Capital punishment, or the death penalty, is governmental killing by execution as punishment for a crime often called a capital offense or a capital crime. Historically, the execution of criminals and political opponents was used by nearly all societies either by means of judicial process or through political motivations such as the supression of political dissent. Among democratic countries around the world, most European and Latin American ones have abolished capital punishment (except the United States, Guatemala and most of the Caribbean), while democracies in Asia and Africa retain it. Among nondemocratic countries the use of the death penalty is common.