Kuwait
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 5
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 17
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The death penalty is provided for by laws based on...
- News items in the archive
- 258
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Kuwait is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 5 executions in the country, against 17 the year before. The archive holds 258 news items on Kuwait, from 1999 to today.
In Kuwait capital punishment applies to murder, drug offences and offences against state security. The method is hanging. Executions are concentrated in groups, separated by years in which none is carried out, and they often involve foreign nationals.
The archive gathers official announcements and individual cases.
Latest news
FEBRUARY 18, 2026KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AFTER STABBING FATHER OVER CIGARETTE ARGUMENT
A Pakistani man was sentenced to death on February 16, 2026 in Kuwait after being convicted of fatally stabbing his father during a domestic dispute in the Farwaniya Governorate.
JANUARY 22, 2026KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: COURT OF APPEALS UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR MURDER
Kuwait’s Court of Appeals has upheld the death sentence for a man convicted of murdering his girlfriend in Rumaithiya suburb and concealing her body in a suitcase in an attempt to smuggle it out of the country, Gulf News reported on January 21, 2026.
DECEMBER 15, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: AN INDIAN GOES TO GALLOWS FOR ‘BLUDGEONING’ WIFE
The Criminal Court, presided over by Judge Nayef Al-Dahoum, sentenced an Indian expatriate to death for the premeditated murder of his wife at their home in the Salmi area, following marital disputes, Arab Times reported on December 11, 2025.
OCTOBER 30, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT APPROVES HARSH NEW ANTI-DRUG LAW
Kuwait’s Cabinet has approved a comprehensive new anti-narcotics law that introduces random drug testing for military and civilian employees,
OCTOBER 28, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIFE ON EID
In a landmark ruling, the Criminal Court of Kuwait on October 27, 2025 sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen to death for the premeditated murder of his wife in the Mutlaa area on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.
- OCTOBER 27, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KIDNAPPING AND SEXUALLY ASSAULTING A CHILD
The Criminal Court, headed by Counselor Nasser Al-Badr and comprising Judges Abdulaziz Al-Muadhadi and Abdulhadi Al-Hajri, has sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen to death for the abduction and sexual assault of a 9-year-old child
SEPTEMBER 23, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: 5 PRISONERS HANGED AS 3 ESCAPE GALLOWS
The Ministry of Interior executed five individuals on January 19, 2025 morning, including three Kuwaiti men, a Kuwaiti woman and an Arab expatriate.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT HANGS 7 CONVICTS, SPARES 1
Kuwait’s Ministry of Interior on September 11, 2025 executed seven convicts at the Central Prison, Al-Seyassah daily reported.
- JULY 31, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: COUPLE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR FATAL ABUSE OF DOMESTIC WORKER
A Kuwaiti criminal court has sentenced a husband and wife to death by hanging for the fatal beating of their domestic worker.
MAY 5, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: GUJARAT MAN HANGED FOR MURDERING HIS EMPLOYER IN 2019
A 38-year-old resident of Mohammadali Chowk in Kapadvanj (Gujarat), Mustakim Bhathiara, was executed in Kuwait on April 28, 2025 after being convicted in a 2019 murder case.
- APRIL 29, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: FIVE EXECUTED AS TWO CONVICTS WIN PARDON, ONE AWAITS FATE
The Correctional Facilities Sector at the Kuwait Ministry of Interior executed five individuals convicted of premeditated murder at the Central Prison on April 28, 2025.
- APRIL 9, 2025KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING MOTHER-IN-LAW WITH KALASHNIKOV
The Court of Cassation on April 8, 2025 upheld the verdict issued by the Court of Appeals which sentenced a 40-year-old Kuwaiti citizen to death for murdering his mother-in-law using a Kalashnikov rifle in Wafra.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: EXPAT GUARD SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTING SCHOOL TEACHER
The Criminal Court in Kuwait has sentenced an expatriate, formerly a security guard at a school, to death for sexually assaulting a teacher from the same school, Al-Seyassah daily reported on August 25, 2024.
- SEPTEMBER 10, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: SIX EXECUTED, FEMALE CONVICT SPARED AT FINAL HOUR
Kuwait on September 5, 2024 carried out the death sentences issued against six individuals who were convicted of murder, in the first hangings in the country in two years.
- JULY 18, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR BEDOUN MAN FOR FATHER’S MURDER
Kuwait Court of Appeal, led by Counselor Abdullah Al-Othman, on July 15, 2024 affirmed the death sentence for a young Bedoun man convicted of killing his father.
JULY 1, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR WIFE’S MURDER AND DISMEMBERMENT
The Court of Appeal on June 30, 2024 rendered a verdict to execute a Kuwaiti citizen convicted of murdering his wife and dismembering her body after she revealed she was pregnant by him.
JUNE 11, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: COURT ON CASSATION SENTENCES TWO IRANIANS TO DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
In a recent ruling, the Kuwait Court of Cassation, led by Counselor Sultan Bouresli, has upheld the death penalty by hanging for two Iranian nationals convicted of attempting to smuggle 189 kilograms of hashish and psychotropic substances by sea from Kubb
MARCH 4, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE FOR WOMAN BEHIND FATAL WEDDING TENT FIRE
Kuwait Court of Appeals on March 1, 2024 confirmed a death sentence for Nasra al Enezi, found guilty of igniting a fire at a wedding tent, resulting in the loss of 57 lives, primarily women and children.
JANUARY 29, 2024KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: CITIZEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER
The Criminal Court of Kuwait, presided over by Judge Fawzan Al-Anjari, sentenced to death a Kuwaiti citizen who was convicted of killing his friend in Umm Al-Hayman and burying his body in the Eighth Ring Road project site, Arab Times reported on January
DECEMBER 7, 2023KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: EGYPTIAN AND KUWAITI TO HANG FOR KILLING RASHIDI
The Criminal Court on December 4, 2023 sentenced a Kuwaiti citizen and an Egyptian expatriate, who were charged with Mubarak Al-Rashidi's murder, to death by hanging.
- DECEMBER 6, 2023KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: ETHIOPIAN WOMAN TO BE EXECUTED FOR INDIAN COLLEAGUE’S STABBING
The Court of Cassation in Kuwait City has issued a verdict to execute an Ethiopian woman who fatally stabbed her Indian colleague on the first day of Ramadan in 2021 in the Abdullah Al-Mubarak area, Arab Times reported on December 5, 2023.
- NOVEMBER 13, 2023KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: SOLDIER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING BEDOUIN
The Court of Cassation in Kuwait has upheld the verdict issued by the Criminal Court and the Court of Appeals, sentencing a soldier from the Ministry of Interior to death, Gulf News reported on November 10, 2023.
JULY 27, 2023KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT EXECUTES FIVE, INCLUDING MAN INVOLVED IN MOSQUE BOMBING THAT KILLED 26
Kuwait put to death five people on July 27, 2023 including a man convicted of involvement in a 2015 ISIS group suicide bombing that killed 26 people, the Public Prosecution said.
- JANUARY 9, 2023KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC TEACHER SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR RAPING KIDS
An Egyptian Islamic teacher who raped children in Khaitan was sentenced to death by hanging in Kuwait, this was first of the 50 cases he is accused off, Arab Times reported on 9 January 2023.
- DECEMBER 14, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: MAN WHO MURDERED WOMAN IN FRONT OF HER DAUGHTER SENTENCED TO DEATH
A stalker who tried to kidnap a woman to force her to marry him and then murdered her in front of her daughter and niece when she refused to go with him has been sentenced to death by hanging in Kuwait, Mirror reported on 14 December 2022.
DECEMBER 7, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: 2 EXPATS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING WIVES
Two expatriate men, one of them still at large, have been sentenced to death by hanging in Kuwait for murdering their wives, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported.
NOVEMBER 16, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: SEVEN PEOPLE HANGED IN FIRST EXECUTIONS SINCE 2017
Kuwait put seven people to death in a mass execution on November 16, 2022, the state-run KUNA news agency confirmed, making it the first execution since 2017 despite appeals from human rights organisations for clemency.
JULY 27, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTYKUWAIT: INDIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR SMUGGLING DRUGS
The Criminal Court of Kuwait City sentenced an Indian expat to death by hanging for smuggling in narcotic substances with a market value of about 11,000 dinars with the intent of trafficking, Arab Times reported on 24 July 2022.
- MAY 28, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: AN ETHIOPIAN IS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING AN INDIAN COLLEAGUE
The Ethiopian woman who stabbed her Indian colleague to death has been sentenced to death by the Court of Appeals, Kuwaitlocal reported on 27 May 2022.
- FEBRUARY 19, 2022KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
KUWAIT: SISTER KILLER SENTENCED TO DEATH
A Kuwaiti criminal court sentenced a man to death on charges of murdering his sister in a case that had triggered outrage in the country, Gulf News on 17 February reported, citing local media.