Capital Punishment
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Capital Punishment is a form of punishment, which sentences the convicted criminal to death. Capital punishment is one of the most debated moral issues because it is a matter of life and death. During the past decade there has been a slow movement towards the abolition of capital punishment. One average three countries a year abolish this form of punishment. By 2001 seventy nine countries have abolished it all together and a further twenty countries removed it for all crimes except treason and war crimes, and thirteen have abolished it from practice. Altogether 111 countries have abolished capital punishment in some form, but eighty-four countries still retain it.
In 2001 at least 3,048 prisoners were executed in 31 different countries and 5,256 people were sentenced to death in 69 countries. These figures only contain cases that are known of so the real figures would be higher. Most of these executions occurred in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USA. In China alone 2,468 people were executed in 2001 and in Iran 139 people...