Samoa
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
- News items in the archive
- 37
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Samoa is classified as Abolitionist 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 37 news items on Samoa, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- AUGUST 7, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The American Samoa House of Representatives passed...
The American Samoa House of Representatives passed legislation to abolish the death penalty
- APRIL 13, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
Leafa Vitale, 57, the former women's affairs minister,...
Leafa Vitale, 57, the former women's affairs minister, and Toi Aukuso, 68, former communications minister, were sentenced to death by hanging for plotting the murder of a cabinet colleague who had spearheaded a drive against corruption
- JANUARY 1, 2000SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has not been carried out since independence in 1962
- AUGUST 13, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
On August 13, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, Minister...
On August 13, Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, had a meeting with Don McKinnon, Foreign Affairs Minister of New Zealand, and the latter sent a clear message about New Zealand's disapproval over the death penalty for mu
- AUGUST 6, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
On August 6, Eletise Leafa Vitale, the 34-year-old...
On August 6, Eletise Leafa Vitale, the 34-year-old son of a Samoan cabinet minister, was given a mandatory death sentence for admitting to killing Works Minister Luagalau Levaulu Kamu, in Apia's Supreme Court
- JANUARY 1, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has...
The death sentence is mandatory for murder but has not been carried out since independence in 1962
- JANUARY 1, 1999SamoaDEATH PENALTY
Prime Minister Tuilaeapa Sailele said he is convinced...
Prime Minister Tuilaeapa Sailele said he is convinced that keeping the death penalty will make those contemplating murder think twice