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
- OCTOBER 6, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan's Taliban said they would release eight...
Afghanistan's Taliban said they would release eight foreign aid workers held on charges of promoting Christianity if the United States backed off from attacking the country
- OCTOBER 6, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Berlin and Washington rejected an offer by the Taliban...
Berlin and Washington rejected an offer by the Taliban militia to release aid workers [Georg Taubmann, Silke Duerrkopf, Margrit Stebner and Kati Jelinek] in return for a withdrawal of military threats on Afghanistan [following the September 11 terrorist a
- OCTOBER 5, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said they were willing...
Afghanistan's Taliban authorities said they were willing to put Islamic militant Osama bin Laden on trial before an Islamic court if the United States provides solid proof of his involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington
- OCTOBER 4, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
A female British journalist arrested by the Taliban...
A female British journalist arrested by the Taliban for illegally entering Afghanistan will face trial for "violating the laws" the country, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported
- OCTOBER 4, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The judge presiding over the trial of two Australian...
The judge presiding over the trial of two Australian aid workers in Kabul has been named as an associate of Osama bin Laden and placed on a Reserve Bank of Australia financial blacklist
- OCTOBER 2, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Six men were arrested in the southeast of the country...
Six men were arrested in the southeast of the country for distributing leaflets in support of the king and the US, Taliban sources said
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The trial of eight foreigners (Americans Dayna Curry...
The trial of eight foreigners (Americans Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, Australians Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas, and Germans Georg Taubmann, Katrin Jelinek, Margrit Stebner and Silke Durrkopf ) accused of trying to convert Afghan Muslims to Christianity
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The British woman undercover journalist was captured...
The British woman undercover journalist was captured in Afghanistan and suspected spying - an offence which carries the mandatory death penalty
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
An Afghani man was beheaded for smuggling heroin into...
An Afghani man was beheaded for smuggling heroin into the kingdom
- SEPTEMBER 25, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Taliban threatened to execute any UN workers who...
The Taliban threatened to execute any UN workers who use key equipment in their offices in Afghanistan, a move that nearly shut down the remaining relief work being done in the country
- SEPTEMBER 21, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Eight foreign aid workers arrested and detained in...
Eight foreign aid workers arrested and detained in Afghanistan for allegedly preaching Christianity were moved to a safer location ahead of an expected U
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
September 19; 2001: Chancellor Gerhard Schroder ruled...
September 19; 2001: Chancellor Gerhard Schroder ruled out any "adventures", amid reports that America was asking for Germany's participation in a daring mission to free eight Western aid workers imprisoned in Afghanistan
- SEPTEMBER 16, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Pakistani lawyer of eight Western aid workers on...
The Pakistani lawyer of eight Western aid workers on trial in the Afghan capital, Kabul, fears a U
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The eight foreign aid workers locked in a Taliban jail...
The eight foreign aid workers locked in a Taliban jail and facing trial on charges of spreading Christianity - a capital offence - have been left behind in a rush to leave Afghanistan before a possible U
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Eight foreign aid workers on trial in Afghanistan for...
Eight foreign aid workers on trial in Afghanistan for promoting Christianity have told the ruling Taliban's Supreme Court they want to hire one lawyer to defend them as a group, an American diplomat said
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The European Union's Development and Humanitarian Aid...
The European Union's Development and Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Poul Nielson said he would discuss the trial of foreign aid workers with representatives of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban during a visit scheduled for September 12-19
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said Western diplomats...
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said Western diplomats could visit eight foreign aid workers to discuss their trial for promoting Christianity once the eight decide if they want legal representation
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban completed...
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban completed the fifth day of the trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity, without their presence in court, saying it awaited word on how they wanted to defend themselves
- SEPTEMBER 9, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The foreign minister of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban...
The foreign minister of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban was quoted saying the hard-line movement might consider swapping eight detained foreign aid workers for an Islamic militant, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, jailed in the United States
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The eight foreign aid workers on trial for promoting...
The eight foreign aid workers on trial for promoting Christianity in Islamic Afghanistan appeared for the first time in the ruling Taliban's Supreme Court, saying they were innocent of proselytising
- SEPTEMBER 7, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Taleban Government intensified its campaign against...
The Taleban Government intensified its campaign against Western aid organisations in Afghanistan, displaying an array of Bibles and Christian films which it said had been confiscated from charity workers expelled
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Islamist sources said Afghanistan's ruling Taliban...
Islamist sources said Afghanistan's ruling Taliban were considering a prisoner swap with the United States as a trial in Kabul of eight foreign aid workers for promoting Christianity -a charge that carries the death penalty - began its third day
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The UN special envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell,...
The UN special envoy to Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, arrived in the Afghan capital saying he would talk to the ruling Taliban about the fate of 24 aid workers accused of promoting Christianity
- SEPTEMBER 5, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
A senior Taleban official has warned that foreign aid...
A senior Taleban official has warned that foreign aid workers on trial in Afghanistan on charges of preaching Christianity could be executed
- SEPTEMBER 4, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The chief justice of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said...
The chief justice of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said the trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity had begun
- SEPTEMBER 3, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Abdul Hai, Taliban's deputy minister for Promotion...
Abdul Hai, Taliban's deputy minister for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said that under Islamic laws, converts would be given three days to renounce Christianity and they could be spared the capital punishment if they repented
- SEPTEMBER 2, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations called for a fair trial of all 24...
The United Nations called for a fair trial of all 24 foreign and Afghan aid workers detained by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on the charge of promoting Christianity
- AUGUST 29, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Bakhtar Information Agency reported that a man known...
Bakhtar Information Agency reported that a man known as Adamshah, convicted of murder, was executed
- AUGUST 9, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
It was reported on Afghan Taleban radio that Awlia...
It was reported on Afghan Taleban radio that Awlia Khan was publicly executed in the Sena sports ground in Mazar-e Sharif
- AUGUST 8, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
A U.S. official said that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban...
A U.S. official said that Afghanistan's ruling Taliban told the United States that a decree issued in June prescribes expulsion, not the death penalty, for foreigners preaching other religions to Afghan Muslims