Yemen
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1998
Data card
- Legal status
- Retentionist
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JULY 22, 1998 · Yemen signed the letter, dated 22 July 1999, addressed...
- News items in the archive
- 353
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
Yemen 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 353 news items on Yemen, from 1998 to today.
In Yemen the death penalty applies to murder, sexual offences, apostasy and offences against state security. Executions are carried out by shooting, in some cases in public.
The conflict has made the picture even harder to verify: sentences come from authorities that do not recognise one another, and the real number of cases cannot be established. The archive gathers what is documented and names the source.
Latest news
- JUNE 24, 2009IranDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN APPEAL OVERTURNS DEATH SENTENCE OF IRANIAN
a Yemeni appeal court overturned a death sentence imposed on an Iranian in a drug trafficking case.
- JUNE 21, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: MUSLIM SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING YEMENI JEW
a Yemeni appeals court sentenced a Muslim convicted of killing a Yemeni Jew to death, overturning a previous verdict ordering the man to pay the victim's family a fine instead of facing capital punishment.
- MAY 6, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: TWO YEMENI MEN BEHEADED
Saudi Arabian authorities beheaded two Yemeni men convicted of fatally shooting a
- APRIL 22, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMENI WOMAN FACES EXECUTION FOLLOWING POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN HER CASE
a Yemeni woman is facing imminent execution accused of killing her husband.
APRIL 15, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: WIFE CONVICTED OF MURDER OF HUSBAND EXECUTED
despite appeals to Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to overturn the death penalty
APRIL 14, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: YEMENI BEHEADED FOR GARROTTING COMPATRIOT
a Yemeni was beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia for garrotting a compatriot with
MARCH 31, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN COURT CONDEMNS 'IRAN SPIES'
A court in Yemen has sentenced two men to death after convicting them of spying for Iran.
MARCH 23, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: DEATH PENALTY IN ISRAEL SPY CASE
a court in Yemen sentenced a man to death for allegedly offering to spy for Israel.
- MARCH 4, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
the Jewish community in Amran issued a statement...
the Jewish community in Amran issued a statement...
- MARCH 3, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: MOSQUE ATTACKER EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD
a man convicted of killing ten people in a shooting rampage outside a mosque in north-western Yemen was executed in his home city, a security source said. A police firing squad shot dead Abdullah Saleh al-Kohali, 27, in the central prison of Amran.
- MARCH 2, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMENI COURT SENTENCES PAKISTANI MAN TO DEATH FOR DRUG-TRAFFICKING
a Yemeni state security court sentenced a Pakistani man to death and 15 others to 25 years in prison for smuggling around 10,000 kilograms of hashish into the country.
- FEBRUARY 22, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: AL-LEWA FACES EXECUTION AFTER BEING PARDONED FOR BLOOD MONEY
in Sana'a, Yemen, Hisham Al-Lewa asked the Attorney-General to rescind the death sentence against his elder brother Mohammed Al-Lewa. Mohammed, 35, killed a highway robber while helping the security authorities arrest the robber in 2003.
- FEBRUARY 22, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
According to lawyer Ahmad Al-Wadei...
According to lawyer Ahmad Al-Wadei...
FEBRUARY 9, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: COURT UPHOLDS PUBLIC EXECUTION OF BARBER
the Sana'a Court of Appeals in Yemen upheld the death sentence against a man for rape
- FEBRUARY 7, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: A SOLDIER EXECUTED
Bashir Sultan Mohamed al-Ja’fari, a soldier in the Yemeni army, was executed at the military prison in the capital Sana’a.
- FEBRUARY 7, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: THREE EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Three Yemenis have been executed by firing squads after being convicted in separate cases of murder, the
JANUARY 26, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST FIRST CONVICT OF 2ND SANA'A CELL
the Yemeni Appeal Court upheld a death sentence against Jaafar al-Mirhabi of the "2
- JANUARY 13, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMENI COURT SENTENCES MAN TO PUBLIC EXECUTION FOR CHILD RAPE AND MURDER
the Sana'a Criminal Court in Yemen ordered an adult executed in public for the rape and murder of an 11
- JANUARY 9, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
the Yemeni Seyaj Organisation for Childhood Protecting demanded the execution of three men charged of raping and killing a child in Sana’a early in December 2008the Yemeni Seyaj Organisation for Childhood Protecting demanded the execution of three men cha
the Yemeni Seyaj Organisation for Childhood Protecting demanded the execution of three men charged of raping and killing a child in Sana’a early in December 2008
- JANUARY 1, 2009YemenDEATH PENALTY
Yemen applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences including rape...
Yemen applies the death penalty for a wide range of offences including rape...
- DECEMBER 2, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
a court of Sana'a city, Yemen, sentenced Salem Mubarak al-Saydi to death
a court of Sana'a city, Yemen, sentenced Salem Mubarak al-Saydi to death
NOVEMBER 14, 2008IranDEATH PENALTYYEMEN: IRANIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG-TRAFFICKING
a court in Sanaa, Yemen, sentenced an Iranian to death for drug tra
- NOVEMBER 3, 2008Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI BEHEADS YEMENI MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER
the Saudi Arabian Interior Ministry said that Abdullah Suleiman, a Yemeni man convicted of murder, was
- OCTOBER 29, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
Ismail Lutef Huraish and his cousin Ali Mussarla Muhammad Huraish
Ismail Lutef Huraish and his cousin Ali Mussarla Muhammad Huraish
- OCTOBER 20, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN: DEATH SENTENCE CONFIRMED
a Yemen court of appeal confirmed a death sentence on espionage charges against a Saudi who had been
- SEPTEMBER 22, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
Hammoud Ahmed Qaid Saeed was executed
Hammoud Ahmed Qaid Saeed was executed
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
a man was executed in Yemen for a killing crime...
a man was executed in Yemen for a killing crime which led to the death five security individuals.
- SEPTEMBER 17, 2008PakistanDEATH PENALTY
at the Central Prison in Sana'a, Yemen...
at the Central Prison in Sana'a, Yemen...
- JUNE 21, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
a Yemeni judge convicted a man of entering...
a Yemeni judge convicted a man of entering...
- JUNE 9, 2008YemenDEATH PENALTY
YEMEN COURT SENTENCES REBEL TO DEATH
a Yemeni court sentenced 13 Zaydi Shi'ite rebels to up to 10 years in jail and Jafar al-Murhabi to death...