Adhabu ya kifo

Adhabu ya kifo ni mauaji ya mwanadamu yanayotekelezwa na serikali baada ya mahakama kutoa hukumu ya mauti kulingana na sheria za nchi. 

Kwa kawaida adhabu hiyo inatolewa kwa jinai nzito sana.

Sababu za kumhukumu mtu afe 

Zamani ilikuwa adhabu ya kawaida katika nchi nyingi kwa wauaji hasa, lakini pia kwa makosa kama unajisi, biashara ya madawa ya kulevya, ufisadi. 

Kihistoria hata aina za upinzani dhidi ya mtawala wa nchi ziliadhibiwa kwa adhabu ya mauti: mara nyingi iliitwa kusaliti taifa au kuhatarisha usalama wa nchi. 

Kuna pia nchi ambako kuondoka katika dini rasmi kuliadhibiwa hivyo.

Kwa jumla kuna hasa sababu nne zinazotajwa kwa ajili ya adhabu ya kifo:
 adhabu hii ni dia inayotakiwa kwa jinai nzito. Mtu aliyeua hastahili kuishi tena. Haki inadai ya kwamba adhabu ilingane na tendo.
 Adhabu ya kifo inaondoa wakosaji wa hatari katika jamii. Hawawezi kutoroka au kuachishwa jela na kuleta hatari ya kwamba atarudia matendo yale.
 Watu wengine wanaotafakari kutenda maovu yale wataogopa kufanya hivyo kwa hofu ya adhabu ya kifo, hivyo hofu hii inaongeza kiwango cha usalama katika jamii.
 Heri kumwua mkosaji aliyeua kuliko kumfunga ndani kwa maisha yake kwa sababu hii:
 inaleta gharama kubwa kwa jamii
 ni adhabu ya kinyama zaidi kuliko kumwua mkosaji

Upinzani 
Katika karne ya 20 upinzani dhidi ya adhabu hii ilipata nguvu, na nchi nyingi zimefuta adhabu ya kifo. Katika nchi nyingine adhabu iko bado kisheria, lakini haikutekelezwa tena tangu miaka mingi kwa mfano katika Kenya na Tanzania.

Sababu za upinzani ni hasa kama zifuatazo:
 wengi hudai ya kwamba adhabu ya kifo hailingani na utu. Katika hoja hii kumwua mtu ni kinyama na hata kama mkosaji alimwua mtu mwingine na kutenda unyama huu si sababu nzuri kwa umma au jamii kushuka chini kwenye ngazi hiyohiyo na kumtendea mksosaji jinsi alivyotenda mwenyewe.
 Adhabu ya kifo ni adhabu ambayo haiwezi kurekebishwa. Lakini kila mahakama inaweza kukosa na kuna mifano mingi ya kwamba mahakama ilikosa na kumhukumu mtu kuwa alihusika na jinai lakini baadaye ilionekana si yeye. Kama amefungwa jela anaweza kuachishwa na kurudishiwa uhuru. Kama ameshauawa hakuna njia ya kumrudishia uhai. 
 Hakuna uthibitisho wa kwamba adhabu ya kifo inasaidia kupunguza jinai katika jamii.

Nchi zilizotekeleza hukuma ya kifo mara nyingi 
Mwaka 2005 watu waliuawa na serikali baada ya hukumiwa katika nchi zifuatazo:

 China (angalau watu 1,770)
 Uajemi (angalau 94)
 Saudi Arabia (angalau 86)
 Marekani (60)
 Pakistan (31)
 Yemen (24)
 Vietnam (21)
 Jordan (11)
 Mongolia (8)
 Singapur (6)
 Uturuki (3)
 Ufaransa (1)

Namna za kutekeleza adhabu ya mauti 
 Kupiga risasi
 Sindano ya sumu
 Kunyonga
 Kukata kichwa
 Kiti cha umeme
 Kurusha mawe

Viungo vya nje 

 Correspondence with Jose Medellin, currently sitting on death row in Texas. 
 About.com's Pros & Cons of the Death Penalty and Capital Punishment 
 1000+ Death Penalty links all in one place
 U.S. and 50 State DEATH PENALTY / CAPITAL PUNISHMENT LAW and other relevant links from Megalaw 
 Updates on the death penalty generally and capital punishment law specifically
 Texas Department of Criminal Justice: list of executed offenders and their last statements 
 Two audio documentaries covering execution in the United States: Witness to an Execution  The Execution Tapes 
 Article published in the Internationalist Review on the evolution of execution methods in the United States  
 Answers.com entry on capital punishment

Wanaopinga adhabu ya kifo 
 The Death Penalty Information Center: Statistical information and studies
 Death Penalty Focus: American group dedicated to abolishing the death penalty
 Amnesty International : Human Rights organisation
 The Council of Europe (international organisation composed of 46 European States): activities and legal instruments against the death penalty
 European Union: Information on anti-death penalty policies
 Reprieve.org: United States based volunteer program for foreign lawyers, students, and others to work at death penalty defense offices
 Campaign to End the Death Penalty
 American Civil Liberties Union: Demanding a Moratorium on the Death Penalty
 Anti-Death Penalty Information: includes a monthly watchlist of upcoming executions and death penalty statistics for the United States.
 Catholics Against Capital Punishment: offers a Catholic perspective and provides resources and links
 World Coalition Against the Death Penalty
 National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
 Australian Coalition Against Death Penalty (ACADP) - human rights organisation for total abolition of Death Penalty, worldwide.
 NSW Council for Civil Liberties : an Australian organisation opposed to the Death Penalty in the Asian region
 IPS Inter Press Service  International news on capital punishment
 Death Watch International International anti-death penalty campaign group
 Winning a war on terror: eliminating the death penalty

Wanaotetea adhabu ya kifo 
 Off2DR.com is an Interactive pro death penalty information resource & place for discussions 
 Pro Death Penalty.com
 Pro Death Penalty Resource Page
 Capital Punishment - A Defense 
 119 Pro DP Links
 British National Party, A political party which advocates the use of the death penalty
 Criminal Justice Legal Foundation 
 DP Info
 Pro DP Resources 
 The Paradoxes of a Death Penalty Stance by Charles Lane in the Washington Post
 Clark County, Indiana, Prosecutor's Page on capital punishment
 In Favor of Capital Punishment  - Famous Quotes supporting Capital Punishment

Mafundisho ya kidini 
 The Dalai Lama  - Message supporting the moratorium on the death penalty
 Buddhism & Capital Punishment from The Engaged Zen Society
 Orthodox Union website: Rabbi Yosef Edelstein: Parshat Beha'alotcha: A Few Reflections on Capital Punishment
 Jews and the Death Penalty - by Naomi Pfefferman (Jewish Journal) 
 Priests for Life - Lists several Catholic links
 The Death Penalty: Why the Church Speaks a Countercultural Message  by Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., from AmericanCatholic.org
 Wrestling with the Death Penalty  by Andy Prince, from Youth Update on AmericanCatholic.org
 
  Roland Nicholson, Pope John Paul II: Mourning and Remebrance, The Catholic Church and the Death Penalty, by Roland Nicholson, Jr.

Sheria
Haki za binadamu