Capital punishment—the state-sanctioned killing of a person for a crime—is an ancient practice, with the term "capital" deriving from the Latin caput (head) and originally referring to beheading, though many methods exist today. While capital crimes commonly include murder, terrorism, and treason, it has also been cruelly misused for political repression, as demonstrated by the show trials and executions during the Soviet Union's Great Purge of 1936–1938. As of 2026, 53 countries retain the death penalty, 111 have abolished it outright, and 23 are abolitionist in practice, yet over half the world's population still lives under retentionist systems—with only the United States and Japan among OECD nations allowing it (as of 2023). The practice is fiercely controversial, with Amnesty International declaring it a breach of the right to life and freedom from torture, a stance echoed by the European Union and the Council of Europe, while the UN General Assembly has passed eight non-binding resolutions (2007–2020) urging a global moratorium. Historically, nearly all societies used execution until the 19th century, largely because there was no workable alternative to imprisonment for deterrence and incapacitation, making the debate over its modern necessity both profound and enduring.