Executions
Archive theme
An execution is the act by which a state puts a condemned person to death. Hands Off Cain records the cases documented by public sources: press agencies, local newspapers, human rights organisations, official statements. The figure that results is a confirmed minimum, not an estimate of the real total: several states publish no data on executions, and in some countries they are not announced even to the families.
This page collects the news on the executions recorded by the association. The totals by country and by year are in the database.
Latest news
APRIL 30, 2023SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: DEATH PENALTY COMMUTED OR HEROIN DEALER
The Singapore Court of Appeal changed the death sentence of a heroin dealer to 10 years in prison on April 26, 2023, the same day that Singaporean Indian man Tangaraju Suppiah was executed for allegedly abetting in the trafficking of 1kg of marijuana (can
APRIL 30, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Feizollah Kavandi executed in Isfahan on April 30
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mahmoud Rahmani executed in Iranshahr on April 29
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Eid Mohammad Shadman executed on April 29
Not clear whether in Iranshahr or Zahedan
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 2 men executed in Zahedan on April 29
Nematollah Rigi Ladiz and Abdolsattar Shahuzehi
APRIL 29, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Unidentified woman executed in Zahedan on April 29
APRIL 26, 2023SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE: MAN HANGED FOR TRAFFICKING 1KG OF CANNABIS
Singapore on April 26, 2023 hanged 46-year-old Indian-origin Tangaraju Suppiah who was found guilty in 2018 of trafficking more than 1kg (2.2 pounds) of cannabis, despite last-minute appeals for clemency from his family and activists.
APRIL 26, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jamshid Sharmahd’s death sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court
German-Iranian citizen
APRIL 24, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mohammad Chahargosheh executed in Gohardasht on April 24
APRIL 24, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ahmad Nikouyi executed in Gohardasht on April 24
APRIL 21, 2023WashingtonDEATH PENALTYUSA - Washington. The state officially abolishes death penalty
APRIL 20, 2023IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: 8 SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ISIS ACTIVITY IN JAIL
A court in Baghdad on 18 April 2023 sentenced eight people to death for attempting to organize the Islamic State (ISIS) in prison.
APRIL 13, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on the Death Penalty in 2022
At least 582 people were executed in 2022 (646 according to HoC)
APRIL 12, 2023FloridaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Florida. Louis Gaskin, 56, Black, executed on April 12
APRIL 5, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING IN JIGAWA
Three men have been handed a death sentence by a Jigawa State High Court, No. 8 sitting in Kaugama Local Government Area on March 31, 2023, for armed robbery and murder.
APRIL 5, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 3 men executed in Shiraz on April 5
ousef Juma Hosseini, Kazem Rasouli, and Ali Hossein Sadeghzadeh
APRIL 5, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - In Iranian year 1401, at least 701 prisoners were executed in Iran’s prisons
The Persian Year 1401 goes from March 21 2022 to March 20, 2023
APRIL 4, 2023Palestinian TerritoriesDEATH PENALTYGAZA: HAMAS SENTENCES TWO GAZANS TO DEATH FOR ISRAEL 'COLLABORATION'
A military court in the Gaza Strip convicted on 3 April 2023 six people of "collaboration" with Israel, sentencing two of them to death.
APRIL 4, 2023Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: MAN EXECUTED DURING MUSLIM HOLY MONTH OF RAMADAN
Saudi Arabia has executed a man during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which a rights group said on 3 April 2023 had not occurred in years.
APRIL 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - IHR Report on 200 Days of Protest Repression
List of at Risk Protesters
APRIL 4, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Haroddin Shokri executed in Qom on April 4
APRIL 3, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES TWO MEN TO DEATH FOR KILLING TRICYCLE RIDER
A Federal Capital Territory High Court in Kubwa on March 31, 2023 sentenced two men, Yahuza Isah and Auwalu Mohammed, to death by hanging for killing a tricycle rider.
- APRIL 2, 2023IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 48 Kurdish citizens executed during the first three months of 2023
APRIL 2, 2023North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREAN EXECUTIONS AND TORTURE ALLEGED IN NEW REPORT
North Korea executes people for sharing South Korean media, religious activities and drugs as the country stifles its citizens’ human rights and freedom, according to a report published on 30 March 2023 by South Korea.
APRIL 1, 2023ArizonaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Arizona. Gov. Katie Hobbs has been ordered to appear in court Thursday in her efforts to halt executions
The Aaron Gunches' case
MARCH 30, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: DOMESTIC STAFF SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR KILLING GRANDMA, DAUGHTER
A domestic staff, Joseph Ogbu, was sentenced to death by hanging on 27 March 2023 for killing his employer, an 89-year-old grandmother, Ajoke, and her daughter, Oreoluwa, in their home in Lagos.
MARCH 28, 2023IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 1 woman and 1 man executed on March 28 in Isfahan
Maryam Najjar and Hassan Bahmani
MARCH 26, 2023NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: FOUR MEN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING IN LAGOS
A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja on 23 March 2023 sentenced four men to death by hanging for armed robbery and kidnapping of Mrs Gloria Emole.
MARCH 24, 2023IdahoDEATH PENALTYUSA - Idaho. Governor Brad Little signed HB 186 to execute inmates by firing squad
When lethal injection is unavailable
MARCH 21, 2023ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: MAN WHO KILLED WIFE EXECUTED IN HANGZHOU
Xu Guoli, who killed his wife in 2020, was executed on 21 March 2023 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, after the Hangzhou Intermediate People's Court approved his death sentence, which was handed down in July 2021.