate to enemies (as well as potential allies) that injury to property, rights, or the person will not go unpunished."[13] However, in practice, it is often difficult to distinguish between a war of vendetta and one of conquest. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment Seite 2 von 42 Capital punishment - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1130 In most countries that practise capital punishment it is now reserved for murder, terrorism, war crimes, espionage, treason, or as part of military justice. In some countries sexual crimes, such as rape, adultery, incest and sodomy, carry the death penalty, as do religious crimes such as Hudud crimes, apostasy in Islamic nations, the formal renunciation of the state religion, blasphemy, moharebeh and witchcraft. In many countries that use the death penalty, drug trafficking is also a capital offence. In China, human trafficking and serious cases of corruption are punished by the death penalty. In militaries around the world courts- martial have imposed death sentences for offences such as cowardice, desertion, insubordination, and mutiny.[14] Ancient history Elaborations of tribal arbitration of feuds included peace settlements often done in a religious context and compensation system. Compensation was based on the principle of substitution which might include material (for example, cattle, slave) compensation, exchange of brides or grooms, or payment of the blood debt. Settlement rules could allow for animal blood to replace human blood, or transfers of property or blood money or in some case an offer of a person for execution. The person offered for execution did The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by not have to be an original perpetrator of the crime because the Jean-Léon Gérôme (1883). Roman system was based on tribes, not individuals. Blood feuds could be Colosseum. regulated at meetings, such as the Norsemen things.[15] Systems deriving from blood feuds may survive alongside more advanced legal systems or be given recognition by courts (for example, trial by combat). One of the more modern refinements of the blood feud is the duel. In certain parts of the world, nations in the form of ancient republics, monarchies or tribal oligarchies emerged. These nations were often united by common linguistic, religious or family ties. Moreover, expansion of these nations often occurred by conquest of neighbouring tribes or nations. Consequently, various classes of royalty, nobility, various commoners and slave emerged. Accordingly, the systems of tribal arbitration were submerged into a more unified system of justice which formalized the relation between the different "classes" rather than "tribes". The earliest and most famous example is Code of Hammurabi which set the different punishment and compensation, according to the different class/group of victims and perpetrators. The Torah (Jewish Law), also known as the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Christian Old Testament), lays down the death penalty for murder, kidnapping, magic, violation of the Sabbath, blasphemy, and a wide range of sexual crimes, although evidence suggests that actual executions were rare.[16] A further example comes from Ancient Greece, where the Athenian legal system was first written down by Draco in about 621 BC: the death penalty was applied for a particularly wide range of crimes, though Solon later repealed Draco's code and published new laws, retaining only Draco's homicide statutes.[17] The word draconian derives from Draco's laws. The Romans also used death penalty for a wide range of offences.[18] Tang dynasty Although many are executed in the People's Republic of China each year in the present day, there was a time in the Tang dynasty (618–907) when the death penalty was abolished.[19] This was in the year 747, enacted by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (r. 712–756). When abolishing the death penalty Xuanzong ordered his https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment Seite 3 von 42 Capital punishment - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1130 officials to refer to the nearest regulation by analogy when sentencing those found guilty of crimes for which the prescribed punishment was execution. Thus depending on the severity of the crime a punishment of severe scourging with the thick rod or of exile to the remote Lingnan region might take the place of capital punishment. However, the death penalty was restored only 12 years later in 759 in response to the An Lushan Rebellion.[20] At this time in the Tang dynasty only the emperor had the authority to sentence criminals to execution. Under Xuanzong capital punishment was relatively infrequent, with only 24 executions in the year 730 and 58 executions in the year 736.[19] The two most common forms of execution in the Tang dynasty were strangulation and decapitation, which were the prescribed methods of execution for 144 and 89 offences respectively. Strangulation was the prescribed sentence for lodging an accusation against one's parents or grandparents with a magistrate, scheming to kidnap a person and sell them into slavery and opening a coffin while desecrating a tomb. Decapitation was the method of execution prescribed for more serious crimes such as treason and sedition. Despite the great discomfort involved, most of the Tang Chinese preferred strangulation to decapitation, as a result of the traditional Tang Chinese belief that the body is a gift from the parents and that it is, therefore, disrespectful to one's ancestors to die without returning one's body to the grave intact. Some further forms of capital punishment were practised in the Tang dynasty, of which the first two that follow at least were extralegal.