Egypt
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Capital crimes are: aggravated murder, arson, rape,...
- News items in the archive
- 626
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Egypt is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 626 news items on Egypt, from 1999 to today.
In Egypt capital punishment is applied both by the ordinary courts and by terrorism courts, and sentences not infrequently come at the end of collective trials with dozens of defendants. The method is hanging.
Human rights organisations report sentences founded on contested confessions and limits on the right to a defence. The archive gathers sentences, executions and the individual cases the association follows.
Latest news
- JANUARY 1, 2003EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egypt has signed but not yet ratified the statutes...
Egypt has signed but not yet ratified the statutes of the International Criminal Court, the UN permanent war crimes tribunal
- JANUARY 1, 2003EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Aggravated murder, arson, rape, hijacking, espionage,...
Aggravated murder, arson, rape, hijacking, espionage, drug trafficking, political and military offences
- JANUARY 1, 2003EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egypt retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes
Egypt retains the death penalty for ordinary crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2003EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Military and state security courts in Egypt sentenced...
Military and state security courts in Egypt sentenced more than 90 people to death since militant groups like al-Gama'a al-Islamiya took up arms against the state in 1992, and approximately 70 were executed, Reuters reported in March 2000
- JANUARY 1, 2003EgyptDEATH PENALTY
In 1999 the Government abolished an article of the...
In 1999 the Government abolished an article of the Penal Code that permitted a rapist to be absolved of criminal charges if he married his victim
- AUGUST 7, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egypt sentenced three men to death for murdering a...
Egypt sentenced three men to death for murdering a man whose fiancee one of the killers wanted to marry, a court source said
- JULY 5, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egypt won a new victory in its long war with violent...
Egypt won a new victory in its long war with violent Islamists when leaders of a feared terrorist group publicly renounced violence and asked forgiveness for their crimes
- JULY 4, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Three Egyptians, identified as Mohamad Abdel-Hadi Mahmoud,...
Three Egyptians, identified as Mohamad Abdel-Hadi Mahmoud, Mohamad Hassan Mohamad Salem and Ali Kamal Rifaie, were executed by hanging for murdering three people in stealing attempts two years ago, the official MENA news agency reported, quoting an offici
- JUNE 13, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International voiced concern that executions...
Amnesty International voiced concern that executions in Egypt had increased dramatically in the past decade and said many convicts were denied fair trials and appeals
- APRIL 30, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a Russian man...
An Egyptian criminal court sentenced a Russian man of Lebanese origin to death for smuggling cocaine into Egypt from Russia, judicial sources said
- APRIL 11, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A one-armed butcher from Egypt was sentenced to death...
A one-armed butcher from Egypt was sentenced to death in the US for molesting, killing and carving up a 12-year-old boy with a meat cleaver in California
- MARCH 25, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Two young Egyptians, aged 22 and 25, were hanged in...
Two young Egyptians, aged 22 and 25, were hanged in prison for the 1999 rape of a woman they had kidnapped, judicial officials said
- MARCH 5, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A Cairo criminal court sentenced two men to hang for...
A Cairo criminal court sentenced two men to hang for murdering a deaf-mute teenager, court sources said
- FEBRUARY 6, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Two people, a Jordanian and an Egyptian national, were...
Two people, a Jordanian and an Egyptian national, were hanged at Swaqa prison at dawn, official sources said
- JANUARY 13, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liu Xiao Ming, repudiated...
The Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liu Xiao Ming, repudiated western media reports about the status of Muslims in China, stressing that his government has taken the necessary measures to guarantee the rights of 20 million Muslims in China and their freedom
- JANUARY 1, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: aggravated murder, arson, rape,...
Capital crimes are: aggravated murder, arson, rape, hijacking, espionage, drug trafficking political and military offenses
- JANUARY 1, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
In 2001 at least 67 people, including 5 women, were...
In 2001 at least 67 people, including 5 women, were sentenced to death, with at least 4 being executed
- JANUARY 1, 2002EgyptDEATH PENALTY
All capital executions must first be approved by the...
All capital executions must first be approved by the Mufti, the country's highest religious authority
- DECEMBER 28, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A Cairo criminal court condemned to death a carpenter...
A Cairo criminal court condemned to death a carpenter found guilty of murdering his wife, her lover and his own four children
- DECEMBER 27, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A court in Egypt passed the death sentence given to...
A court in Egypt passed the death sentence given to a 35-year-old woman, Afaf Abu al Magid Uthman, for infanticide to the Mufti, the highest religious authority in the country
- DECEMBER 1, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egypt condemned statements by the European Parliament...
Egypt condemned statements by the European Parliament (EP) expressing concern about human rights violations in Egypt, AFP said, citing a report published by the state-run press
- NOVEMBER 12, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that after the Sept
It was reported that after the Sept
- NOVEMBER 11, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Syria has extradited to Egypt the man behind the shooting...
Syria has extradited to Egypt the man behind the shooting of 58 British and other foreign tourists at Luxor in 1997
- OCTOBER 30, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Yasser al-Sirri, an Egyptian living in London, was...
Yasser al-Sirri, an Egyptian living in London, was charged with conspiring to murder the leader of Afghanistan's Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Masood
- OCTOBER 23, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A man wanted by Egypt for attempting to kill a former...
A man wanted by Egypt for attempting to kill a former prime minister was arrested by British police on suspicion of terrorism-related activities
- JULY 24, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria sentenced...
A court in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria sentenced to death Khamis Said, 28, who killed his mother in March for her refusal to give him money to travel to Israel and marry the woman
- JUNE 20, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A Giza criminal court sentenced to death four men who...
A Giza criminal court sentenced to death four men who had raped a woman in front of her husband
- JUNE 20, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Jordan's criminal court sentenced two Egyptian nationals...
Jordan's criminal court sentenced two Egyptian nationals to death, including one tried in absentia, after convicting them of robbing and murdering a compatriot in Amman in December 1998
- MAY 6, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Egypt's parliament approved most of the African Charter...
Egypt's parliament approved most of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the African Child
- FEBRUARY 2, 2001EgyptDEATH PENALTY
A penal court in Guizeh confirmed capital sentences...
A penal court in Guizeh confirmed capital sentences for murder on: Salah Abu Zaid Yusuf, Rawiaya Fathi Abd al Salam (Salah's wife) Abu Zaid Salah Abu Zaid Yusuf (Salah's son, 21)Gamal Fathi Abd al Salam, 19 and Mihammad Samir Ahmad, 25