Afghanistan
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 7
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Afghan law does not prohibit the execution of an individual...
- News items in the archive
- 560
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Afghanistan is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 7 the year before. The archive holds 560 news items on Afghanistan, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- DECEMBER 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS AFGHAN FOR CRIME COMMITTED AS MINOR
Iran publicly hanged Rostam Tajik, an Afghan national, for a crime he was alleged to have committed as a minor.
- DECEMBER 8, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. TWO GANG MEMBERS GET CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
a court in Kabul, Afghanistan, sentenced to death Hashmatullah and Mahmood
- DECEMBER 8, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. MURDER ACCUSED SENTENCED TO DEATH
a primary court in Alisher district in Afghanistan’s south-eastern Khost province sentenced to death Hazer Mohammad for murdering one Abdul Akbar.
- NOVEMBER 30, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. CUTULI CASE, ITALIAN EMBASSY AWAITS CONFIRMATION OF DEATH SENTENCES
it was reported that the Italian embassy in Kabul may ask for the commutation into life imprisonment of the death sentences handed down to brothers Zar Jan and Abdul Wahid for the murders of Maria Grazia Catulli and three other journalists in November 200
- OCTOBER 28, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTY
(untitled)
an Afghan court ruled that two brothers should be executed for their involvement in the killing of four journalists in 2001.
- OCTOBER 23, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. EDITOR GIVEN TWO YEARS' JAIL FOR BLASPHEMY
the editor of a women's magazine, Haqooq-i-Zan (women's rights), was jailed for two years in Afghanistan after being convicted of publishing anti-Islamic articles, including one challenging a belief that Muslims who converted to other religions should be
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN SENTENCES MAN TO EXECUTION, WOMAN TO FLOGGING AND JAIL
a court in Iran sentenced a woman to 100 lashes and 15 years jail time and an Afghan man to execution on charges of murder, Persian-language websites reported.
- AUGUST 23, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. TWO MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDERER
a lower court in Kabul, Afghanistan, sentenced to death two men charged with the murder of a hire car driver. Sala Khan and Mohammad Juma, from Alishang district of the eastern Laghman province, were convicted by the Ninth District's court of killing Abdu
- AUGUST 21, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. MAN GETS DEATH SENTENCE, 10-YEAR JAIL TERM
a lower court in Afghanistan awarded the death penalty to Ahmad Jahesh, a man charged with murder, abduction and adultery.
- JULY 10, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN SMUGGLING
the semi-official Saudi Ukaz daily said a tribunal in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah had sentenced a Pakistani and an Afghan to death for smuggling heroin into the country.
- JUNE 6, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. SUPREME COURT WILL CONSIDER WILL OF CUTULI FAMILY IN TRIALS OF ZAR JAN AND REZA KHAN
“We take very much into consideration the will of the family of Maria Grazia Cutuli, their requests are very influential,” stated an internal source at the Afghan Supreme Court the day after the arrest of Mohamed Zar Jan, presumed leader of the gang which
- JUNE 1, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. THREE AFGHANS CONVICTED OF RAPE PUT TO DEATH BY HANGING
three Afghans convicted of raping an Iranian woman and stealing a sheep were hanged in the southern town of Ravar in Iran’s Kerman province. The three men -- identified as Nazar Mohammad, Kheyrollah, and Besmellah -- were reported to have been in the Isla
- MAY 21, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. FOUR MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ARMED ROBBERY AND MURDER
it was reported that the Afghan court responsible for crimes against national and external security sentenced four men to death on charges of involvement in an armed robbery and for the murder of two people in the Dehsabz District of Kabul Province.
- APRIL 21, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. WOMAN STONED TO DEATH FOR ADULTERY
an Afghan woman was stoned to death for adultery, police said, the first such incident in Afghanistan since the Taliban's ouster from power.
- MARCH 17, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
AFGHANISTAN. 4 SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ATTACKS ON FOREIGNERS
an Afghan court sentenced four people to death for planning two attacks in 2004 that killed 12 people, including four Americans, a senior judge said, blaming both incidents on Al Qaeda.
- FEBRUARY 12, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. AFGHANI EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
an Afghani convicted of drug trafficking was beheaded by the sword in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, the Saudi interior ministry said.
- JANUARY 1, 2005AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
On October 9, 2004 Afghans voted for a president in the country’s first democratic election.
On October 9, 2004 Afghans voted for a president in the country’s first democratic election.
- NOVEMBER 20, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Reza Khan, an Afghan man accused of killing four journalists in 2001...
Reza Khan, an Afghan man accused of killing four journalists in 2001, was found guilty and sentenced to death after saying his gang was acting on the orders of a top Taliban commander.
- NOVEMBER 20, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
(untitled)
"We never thought that the person who killed Maria Grazia could be condemned to capital punishment.
- OCTOBER 27, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
An Afghan court sentenced to death three Afghans convicted...
An Afghan court sentenced to death three Afghans convicted of killing 11 Chinese road engineers in the north-eastern province of Kunduz in June 2004, Supreme Court Judge Abdul Bari Bakhtyari said
- SEPTEMBER 27, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Two Afghans convicted of six murders were executed...
Two Afghans convicted of six murders were executed by hanging in a prison in the northern Iranian city of Saveh
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
despite progress since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghans suffer from human rights violations, an UN expert reported to the UN General Assembly.
despite progress since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghans suffer from human rights violations, an UN expert reported to the UN General Assembly.
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
An Afghan convicted of kidnapping identified as Obaidullah...
An Afghan convicted of kidnapping identified as Obaidullah Noorzehi was hanged in public in Iran's southeastern city of Zahedan
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Feyz Mohammad, a 16-year-old Afghan national, was reportedly...
Feyz Mohammad, a 16-year-old Afghan national, was reportedly sentenced to death by a juvenile court in Karaz, Iran
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Latif Pedram, leader of the Afghanistan National Congress...
Latif Pedram, leader of the Afghanistan National Congress presented his electoral policies in Paris in view of the presidential elections to be held on October 9 in Afghanistan
- JULY 3, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai signed a decree...
Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai signed a decree permitting the death penalty for those convicted of child smuggling to use the victim's body parts
- JUNE 29, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
An Afghani Supreme Court official said that three people...
An Afghani Supreme Court official said that three people suspected of involvement in the assassination of the former deputy head of state and public works minister, Haji Abdol Qadir, had pleaded guilty
- APRIL 20, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan carried out its first execution since the...
Afghanistan carried out its first execution since the fall of the Taliban, putting a bullet to the head of Abdullah Shah, a former military commander convicted of more than 20 murders
- APRIL 12, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
On October 9, 2004 Afghans voted for a president in the country’s first democratic election.
On October 9, 2004 Afghans voted for a president in the country’s first democratic election.
- FEBRUARY 10, 2004AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
A court in Kabul, Afghanistan, convicted two Afghans...
A court in Kabul, Afghanistan, convicted two Afghans for the murder of Bettina Goislard, a 29 year old French UN staffer and sentenced them to death