What countries still have the death penalty?
Asked by: Emie Gorczany I | Last update: April 8, 2025Score: 4.9/5 (23 votes)
Although the majority of countries have abolished capital punishment, over half of the world's population live in countries where the death penalty is retained, including India, China, the U.S., Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Vietnam, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and DR Congo.
How many countries still use the death penalty?
Though hard to determine, there were at least 2,016 death sentences amongst 52 countries in 2022 compared to 2,052 death sentences amongst 56 countries in 2021. Bahrain, Comoros, Laos, Niger, and South Korea all imposed death sentences after a hiatus.
Does Russia have a death sentence?
Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and Russia, the latter of which has a moratorium and has not conducted an execution since 1996.
What crimes in China are punishable by death?
The death penalty in China is usually administered to offenders of serious and violent crimes, particularly crimes severely endangering national or public security, social order or infringing individuals' rights, such as aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping or human trafficking of an extremely serious nature.
What is the age limit for death row?
In the death penalty context, that principle has caused debate about what age is too young for someone to be subject to execution. International human rights law has long prohibited the use of the death penalty against people who were younger than age 18 at the time of the offense.
What Death Row Looks Like Around the World
Why do they do executions at midnight?
One other advantage of holding executions in the middle of the night is that the rest of the prison's inmate population is locked down and presumably asleep. That minimizes the threat of any sort of unrest at the appointed hour.
Does Canada have the death penalty?
The death penalty in Canada was fully abolished on December 10, 1998. On that date, all remaining references to the death penalty were removed from the National Defence Act. Between 1976 and 1998, the National Defence Act was the only section of the law that still provided for execution under the law.
Does Japan have a death penalty?
Under Japanese law, the death penalty can be imposed for 17 offenses. In recent years, however, the courts have issued death sentences for only three offenses: murder, a killing in the course of a robbery, and killing by explosives. Only one person has been executed in each of the years 1979, 1980, and 1981.
Does India have a death penalty?
Currently, there are around 539 prisoners on death row in India. The most recent executions in India took place in March 2020, when four of the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder perpetrators were executed at the Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Does Germany have the death penalty?
Notes: 1. In 1990 the German Democratic Republic became unified with the Federal Republic of Germany, where the death penalty had been abolished in 1949.
Does the USA have a death penalty?
Overview. The federal death penalty applies in all 50 states and U.S. territories but is used relatively rarely. President Biden commuted the federal death sentences of 37 men on December 23, 2024, leaving just 3 prisoners on the federal death row.
Who got executed in 2024?
Twenty-five people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2024, three by nitrogen hypoxia and twenty-two by lethal injection. The first person executed in 2024, Kenneth Eugene Smith, became the first person in the United States and in the world to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.
Does the UK have a death penalty?
The UK abolished the death penalty over 50 years ago and the Government must hold true to its commitment to oppose capital punishment in all circumstances and as a matter of principle.”
What crimes are punishable by death?
First, the defendant must be convicted of an offense which carries a possible death sentence (first degree murder, sabotage, treason, perjury procuring the execution of an innocent person, train wrecking, and deadly assault by an inmate serving a life term).
Does Mexico have a death penalty?
Mexico is the world's most populous country to have completely abolished the death penalty.
Why is crime so low in Japan?
With a native-born population of 97 percent, Japan is among the least diverse societies on the planet. Research has indicated that racial homogeneity is associated with lower crime rates. Japan's abundant social capital and cultural cohesion also translates into one of the world's lowest incarceration rates.
Is there a death penalty in China?
China commonly employs two methods of execution. Since 1949, the most common method has been execution by firing squad, which has been largely superseded by lethal injection, using the same three-drug cocktail pioneered by the United States, introduced in 1996. Execution vans are unique to China, however.
Does France have the death penalty?
Current status. Today, the death penalty has been abolished in France.
Does Italy have the death penalty?
The use of capital punishment in Italy has been banned since 1889, with the exception of the period 1926–1947, encompassing the rule of Fascism in Italy and the early restoration of democracy.
Is death penalty legal in Australia?
All jurisdictions in Australia abolished the death penalty by 1985. In 2010, the federal government passed legislation that prohibited the reintroduction of capital punishment. Abolition of the death penalty has broad bipartisan political support.
Can you have alcohol for your last meal on death row?
In the United States, most states give the meal a day or two before execution and use the euphemism "special meal". Alcohol and tobacco are usually, but not always, denied. Unorthodox or unavailable requests are replaced with similar substitutes. Some states place tight restrictions.
Who has been on death row the longest?
Iwao Hakamata, who was on death row for almost half a century, was found guilty in 1968 of killing his boss, the man's wife and their two teenage children. He was recently granted a retrial amid suspicions that investigators may have planted evidence that led to his conviction for quadruple murder.
What do death row inmates do all day?
Most death row prisoners in the United States are locked alone in small cells for 22 to 24 hours a day with little human contact or interaction; reduced or no natural light; and severe constraints on visitation, including the inability to ever touch friends or loved ones.