Russia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Moratorium on executions
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In 1996, the then President Boris Yeltsin imposed a...
- News items in the archive
- 461
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Russia is classified as Moratorium on executions 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 461 news items on Russia, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- APRIL 5, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
By a decision of the Shari'ah Court the mercenaries...
By a decision of the Shari'ah Court the mercenaries who signed contracts with Russian servicemen for six months were sentenced to death
- MARCH 31, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe...
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) urged Russia to prosecute soldiers responsible for human rights violations in Chechnya
- MARCH 29, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
One more mass killing of local inhabitants was carried...
One more mass killing of local inhabitants was carried out in Staropromyslovskiy district of the town
- MARCH 22, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Governor of Kemerovo region and presidential candidate...
Governor of Kemerovo region and presidential candidate Aman Tuleyev said that the moratorium on capital punishment must be annulled in Russia considering that Russia should not keep Chechen bandits like Salman Raduyev in prisons
- MARCH 21, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
First Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov said he doubted...
First Deputy Interior Minister Igor Zubov said he doubted if capital punishment was applicable on Chechen rebel leaders Salman Raduyev and Salaudin Timirbulatov as Russia, being a member of the Council of Europe, had imposed a moratorium on death penaltie
- MARCH 21, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
During a presidential election debate broadcast by...
During a presidential election debate broadcast by Russia TV featuring suspended Prosecutor-General Yuriy Skuratov and Communist leader Gennadiy Zyuganov said he was in favour or retaining capital punishment
- MARCH 20, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
EU foreign ministers issued a statement deploring Russia's...
EU foreign ministers issued a statement deploring Russia's failure to improve international relief efforts in Chechnya or permit the European Humanitarian Office to visit Chechnya
- MARCH 19, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady...
President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Osipov declared that Russia had the right to suspend its moratorium on capital punishment if the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe spoke out against Russia's membership of that internation
- MARCH 18, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovskiy said that...
Presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovskiy said that Chechen rebel leaders should be publicly executed
- MARCH 14, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Yuri Chaika asked whether a death...
Justice Minister Yuri Chaika asked whether a death sentenced might be handed down to notorious Chechen guerrilla commander Salman Raduyev replied that it was up to the court
- MARCH 14, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Deputy Prosecutor-General Vasiliy Kolmogorov said on...
Deputy Prosecutor-General Vasiliy Kolmogorov said on the case of Chechen terrorist Salman Raduyev that the charge of premeditated murder may incur capital punishment or life imprisonment
- MARCH 7, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Chechen command disseminated official data on losses...
The Chechen command disseminated official data on losses of the Chechen and Russian sides during fighting since the beginning of the Russian aggression
- MARCH 1, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian Justice Minister Yuriy Chayka at the headquarters...
Russian Justice Minister Yuriy Chayka at the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg said that the moratorium on the death penalty remains valid in Russia, and since Chechnya is a part of Russia, the moratorium extends to its territory too
- MARCH 1, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Pavel Krasheninnikov chairman of the legislation committee...
Pavel Krasheninnikov chairman of the legislation committee of the State Duma said he submitted the issue of abrogating capital punishment to the lower house for discussion
- FEBRUARY 25, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,...
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe expressed their deep concern at continuing reports of violations of
- FEBRUARY 25, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana expressed...
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana expressed great concern at reports of mass executions by Russian soldiers in Chechnya and urged Moscow to set up an independent inquiry
- FEBRUARY 25, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
A videotape taken by a German journalist for the N24...
A videotape taken by a German journalist for the N24 network showed Russian troops roughly disposing of the handcuffed bodies of executed Chechen fighters was aired on the BBC and on Russian NTV television
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Justice Minister Yuri Chaika said Russia has 610 criminals...
Justice Minister Yuri Chaika said Russia has 610 criminals sentenced to lifetime incarceration, although jails for lifetime imprisonment have place only for 300, others were sentenced to death
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Chechen rebels passed their second death sentence...
The Chechen rebels passed their second death sentence in a week on Vladimir Putin via the Internet
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Ukrainian newspaper 'Segodnya' said Chechen field...
The Ukrainian newspaper 'Segodnya' said Chechen field commander Shamil Basayev "or his supporters" had announced a fatwa on an Internet website identified as www
- FEBRUARY 15, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Lord David Russel-Johnston, British president of the...
Lord David Russel-Johnston, British president of the council's parliamentary assembly, called for an immediate investigation into "alarming reports from usually reliable sources on the executions of at least 38 civilians, on violence, looting and destruct
- FEBRUARY 10, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Human Rights Watch charged that Russian occupying forces...
Human Rights Watch charged that Russian occupying forces executed at least 38 civilians-including two children-in in the Staroproyslovski district of Grozny
- FEBRUARY 5, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Human Rights Watch said that 62 civilians were shot...
Human Rights Watch said that 62 civilians were shot to death in Aldy, in western Grozny when Russian soldiers rampaged through this suburb of Chechnya's capital, calling it the worst massacre of the war in the separatist republic, after Chechen rebels aba
- JANUARY 28, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Avdeev...
Russian First Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Avdeev explained that the reason why Moscow did not consider President Maskhadov either the legitimate president of Chechnya or a suitable negotiating partner was that he introduced Islamic law in Chechnya,
- JANUARY 27, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe...
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved Recommendation 1444 (2000) on the issue of the situation in the Chechen Republic, deciding limiting the credentials of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to the Par
- JANUARY 13, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevgeny Voronin...
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Yevgeny Voronin welcomed the decision of the Turkish government to suspend the death sentence imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and said: "We regard this decision as the manifestation of the readiness of the Turk
- JANUARY 12, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
China returned Ho Young Il, 30, and six other North...
China returned Ho Young Il, 30, and six other North Koreans defectors to North Korea
- JANUARY 1, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
In 1996, the then President Boris Yeltsin imposed a...
In 1996, the then President Boris Yeltsin imposed a moratorium on the use of capital punishment when Russia joined the Council of Europe on February 28 of that year
- JANUARY 1, 2000RussiaDEATH PENALTY
At least 16 mass graves containing the mutilated bodies...
At least 16 mass graves containing the mutilated bodies of Chechen civilians have been discovered in Chechnya in 2000
- DECEMBER 10, 1999RussiaDEATH PENALTY
On December 10, the Council of Europe announced that...
On December 10, the Council of Europe announced that Russia had signed the European Convention on Extradition