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.

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:

1. adhabu hii ni dia inayotakiwa kwa jinai nzito. Mtu aliyeua hastahili kuishi tena. Haki inadai ya kwamba adhabu ilingane na tendo.
2. Adhabu ya kifo inaondoa wakosaji wa hatari katika jamii. Hawawezi kutoroka au kuachishwa jela na kuleta hatari ya kwamba atarudia matendo yale.
3. Watu wengine wanaotafakari kutenda maovu yale wataogopa kufanya hivyo kwa hofu ya adhabu ya kifo, hivyo hofu hii inaongeza kiwango cha usalama katika jamii.
4. 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

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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Hakuna uthibitisho wa kwamba adhabu ya kifo inasaidia kupunguza jinai katika jamii.

Mwaka 2005 watu waliuawa na serikali baada ya hukumiwa katika nchi zifuatazo:

1. China (angalau watu 1,770)
2. Uajemi (angalau 94)
3. Saudi Arabia (angalau 86)
4. Marekani (60)
5. Pakistan (31)
6. Yemen (24)
7. Vietnam (21)
8. Jordan (11)
9. Mongolia (8)
10. Singapur (6)
11. Uturuki (3)
12. Ufaransa (1)

• Kupiga risasi
• Sindano ya sumu
• Kunyonga
• Kukata kichwa
• Kiti cha umeme
• Kurusha mawe

Wikimedia Commons ina media kuhusu:

Adhabu ya Kifo

• Correspondence with Jose Medellin, currently sitting on death row in Texas. Archived 30 Machi 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
• About.com's Pros & Cons of the Death Penalty and Capital Punishment Archived 18 Januari 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
• 1000+ Death Penalty links all in one place Archived 23 Juni 2016 at the Wayback Machine.
• U.S. and 50 State DEATH PENALTY / CAPITAL PUNISHMENT LAW and other relevant links from Megalaw Archived 14 Juni 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
• Updates on the death penalty generally and capital punishment law specifically
• Texas Department of Criminal Justice: list of executed offenders and their last statements Archived 8 Novemba 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
• Two audio documentaries covering execution in the United States: Witness to an Execution Archived 2 Januari 2007 at the Wayback Machine. The Execution Tapes Archived 18 Januari 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
• Article published in the Internationalist Review on the evolution of execution methods in the United States Archived 18 Machi 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
• Answers.com entry on capital punishment

• The Death Penalty Information Center: Statistical information and studies
• Death Penalty Focus: American group dedicated to abolishing the death penalty
• Amnesty International Archived 18 Februari 2015 at the Wayback Machine.: 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 Archived 8 Juni 2010 at the Wayback Machine.: 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 Archived 8 Oktoba 2009 at the Wayback Machine.: an Australian organisation opposed to the Death Penalty in the Asian region
• IPS Inter Press Service Archived 24 Oktoba 2006 at the Wayback Machine. International news on capital punishment
• Death Watch International International anti-death penalty campaign group
• Winning a war on terror: eliminating the death penalty Archived 27 Desemba 2008 at the Wayback Machine.

• 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 Archived 9 Januari 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
• 119 Pro DP Links
• British National Party, A political party which advocates the use of the death penalty
• Criminal Justice Legal Foundation Archived 19 Agosti 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
• DP Info
• Pro DP Resources Archived 12 Desemba 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
• 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 Archived 22 Septemba 2020 at the Wayback Machine. - Famous Quotes supporting Capital Punishment

• The Dalai Lama Archived 22 Januari 2002 at the Wayback Machine. - 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) Archived 15 Januari 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
• Priests for Life - Lists several Catholic links
• The Death Penalty: Why the Church Speaks a Countercultural Message Archived 9 Mei 2008 at the Wayback Machine. by Kenneth R. Overberg, S.J., from AmericanCatholic.org
• Wrestling with the Death Penalty Archived 12 Agosti 2003 at the Wayback Machine. by Andy Prince, from Youth Update on AmericanCatholic.org
•  "Capital Punishment". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
• [1] Roland Nicholson, Pope John Paul II: Mourning and Remebrance, The Catholic Church and the Death Penalty, by Roland Nicholson, Jr.