Somalia
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 5
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 15
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · In January, Majertein militia loyal to Mohamed Said...
- News items in the archive
- 477
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Somalia is classified as Retentionist in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 5 executions in the country, against 15 the year before. The archive holds 477 news items on Somalia, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
JUNE 29, 2010KenyaDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: EIGHT SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
a Yemeni court sentenced five Yemeni nationals, a Kenyan, a Somalian and a Tanzanian
JUNE 14, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: FANS EXECUTED FOR WATCHING WORLD CUP
Somali Islamist militants executed two football fans and arrested dozens of others for
- MAY 18, 2010YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN COURT SENTENCES SIX SOMALI PIRATES TO DEATH
a Yemeni court sentenced six Somali pirates to death for hijacking a Yemeni oil tanker that departed from Al-Mukalla port and killing two cabin crew on April 26, 2009.
- MAY 17, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL SHABAAB EXECUTES MAN IN MOGADISHU
Al Shabaab militants executed a man in Mogadishu, Somalia, for spying for the transitional federal government.
APRIL 26, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: AL-SHABAB MILITANTS EXECUTE MAN ON MURDER CHARGES, CUT OFF THIEF'S HAND
witnesses say militants from Somalia's al-Shabab Militia executed a man they convicted
- APRIL 14, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALILAND COURT SENTENCES 3 TO DEATH FOR ATTACKS
a court in Somalia's northern Somaliland region sentenced three unidentified people to death for four bomb attacks on the security forces, court sources said.
- APRIL 6, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL-SHABAB PUBLICLY EXECUTES FIGHTER IN SOUTHERN REGION
the Islamic administration of Harakat Al-shabab Mujahideen publicly executed fighter Muse Abdi Abud in a field in Somalia's Lower Shabelle region, officials said.
- JANUARY 27, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR LAWMAKER AND COURT JUDGE MURDER
a court in Bossasso in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland state sentenced Abdinasir Ahmad Ali Aware and Feisal Ali Hirad to death for murdering lawmaker Mohammed Hassan Jibril and Judge Sheikh Mohamed Abdi Aware.
- JANUARY 24, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
COURT MARTIAL SENTENCES TWO SOMALI SOLDIERS TO DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD FOR MURDER
Judge Haji Ali Hasan of the Court Martial for the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia [TFG] announced that two government soldiers were sentenced to death by firing squad for committing murder in Banaadir Region.
- JANUARY 23, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: PUNTLAND COURT HANDS OUT DEATH SENTENCE
a court in Somalia’s semi-autonomous state of Puntland sentenced Abdi Fatah Ahmed Dahir Qodah to death for murdering lawmaker Abdullahi Ali Osman on January 5 in the commercial city of Bossasso, in Bari.
JANUARY 21, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: COURT SENTENCES SON OVER FATHER'S KILLING
at a court in Bossasso, in the semi-autonomous state of Puntland in Somalia, Judge Sheikh Abdirizak
JANUARY 16, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: A MAN STONED TO DEATH
a Somali man was stoned to death for adultery in Barawe town by al Shabaab militants
- JANUARY 9, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALI MILITIA EXECUTES SHABAAB REBEL COMMANDER
a pro-government militia in Somalia executed a commander from the al Shabaab rebel group in public in the central Galagadud region
- JANUARY 1, 2010SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
- DECEMBER 13, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: ISLAMIST MILITANTS STONE MAN TO DEATH
witnesses in the town of Afgoye, southwest of Mogadishu, Somalia, said Islamist militants stoned to death a man accused of adultery. The militants apparently summoned the town's residents to watch the executions.
- DECEMBER 13, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: ISLAMIST MILITANTS EXECUTE MAN
witnesses in the town of Afgoye, southwest of Mogadishu, Somalia, said Islamist militants shot a man accused of murder. The militants apparently summoned the town's residents to watch the executions.
- DECEMBER 1, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: SOLDIER GETS DEATH SENTENCE
a Somali soldier under Afrah Ali Afrah, commander of the Darawish troops in Mogadishu, was sentenced
- NOVEMBER 17, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: ISLAMISTS STONE WOMAN TO DEATH FOR ADULTERY
Islamist rebels publicly stoned a woman to death and flogged a man 100 times for alleged adultery in southern Somalia.
- NOVEMBER 8, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALI MAN STONED TO DEATH
a man was stoned to death for adultery in Wanlaweyn town in the lower Shabelle region in Somalia “months ago”, according to the Mathaba.net and Mareeg.com websites.
- NOVEMBER 6, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALI ADULTERER STONED TO DEATH; LOVER WILL BE
Islamists in southern Somalia have stoned a man to death for adultery but spared his pregnant girlfriend until
- OCTOBER 25, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: ISLAMIST REBELS EXECUTE TWO FOR ‘SPYING’
Somalia's Al Shabaab Islamist movement publicly executed two young men by firing squad for alleged spying for the Somali government in the southern town of Marka. An official from the group told crowds who gathered to watch the punishment that the men had
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: BOSASO COURT SENTENCES DEFENDANT TO DEATH
The district court of Bosaso, in Puntland State of Somalia, sentenced one of five young defendants to
- SEPTEMBER 28, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: ISLAMISTS EXECUTE TWO FOR SPYING
Somalia's hardline Shebab Islamists publicly executed two people accused of spying for the US Central
SEPTEMBER 28, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: ISLAMISTS SENTENCE FRENCH NATIONAL TO DEATH
the Al-Shabab Islamic Movement in Somalia sentenced a French national adviser who is being held in
JULY 29, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH IN ABSENTIA FOR BOMBS
a court in the breakaway Somali province of Somaliland sentenced five men to death in
- JULY 12, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL SHABAAB DENY BEHEADINGS REPORT
Islamist hardliners in southern Somalia have rejected media reports that seven men
- JULY 10, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: HARDLINE MILITIA BEHEAD TWO FOR BACKING GOVERNMENT
Somalia's hardline Shebab militia beheaded two men for supporting
- JUNE 9, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL SHABAAB EXECUTES A MAN IN BAIDOA
Al Shabaab militants, who control Mogadishu’s Baidoa town, the former seat of
- APRIL 30, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: 2 MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR GOVERNOR'S KILLING
a court in Somalia's self-governing State of Puntland sentenced two men to death for
- APRIL 27, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
a pregnant woman was sentenced to death in the Puntland region of Somalia for the murder of another woman.
a pregnant woman was sentenced to death in the Puntland region of Somalia for the murder of another woman.