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
- 483
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 483 news items on Somalia, from 1999 to today.
In Somalia death sentences are largely handed down by military courts, including for offences committed by civilians, and the method is shooting. To these are added executions carried out by armed groups applying a parallel justice: these are not acts of a state, but they are documented all the same.
The archive gathers both, and distinguishes between them.
Latest news
JULY 10, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: 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
MAY 13, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR URGENT ACTION AS PUNTLAND WOMAN FACES EXECUTION
Amnesty International said that Ifraah Ali Aden, 30, is in imminent danger of being
- 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.
APRIL 18, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: PARLIAMENT APPROVES IMPLEMENTATION OF ISLAMIC SHARIA LAW
The Somali parliament unanimously approved a government proposal to introduce
- JANUARY 15, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALI EXECUTED FOR 'APOSTASY'
an Islamist militia in Somalia executed a Somali politician who they accused of betraying his religion by working with non-Muslim Ethiopian forces
- JANUARY 1, 2009SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
OCTOBER 31, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALI STONED TO DEATH WAS 13-YEAR-OLD RAPE VICTIM, GROUP SAYS
Amnesty International said that the girl stoned to death in Somalia this week was 13 years old, not 23,
OCTOBER 27, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTYWOMAN STONED IN SOUTHERN SOMALIA
thousands of people gathered to witness 50 Somali men stone a woman to death after an Islamic court in
- OCTOBER 12, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
a Somali court handed death sentences to three men convicted...
a Somali court handed death sentences to three men convicted...
APRIL 8, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA. SOLDIER PUBLICLY EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD
a soldier who was found guilty of murdering a fellow soldier was publicly
- FEBRUARY 19, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
in the Abud-waq district of central Somalia, regional authorities carried out the
in the Abud-waq district of central Somalia, regional authorities carried out the
- JANUARY 13, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA GOVT EXECUTES CONVICTED SOLDIER
Somalia's interim government executed a soldier convicted of killing
- JANUARY 1, 2008SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
- DECEMBER 18, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
Somalia voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium...
Somalia voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium...
- AUGUST 23, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: GOVT SOLDIER EXECUTED FOR MURDERING COMRADE
the Somali armed forces executed a government soldier at Somalia's former execution field in the army academy "Scool Polizia", along the coast of Mogadishu.
- JULY 5, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. GOVERNMENT CARRIES OUT PUBLIC EXECUTION IN MOGADISHU
government forces in Somalia publicly executed two men, one of them a soldier
- MAY 31, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALILAND CANCELS EXECUTIONS FOR AID WORKER KILLERS
The president of the breakaway enclave of Somaliland commuted death sentences against two men
- APRIL 19, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. SOMALILAND CONDEMNS TWO TO DEATH FOR SLAIN AID WORKERS
the Supreme Court in the self-declared republic of Somaliland has sentenced two
- JANUARY 21, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALI JUDGE SENTENCES MURDERER TO DEATH, CITING SHARIAH LAW
the Hiran Regional Court in central Somalia convicted ex-soldier Abdi Sabriye Barre and ordered he be shot to death for killing a man accused of thievery.
- JANUARY 1, 2007SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
Somalia has been without central government since 1991...
- DECEMBER 6, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. OFFICIAL THREATENS BEHEADINGS FOR NOT PRAYING 5 TIMES DAILY
residents of a southern Somalia town who do not pray five times a day will be beheaded, an official said, adding that the edict will be implemented in three days.
OCTOBER 13, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA. ISLAMISTS CARRY OUT 2ND PUBLIC EXECUTION
islamic radicals carried out their second public execution in less than a month amid fears of increasing extremist violence in Somalia.
- OCTOBER 5, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA'S ISLAMISTS ESTABLISH APPEALS COURT
Islamists who control the capital and much of southern Somalia set up an appeals court to rule on the decisions of all clan-based Islamic courts in the capital.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTYUNITED NATIONS. UN EXPERT SEEKS END TO DEATH PENALTY FOR CHILDREN
countries where capital punishment is practiced should exempt children under 18 -- or adults convicted while minors -- from the death penalty, a UN human rights expert report said.
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. THOUSANDS WATCH PUBLIC EXECUTION IN MOGADISHU
over 6,000 people watched the public execution of a convicted murderer in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the first execution since the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) seized power from an alliance of warlords on June 5.
- JUNE 26, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. ISLAMISTS TO STONE RAPISTS TO DEATH
Somalia's newly powerful Islamists said they will stone to death five rapists, in what some fear is the latest sign of a plan to install a hardline Islamic authority like Afghanistan's Taliban.
- JUNE 19, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. ISLAMIC COURT CARRIES OUT EXECUTION
the Islamic shari'ah Ifka Halan court executed Ilmi Ba Hasan Adow, convicted of murdering a man in Afgooye, southern Somalia.
- MAY 18, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA. MAN EXECUTED IN BELEDWEN FOR MURDER
Abdi kadir Shuriye was executed in Beledwen, central Somalia, after being convicted a few days previously of killing Ahmed Nur whilst attempting to steal his mobile phone.