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Capital punishment means condemning a criminal to death, regardless of the method of execution used. Execution by the state has a long history, and legislation around the issue is still changing. Amnesty International keeps an updated tally of countries with and without death penalty laws. The organization also notes which countries have a moratorium on capital punishment or haven't had executions in many years. Currently, 87 countries have completely abolished the death penalty,
and another 27 countries do not use capital punishment in practice. One of the earliest death penalty bans was in Venezuela in 1863. The most recent was the Philippines in June of 2006. All European Union countries have abolished the death penalty. Any country wishing to join the Union must follow suit. As this map shows, capital punishment is most often found in Asia and Africa, plus the United States. Countries and territories still using capital punishment include Afghanistan, the Bahamas, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, North and South Korea, Libya, Malaysia, Pakistan, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sudan,
Syria, Thailand, Uganda, and Vietnam. The U.S. government and its military allow the death penalty. Capital punishment is legal in 38 American states. Meanwhile, these states have abolished it: Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. The District of Columbia also doesn't have the death penalty.
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