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
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Saddam Hussein is a "war criminal" who must face capital...
Saddam Hussein is a "war criminal" who must face capital punishment, Kuwait's Information Minister said, referring to the ousted Iraqi president's August 1990 invasion of the emirate
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani urged the special...
Iraqi Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani urged the special court which began trying ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein in Baghdad not to sentence him to death
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Saddam Hussein was hauled in front of an Iraqi court...
Saddam Hussein was hauled in front of an Iraqi court just three days after the end of the US-led occupation, but Iraqis were split over whether the aim was a fair trial or revenge
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The Labor Party remained opposed to the death penalty...
The Labor Party remained opposed to the death penalty in Australia but would not protest if it was imposed on former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Australia's Opposition Leader Mark Latham said
- JULY 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraqi Displacement and Migration Minister, Pascale...
Iraqi Displacement and Migration Minister, Pascale Icho Warda, the only Christian minister in the new Iraqi cabinet, said she was in favour of the death penalty for former president Saddam Hussein
- JUNE 30, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will get the death...
Ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will get the death penalty if he is found guilty of the serious crimes leveled against him, Iraq's interim Justice Minister Malek Dohan al-Hassan said
- JUNE 30, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Three Iraqi Kurds convicted over a spate of armed robberies,...
Three Iraqi Kurds convicted over a spate of armed robberies, extortion and rape were hanged publicly in the northern Iranian city of Qazvin, Qods newspaper reported
- JUNE 30, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The Iraqi government approved reinstating the death...
The Iraqi government approved reinstating the death penalty, President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar said in an interview the day the interim authority took legal custody of former president Saddam Hussein
- JUNE 30, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
France reiterated its opposition to death penalty "under...
France reiterated its opposition to death penalty "under any circumstances" and called for the trial for Iraqi former president Saddam Hussein to be in compliance with the international law
- JUNE 30, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that Britain accepted that Saddam Hussein...
It was reported that Britain accepted that Saddam Hussein was likely to be executed by the Iraqi government for war crimes
- JUNE 30, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
A French lawyer on Saddam Hussein's defense team called...
A French lawyer on Saddam Hussein's defense team called the Iraqi penal code "Stone Age" legislation and said it was ill-suited to address the ousted Iraqi president's case
- JUNE 29, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain greeted the new Iraqi government that...
Hands Off Cain greeted the new Iraqi government that took power on June 28, two days before the scheduled handover from coalition authorities led by the US
- JUNE 20, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could face the...
Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could face the death penalty if he is convicted of war crimes, the head of the Iraqi tribunal due to try him said
- JUNE 11, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iyad Allawi, Iraq's newly appointed prime minister...
Iyad Allawi, Iraq's newly appointed prime minister planed to resurrect domestic intelligence services and consider reinstituting the death penalty as ways to combat the country's persistent lawlessness and violence
- JUNE 6, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Justice minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan said Iraq was...
Justice minister Malik Dohan al-Hassan said Iraq was to restore the death penalty after the return of sovereignty later in the month
- JUNE 6, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Bringing back the death penalty after the handover...
Bringing back the death penalty after the handover of power by the Coalition Provisional Authority to a new Iraqi government on June 30 "is not the best way to present the new Iraq to the world," HOC General Secretary Sergio D'Elia said
- MAY 23, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
It was reported that the British Foreign Office slipped...
It was reported that the British Foreign Office slipped out a warning that the UK would boycott the upcoming trial of Saddam Hussein if there was any risk of the former dictator being put to death
- MAY 20, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The Umbrella exile Iranian opposition party, the National...
The Umbrella exile Iranian opposition party, the National Council of the Resistance of Iran (NCRI), said that some 3,800 members of its Iraq-based military wing, the People's Mujahideen, must not be extradited to Iran, where they would face torture and ex
- MAY 19, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
On the eve of the first court-martial in the Iraq prisoner...
On the eve of the first court-martial in the Iraq prisoner abuse by American soldiers ion the county, relatives of those still held at Abu Ghraib prison said the only suitable punishment would be death
- MAY 11, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
"UK soldiers have opened fire and killed civilians...
"UK soldiers have opened fire and killed civilians in southern Iraq in circumstances where there was apparently no imminent threat of death or serious injury to themselves or others," Amnesty International said in a report
- MAY 11, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The punishments to be handed down by an Iraqi tribunal...
The punishments to be handed down by an Iraqi tribunal that will try former dictator Saddam Hussein and other top officials may include the death penalty, Salem Chalabi, the lawyer co-ordinating the trial, said
- MAY 3, 2004ItalyDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio d’Elia heavily criticised...
Hands Off Cain Secretary Sergio d’Elia heavily criticised...
- APRIL 26, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
it was unlikely that Saddam would be tried within the next few months...
it was unlikely that Saddam would be tried within the next few months...
- APRIL 21, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Iraq was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death...
Iraq was a cosponsor of the resolution on the death penalty at the 60th UN Commission on Human Rights
- APRIL 12, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
On April 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.
On April 9, 2003 Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime was overthrown by a US-led military coalition.
- APRIL 1, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Search and excavation operations to find out the fate...
Search and excavation operations to find out the fate of those executed and buried in mass graves by the deposed Saddam regime were ongoing
- MARCH 28, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Saddam Hussein will hang, the British envoy to Iraq,...
Saddam Hussein will hang, the British envoy to Iraq, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, predicted as he left the country
- MARCH 26, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
A delegation of Italian Radicals, led by MEP Emma Bonino,...
A delegation of Italian Radicals, led by MEP Emma Bonino, held talks in Baghdad with the Iraqi Justice Minister, among others
- JANUARY 20, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
Five thousand Shiite Muslims marched through Baghdad...
Five thousand Shiite Muslims marched through Baghdad demanding the execution of Saddam Hussein
- JANUARY 5, 2004IraqDEATH PENALTY
The new chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council, Dr...
The new chairman of the Iraqi Governing Council, Dr Adnan Pachachi, said that executing Saddam Hussein would be meaningless