In retentionist countries , the debate is sometimes revived when a miscarriage of justice has occurred though this tends to cause legislative efforts to improve the judicial process rather than to abolish the death penalty . In abolitionist countries , the debate is sometimes revived by particularly brutal murders though few countries have brought it back after abolishing it . However , a spike in serious , violent crimes , such as murders or terrorist attacks , has prompted some countries to effectively end the moratorium on the death penalty . One notable example is Pakistan which in December 2014 lifted a six-year moratorium on executions after the Peshawar school massacre during which 132 students and 9 members of staff of the Army Public School and Degree College Peshawar were killed by Taliban terrorists . Since then , Pakistan has executed over 400 convicts
Peshawar school massacre
2014 Peshawar school massacre
Capital punishment