Syria
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against...
- News items in the archive
- 150
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Syria is classified as Retentionist 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 150 news items on Syria, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- JANUARY 16, 2004SyriaDEATH PENALTY
The Lebanese government announced in a statement that...
The Lebanese government announced in a statement that six prisoners on death row had their sentences reduced to life in prison with hard labour
- APRIL 24, 2003SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Syria voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights, in Geneva
- AUGUST 11, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria released a leading communist dissident after...
Syria released a leading communist dissident after 27 years in jail because of serious health problems, human rights lawyers said
- APRIL 25, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria voted against the resolution 2002/77 on the death...
Syria voted against the resolution 2002/77 on the death penalty at the 58th UN Commission on Human Rights
- FEBRUARY 20, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on his first visit...
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, on his first visit to the West since the September 11 attacks, pledged to support the battle against terrorism, but warned that a complete victory would be impossible
- FEBRUARY 20, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Hands off Cain, the Italian Radicals and other associations...
Hands off Cain, the Italian Radicals and other associations demonstrated in protest as Syrian dictator Bashar Assad met Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni and demanded that Italian authorities make human rights in Syria the focus of bilateral talks
- JANUARY 17, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria applies the death penalty for drug trafficking...
Syria applies the death penalty for drug trafficking whilst the punishment for possession of drugs is life imprisonment
- JANUARY 1, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: treason, murder, violent robberies,...
Capital crimes are: treason, murder, violent robberies, rape, verbal opposition to the government, and membership in the Muslim brotherhood
- JANUARY 1, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against...
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against the State are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
In Syria the death penalty can be given for certain...
In Syria the death penalty can be given for certain crimes of homicide and for certain political acts such as bearing arms against Syria in the ranks of the enemy, desertion of the armed forces to the enemy and acts of incitement under martial law or in w
- JANUARY 1, 2002SyriaDEATH PENALTY
On april 8, 2001 the Deputy Speaker of the Syrian parliament,...
On april 8, 2001 the Deputy Speaker of the Syrian parliament, Abdallah Musilli, said a special official committee was formed several years ago to examine the subject of death sentences "and it concluded that capital punishment in Syria is confined to some
- NOVEMBER 11, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria has extradited to Egypt the man behind the shooting...
Syria has extradited to Egypt the man behind the shooting of 58 British and other foreign tourists at Luxor in 1997
- OCTOBER 25, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Two Iraqi nationals were charged in Jordan with premeditated...
Two Iraqi nationals were charged in Jordan with premeditated murder of a Kuwaiti student in August, the semiofficial Jordan Times newspaper reported
- APRIL 25, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria voted against the resolution on the death penalty...
Syria voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68)
- APRIL 8, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
The Deputy Speaker of the Syrian parliament, Abdallah...
The Deputy Speaker of the Syrian parliament, Abdallah Musilli, said a special official committee was formed several years ago to examine the subject of death sentences "and it concluded that capital punishment in Syria is confined to some crimes of a sava
- APRIL 6, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
The Human Rights Committee made recommendations to...
The Human Rights Committee made recommendations to Syria to reduce the number of offences punishable by the death penalty and that an independent commission of inquiry be established on allegations of extra-judicial executions and "disappearances" of Syri
- JANUARY 30, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
A Syrian national, Ibrahim Issa , was sentenced to...
A Syrian national, Ibrahim Issa , was sentenced to death in absentia in Lebanon after he was found guilty of murdering a woman, Salwat Asafiri, at her home in Beirut in 1998
- JANUARY 1, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against...
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against the State are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2001SyriaDEATH PENALTY
In Syria the death penalty can be given for certain...
In Syria the death penalty can be given for certain crimes of homicide and for certain political acts such as bearing arms against Syria in the ranks of the enemy, desertion of the armed forces to the enemy and acts of incitement under martial law or in w
- DECEMBER 3, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Judicial officials confirmed that Syria handed over...
Judicial officials confirmed that Syria handed over Ra'id Hijazi to Jordan
- JULY 9, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
In a statement issued by its Information Office, the...
In a statement issued by its Information Office, the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood called for the release of all political prisoners, the halting of political pursuits, and the revocation of Law 49 of 1980, which imposes the death sentence against anyone who
- JULY 2, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Husam Bin-Kamal Bin-Fu'ad, a Syrian national, was executed...
Husam Bin-Kamal Bin-Fu'ad, a Syrian national, was executed in Jiddah after being found guilty of smuggling cocaine into Saudi Arabia
- JUNE 21, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
The Muslim Brotherhood movement in Syria expressed...
The Muslim Brotherhood movement in Syria expressed its readiness to deal with the new Syrian leadership
- JUNE 16, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
A Lebanese military court put 29 alleged followers...
A Lebanese military court put 29 alleged followers of Saudi-exile Osama bin Laden on trial on charges of planning attacks on U
- JUNE 15, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syrian authorities arrested two suspects in the killing...
Syrian authorities arrested two suspects in the killing of University Military Training Department Commander, Major General Khalil Ibrahim al-Mustafa, who was stabbed to death in his Damascus apartment
- MAY 20, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
The Syrian journalist Faysal Sha'bu, who was residing...
The Syrian journalist Faysal Sha'bu, who was residing in Jordan illegally and seeking political asylum, said he faced the death penalty if he decided to return to Syria
- JANUARY 1, 2000SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against...
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against the State are capital crimes
- NOVEMBER 1, 1999SyriaDEATH PENALTY
In November, the Syrian representative, speaking at...
In November, the Syrian representative, speaking at the Third Committee of the General Assembly, affirmed: "The real issue is not whether the death penalty should or should not be applied, but rather each country's sovereign right to choose its own politi
- JULY 22, 1999SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Syria signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
Syria signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed to the President of the Economic and Social Council, in which the retentionist countries dissociated from the Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/61 on the question of the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 1999SyriaDEATH PENALTY
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against...
Aggravated murder, aggravated rape and offenses against the State are capital crimes