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
JUNE 9, 2021TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Raymond Riles resentenced to life
After 45 years on death row
JUNE 7, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: OFFICIALS SCARED AFTER SISTER OF KIM JONG UN HAS THEIR COLLEAGUES EXECUTED
Government officials in North Korea are living in fear after a series of executions of their colleagues on the orders of leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, two officials told RFA.
JUNE 6, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Shahin Mirkhani executed in Shirvan Prison on June 6
For drugs
JUNE 2, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ebrahim Ahmadi executed on 2 June in Tabriz Prison
For murder
MAY 31, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: MAN EXECUTED FOR ILLEGALLY SELLING CDS AND USBS WITH S. KOREAN MOVIES, DRAMAS AND MUSIC VIDEOS
In late April, North Korean authorities publicly executed a man living in Wonsan (Gangwon Province) who illegally sold CDs and USBs filled with South Korean movies, dramas, and music videos.
MAY 30, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Yousef and Shamsi Pirostovan (Pir-Ostovan) executed in Qazvin Prison on May 30
118th woman executed during Rouhani’s tenure
MAY 29, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - 6 Baluch men executed in Birjand prison have been identified
Probably hanged on May 25, not on April 24
MAY 28, 2021ArizonaDEATH PENALTYUSA - Arizona. Gas chamber refurbished
Arizona plans to use hydrogen cyanide, the gas used by the Nazis at Auschwitz
MAY 28, 2021ZimbabweDEATH PENALTYZIMBABWE UNVEILS SCULPTURE OF WOMAN HANGED FOR OPPOSING COLONIAL RULE
Zimbabwe’s president on 25 May 2021 unveiled a towering bronze statue in the centre of Harare, the capital, honouring a 19th-century black anti-colonialist heroine who was hanged for leading a rebellion against white occupation.
MAY 24, 2021ZambiaDEATH PENALTYZAMBIA: MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR DEFILING AND KILLING OWN DAUGHTER
A 33-year-old man of Chipili district who allegedly defiled and murdered his three-day old daughter was sentenced to death on 21 May 2021.
MAY 24, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Kianoosh Ali-Moradi and Ahmad Qodrati executed at Isfahan Prison
On narcotic related charges
MAY 23, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A woman, Kobra Fatemi, hanged in Yazd Prison on May 23
117th woman executed during Hassan Rouhani’s tenure
MAY 23, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Saleh Shariati, Juvenile Offender Sentenced to Death, Acquitted in Court
A "qassameh" case
MAY 20, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Younes and Abdullah Totazehi executed in Birjand Prison
For drugs
MAY 19, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Ghassem B. executed in Mashhad Prison on May 19
For sex crimes
MAY 19, 2021TexasDEATH PENALTYUSA - Texas. Quintin Jones was executed
without media witnesses
MAY 19, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - A man, only identified as Sajad, executed in Mashhad Prison on May 19
For murder
MAY 18, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYKOREA APPEARS TO HAVE EXECUTED TWO MEN FORCIBLY REPATRIATED BY S. KOREA TO N. KOREA IN 2019
Two North Koreans who crossed the Northern Limit Line (NLL) into South Korea in November of 2019 have reportedly appeared in educational materials published by North Korea’s Ministry of State Security.
MAY 17, 2021South CarolinaDEATH PENALTYUSA - South Carolina. Governor signs bill adding firing squad and elettrocution as options for executions
The new law becomes effective on May 17
MAY 17, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Mehran Narouyi executed in Isfahan Prison on May 17
On drug-related charges
- MAY 16, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amir Bayati executed in Shiraz Prison on May 16
For murder
MAY 16, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Jamal Mohammadi executed in Ilam Prison on May 16
For murder
- MAY 15, 2021IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 3 Baluch executed in Ghaen Prison
over the past three months
MAY 15, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Behzad Adl was hanged on May 15 in Adelabad Prison
In Shiraz. For 3 counts of rape.
MAY 15, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Alimorad Zabiei executed in Qazvin Prison on May 15
For drugs
- MAY 12, 2021South CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
USA - South Carolina. Senate re-approved firing squad and elettrocution
the law now goes to Governor
MAY 11, 2021North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: KIM JONG UN HAD CONDUCTOR EXECUTED BY FIRING SQUAD FOLLOWING CELEBRATION, SOUTH KOREAN PAPER SAYS
A recent report from a South Korean newspaper said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the execution of a choir conductor, who was allegedly shot 90 times in front of members of the public.
MAY 10, 2021EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT: MONK EXECUTED FOR MURDER OF BISHOP AT MONASTERY
The Egypt Prison Authority carried out the death penalty on a monk who killed the abbot of his monastery in 2018, a lawyer and the monk's brother told Reuters on 9 May 2021.
MAY 10, 2021Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTYSIERRA LEONE: YOUNG MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH AMID DEBATE TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
Sierra Leone’s High Court Resident Judge in the Kailahun District of the country – Justice Francis Banks-Kamara, on 7 May 2021 sentenced a young man – Kholie Tamba to death by hanging, after he was found guilty of murder.
MAY 9, 2021IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - Sivan Hosseini will be executed at the end of Ramadan
(also written Hossein Sivan)