High treason, premeditated murder and torture are capital crimes.

High treason, premeditated murder and torture are capital crimes. With the introduction of Islamic law in 1980, the scope of the death penalty has been widened to include apostasy, homosexuality and rape.
Condemned prisoners can appeal to the Court of Cassation and can also ask for a review of their sentence. The condemned cannot be executed until a pardon has been refused.
The last executions took place in 1987. Three armed forces officers sentenced to death by the State Security Chamber for plotting to overthrow the regime were put to death.
In January 2005, 195 defendants were put on trial charged with three failed attempts to topple President Maaouiya Ould Taya in 2003 and 2004. The prosecution demanded the death penalty for 17 of the accused. Nine of these are being tried in absentia, including Sidi Mohamed Mustapha Ould Limam Chavi, an adviser of President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, who is accused of buying arms for the conspirators and helping them to flee justice.
Critics of the president accuse him of using allegations of coup plots supported by foreign powers as a pretext to clamp down on the opposition. Several civilian opposition leaders have been arraigned alongside dissident military officers in the mass trial.
On December 18, 2007 Mauritania voted against the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.