Editing Capital punishment by country (section)

===Europe===
{{Main|Capital punishment in Europe}}
The [[Capital punishment in the European Union|European Union]] holds a strong position against the death penalty; its abolition is a key objective for the Union's human rights policy. Abolition is also a pre-condition for entry into the European Union. In Europe, only [[Capital punishment in Belarus|Belarus]] continues to actively use capital punishment.<ref>{{cite web|author=European External Action Service |url=http://eeas.europa.eu/human_rights/adp/index_en.htm |title=European Union - EEAS (European External Action Service) &#124; EU Policy on Death Penalty |publisher=Eeas.europa.eu |date=30 September 2008 |access-date=9 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/central-asia/news/belarus-and-ukrainan-rebels-keep-death-penalty-alive-in-europe/|title=Belarus and {{sic|Ukrain|an|nolink=y}} rebels keep death penalty alive in Europe|last=Crisp|first=James|date=1 April 2015|newspaper=www.euractiv.com|language=en-GB|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-un-report-dire-situation-fighting/28912171.html|title=UN Says Fighting Fuels 'Dire' Situation In Eastern Ukraine As Winter Sets In|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=12 December 2017 |language=en|access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://khpg.org/en/1599258096 |title=More than 9 death sentences imposed in unrecognized Russian proxy Donbas 'republic' |website=khpg.org |access-date=18 March 2021}}</ref>

Capital punishment has been completely abolished in all European countries except for Belarus and [[Capital punishment in Russia|Russia]], the latter of which has a moratorium and has not conducted an execution since 1996. The absolute ban on the death penalty is enshrined in both the [[Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]] (EU) and two widely adopted protocols of the [[European Convention on Human Rights]] of the [[Council of Europe]], and is thus considered a central value. Of all present European countries, [[Capital punishment in San Marino|San Marino]], [[Capital punishment in Portugal|Portugal]] and the [[Capital punishment in the Netherlands|Netherlands]] were the first to abolish capital punishment; [[Capital punishment in Romania|Romania]] banned it even earlier in 1864, but it was much later reintroduced from 1936 to 1990 during the dictatorial and communist eras; in [[Capital punishment in Italy|Italy]] the nationwide ban on the death penalty dates from 1889 (capital punishment had previously not been in force in [[Tuscany]] alone since 1859, and even earlier for short periods starting from 1786), but it was then reintroduced during the [[Italian fascism|fascist regime]]; now only Belarus still uses capital punishment. In 2012, [[Capital punishment in Latvia|Latvia]] became the last EU member state to abolish capital punishment in wartime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldcoalition.org/International-law-abolition-protocols-ratified-last-month.html|title=International law: abolition protocols ratified last month|website=World Coalition Against the Death Penalty|access-date=4 December 2018|archive-date=22 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180822113517/http://www.worldcoalition.org/International-law-abolition-protocols-ratified-last-month.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>