The death penalty for drug offences
Archive theme
International law restricts the death penalty, where it still exists, to the most serious crimes, and United Nations bodies have made clear more than once that drug offences do not belong to that category. Despite this, some states go on sentencing people to death and executing them for trafficking or possession of narcotics: in certain years these executions are a substantial share of the world total.
This page collects the news on death sentences and executions for drug offences.
Latest news
- NOVEMBER 7, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS MAN FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran publicly hanged Sabour Feyz, an Iranian national, for heroin trafficking.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran has hanged four men convicted of drug trafficking in the southern Hormozgan province...
Iran has hanged four men convicted of drug trafficking in the southern Hormozgan province...
- OCTOBER 31, 2007VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAMESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
VIETNAMESE MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
- OCTOBER 30, 2007IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
AMNESTY CRITICISES INDONESIA DEATH PENALTY RULING
AMNESTY CRITICISES INDONESIA DEATH PENALTY RULING
- OCTOBER 30, 2007AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIAN COURT UPHOLDS DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG OFFENCES
the Constitutional Court of Indonesia upheld the death penalty for serious drug offences for three Australians facing execution for trying to smuggle heroin off the resort island of Bali.
OCTOBER 30, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran hanged two men convicted of drug trafficking in the southeastern province of
- OCTOBER 28, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN EXECUTES TWO FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING, MURDER
Iran executed two convicted of drug trafficking in the southern Kerman province...
- OCTOBER 25, 2007PakistanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. PAKISTANI NATIONAL EXECUTED FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN
the Saudi Arabian news agency SPA website carried a Saudi Interior Ministry
OCTOBER 25, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. AFGHAN BOY HANGED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING - HUMAN RIGHTS WATCHDOG
the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission received evidence from an
OCTOBER 20, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. FIVE EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
five drug traffickers were executed in Birjand in northeast
- SEPTEMBER 18, 2007VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM: AUSTRALIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH IN VIETNAM
a Vietnamese court handed the death penalty to an Australian man it found guilty of trafficking almost one kilogram of heroin.
- SEPTEMBER 14, 2007VietnamDEATH PENALTY
VIETNAM. 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a Vietnamese court gave death sentences to three Vietnamese
SEPTEMBER 12, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. SEVEN HANGED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran hanged seven men in public who were convicted of drug trafficking
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
Iran hanged two drug traffickers in its southern port city of Bandar Abbas
SEPTEMBER 6, 2007VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM. 6 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HEROIN TRAFFICKING
a court in northern Vietnam sentenced six men to death and two others to life imprisonment
- AUGUST 22, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
TWO HANGED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING IN SOUTHEAST IRAN
two drug smugglers were executed in Iranshahr, Iran
- AUGUST 22, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN: TWO EXECUTED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING IN SISTAN-BALUCHESTAN
two men were executed in Zahedan in Iran for drug smuggling.
- AUGUST 20, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINESE COURT UPHOLDS DEATH SENTENCES FOR TWO JAPANESE OVER DRUGS
a Chinese court upheld the death sentences of two Japanese men convicted of attempting to smuggle drugs from China to Japan in 2003, an official at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang said.
- AUGUST 20, 2007IndiaDEATH PENALTY
INDIANS ON DEATH ROW SEEK PARDON
two Indian nationals sentenced to death on drug smuggling charges in Saudi Arabia appealed to King Abdullah for clemency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds.
- AUGUST 19, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: TWO EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
two convicts were executed for drug trafficking in southwest China's Yunnan province, according to local sources.
- AUGUST 14, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS TWO FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
Iran hanged two convicted drug smugglers in a prison in the town of Taibad in the eastern Khorasan Razavi province, the student ISNA news agency reported.
- AUGUST 7, 2007PakistanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI AUTHORITIES BEHEAD PAKISTANI CONVICTED OF DRUG TRAFFICKING
Saudi Arabian authorities beheaded a Pakistani man convicted of smuggling heroin into the kingdom...
- AUGUST 6, 2007IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN HANGS THREE CRIMINALS
Iran hanged three men convicted of drug trafficking and armed assault in the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, the official media reported.
- AUGUST 4, 2007Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Rahatullah Ghareeb Gul was beheaded in public for drug-related crimes.
Rahatullah Ghareeb Gul was beheaded in public for drug-related crimes.
- AUGUST 3, 2007Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Pakistanis and a Nigerian for drug smuggling.
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Pakistanis and a Nigerian for drug smuggling.
AUGUST 3, 2007DEATH PENALTY5 PAKISTANIS, NIGERIAN BEHEADED IN SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia beheaded five Pakistanis and a Nigerian for drug smuggling
- JULY 27, 2007UgandaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: UGANDAN DRUG TRAFFICKER TO HANG
one of the seven Ugandans held in China over drug-related offences was sentenced to death according to Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa.
- JULY 16, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: SEVEN UGANDANS FACE DEATH IN CHINA OVER DRUG TRAFFICKING
the identities of seven Ugandans, including two women, who face death over drug trafficking offences in China have been revealed.
JULY 2, 2007UgandaDEATH PENALTY10 UGANDANS FACE DEATH IN CHINA OVER NARCOTICS
ten Ugandans held on charges of illicit drug trafficking in China will soon be lined
- JUNE 25, 2007ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA: 7 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
China's top court announced that it had approved the death penalty for seven people for drug trafficking.