Iraq
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 1
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In mid-January, Col
- News items in the archive
- 874
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Iraq is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 1 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 874 news items on Iraq, from 1999 to today.
In Iraq death sentences come largely from terrorism proceedings, often collective and concluded quickly. The method is hanging. Executions are carried out in groups, usually with no notice to the families and with announcements afterwards.
International bodies have repeatedly reported trials lacking minimum guarantees and sentences founded on confessions. The archive follows executions, sentences and requests for a stay.
Latest news
- AUGUST 10, 2004DenmarkDEATH PENALTY
Danish Defense Minister Soeren Gade said that...
Danish Defense Minister Soeren Gade said that...
- AUGUST 9, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The UK Foreign Office has said Salem Chalabi, the head...
The UK Foreign Office has said Salem Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam Hussein, will not be extradited on murder charges while he is in London
- AUGUST 9, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The UK Foreign Office has said Salem Chalabi, the head...
The UK Foreign Office has said Salem Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi tribunal trying Saddam Hussein, will not be extradited on murder charges while he is in London
- AUGUST 8, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The interim Iraqi government reinstated the death penalty...
The interim Iraqi government reinstated the death penalty for murderers, drug traffickers and those endangering national security
- AUGUST 4, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said that former...
Iraqi Defence Minister Hazem al-Shaalan said that former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should be sentenced to death for his crimes
- JULY 26, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
In Iraq's southern city of Basra, about 50 armed members...
In Iraq's southern city of Basra, about 50 armed members of firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's personal militia snatched about 20 people on July 26 during raids against people selling and drinking alcohol, police said
- JULY 25, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
A Kuwaiti court sentenced Mohammad al-Juwaied, a Kuwaiti...
A Kuwaiti court sentenced Mohammad al-Juwaied, a Kuwaiti national, to death for spying for the former Iraqi regime led by Saddam Hussein, whose forces invaded and occupied the Gulf Arab state during the 1990-91 Gulf Crisis
- JULY 18, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraq's interim government denied a report that Iyad...
Iraq's interim government denied a report that Iyad Allawi, the prime minister, had personally executed six suspected insurgents in May, just days before America handed over power
- JULY 17, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraq's Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, pulled a pistol...
Iraq's Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, pulled a pistol and executed as many as six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station just days before the United States handed control of the country to his interim government, The Sydney Morning Herald reported
- JULY 16, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
"We are an Oriental people and it is the will of the...
"We are an Oriental people and it is the will of the people," said an Iraqi judge who whipped up a storm this week by condemning three men to death even before a ban on capital punishment had been officially lifted
- JULY 15, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Thousands of demonstrators protested in Baghdad and...
Thousands of demonstrators protested in Baghdad and the holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala, calling for the death penalty for former president Saddam Hussein
- JULY 13, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz met with his...
Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz met with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiar Zebari in Brussels to dissuade the Iraqi government from using capital punishment
- JULY 12, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
European Union foreign ministers have urged the interim...
European Union foreign ministers have urged the interim Iraqi government not to reinstate the death penalty, which some Baghdad leaders have said could be brought back into force
- JULY 12, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraqi interim President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar confirmed...
Iraqi interim President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar confirmed the country would soon reinstate the death penalty, as the European Union voiced its strong opposition to the sentence
- JULY 12, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
One of Iraq's top Shiite politicians, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim,...
One of Iraq's top Shiite politicians, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, said during a visit to Iran that ousted president Saddam Hussein deserved the death penalty for his war against Iran as well as other crimes
- JULY 10, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
About 200 women rallied in the Shiite Muslim holy city...
About 200 women rallied in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf to demand that ousted leader Saddam Hussein be executed for his regime's crimes against Iraq's majority community
- JULY 9, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Wth weapons in their hands, thousands of Shiites, supporters...
Wth weapons in their hands, thousands of Shiites, supporters of rebel leader Moqtada al Sadr, took to the streets of Baghdad, to demand death for Saddam Hussein without a trial
- JULY 8, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
A criminal court in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala...
A criminal court in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala issued the first six death sentences in the country since the toppling of former president Saddam Hussein's regime, local newspaper Al Taakhi reported
- JULY 7, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
With anger mounting that Saddam Hussein had not been...
With anger mounting that Saddam Hussein had not been charged over his invasion of and use of chemical weapons against Iran, Iranian MPs called for the ousted Iraqi dictator to stand before an international court
- JULY 7, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
“We want a restricted death penalty, for a limited time...
“We want a restricted death penalty, for a limited time...
- JULY 5, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
About 3,000 residents of Halabja rallied to demand...
About 3,000 residents of Halabja rallied to demand Saddam Hussein's execution in the town where an estimated 5,000 people were killed in a 1988 gas attack
- JULY 5, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Chairwoman of the German Green Party, Angelika Beer,...
Chairwoman of the German Green Party, Angelika Beer, came out against the death penalty for overthrown Iraqi dictator Saddam Husayn
- JULY 4, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Although Britain was against the death penalty in principle...
Although Britain was against the death penalty in principle and had conveyed this to Iraq, it was not likely to intervene if the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, were to be executed after a proper trial by a sovereign Government
- JULY 3, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Thousands of Shi'a Muslims chanted "Saddam must be...
Thousands of Shi'a Muslims chanted "Saddam must be executed" following Friday prayer services, while Sunnis generally ignored his court appearance - underscoring how differently each community viewed Saddam Hussein and his legacy
- JULY 2, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Defence lawyers for Saddam Hussein said that the first...
Defence lawyers for Saddam Hussein said that the first court appearance of the ousted president was a farce in an illegal court and challenged the legitimacy of Iraq's judicial system which they said was preventing them from going to Baghdad
- JULY 2, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
British defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed doubts...
British defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed doubts about whether Saddam Hussein should face the death penalty after his trial in Baghdad
- JULY 2, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said executing...
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said executing Saddam Hussein won't make him a martyr and backed the death penalty for the former dictator - if that's what the Iraqi people wanted
- JULY 2, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
ITALY. PARLIAMENTARY MOTION ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN IRAQ
Vicepresident of the Chambers of Deputy, Alfredo Biondi, presented a parliamentary motion on the death penalty in iraq.
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Saddam Hussein appeared in court to hear a string of...
Saddam Hussein appeared in court to hear a string of charges for which he could face the death penalty, in a landmark moment for the new Iraq
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Baghdad's decision to re-establish the death penalty...
Baghdad's decision to re-establish the death penalty ahead of the war crimes trial of Saddam Hussein evoked a mixed reaction in Europe, recalling the split across the continent over the war that toppled the Iraqi leader