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 15, 2020TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Gilmar Guevara intellectually disabled
USA - Texas. Gilmar Guevara intellectually disabled
- APRIL 15, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Amir Hossein Zandi hanged in Hamedan Central Prison on April 15, 2020.
IRAN - Amir Hossein Zandi hanged in Hamedan Central Prison on April 15, 2020.
APRIL 15, 2020Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: 800 EXECUTIONS CARRIED OUT UNDER KING SALMAN
Saudi Arabia has carried out the 800th execution of King Salman bin Abdulaziz's five years of rule, human rights organisation Reprieve said on 14 April 2020.
- APRIL 15, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - A man was hanged at Hamadan prison on April 15
IRAN - A man was hanged at Hamadan prison on April 15
APRIL 15, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN EXECUTIONS 2019: QISAS AND FORGIVENESS
The 12th annual Report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and ECPM (Together Against the Death Penalty) provides an assessment of the abolitionist movement within Iran, including the forgiveness movement and its contribution to limiting the u
APRIL 14, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: POLITICAL PRISONER MOSTAFA SALIMI EXECUTED
Political prisoner Mostafa Salimi was executed at Saqqez prison, Iranian province of Kurdistan, on 11 April 2020.
APRIL 13, 2020BangladeshDEATH PENALTYBANGLADESH: BANGABANDHU’S KILLER MAJED HANGED
The self-confessed and convicted killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Abdul Majed was hanged on 12 April 2020 at Keraniganj Dhaka Central Jail amid tight security.
- APRIL 11, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Political prisoner Mostafa Salimi was executed at Saqqez prison on April 11, 2020.
IRAN - Political prisoner Mostafa Salimi was executed at Saqqez prison on April 11, 2020.
APRIL 8, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: THREE OFFICIALS EXECUTED FOR THEFT OF EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES
Authorities in North Korea executed without trial three high-ranking officials last week on charges of treason, for allegedly stealing food from the country’s strategic supply and selling it on the open market amid skyrocketing prices resulting from the o
APRIL 8, 2020United KingdomDEATH PENALTYDEATH PENALTY PROJECT PUBLISHES LATEST REPORT ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN THE CARIBBEAN
“The Death Penalty Project” on 7 April 2020 published its latest report: “Sentenced to Death Without Execution: Why capital punishment has not yet been abolished in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados” by Professor Roger Hood and Dr Florence Seemungal with
- APRIL 7, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - IHR Report: Qisas and Forgiveness
IRAN - Iran Executions 2019: Qisas and Forgiveness
- APRIL 4, 2020DEATH PENALTY
IRAN HUMAN RIGHTS PUBLISHES ITS 'ANNUAL DEATH PENALTY REPORT IN IRAN IN 2019': 280 EXECUTIONS
The 12th annual report on the death penalty by Iran Human Rights (IHR) and ECPM (Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort/Together Against the Death Penalty), published on 31 March 2020, provides an assessment and analysis of the death penalty trends in 2019 in t
APRIL 2, 2020TaiwanDEATH PENALTYTAIWAN: INMATE CONVICTED IN SIX DEATHS EXECUTED
A death row inmate was executed on 1st April 2020 in Taiwan, less than a year after he was convicted of killing six people by setting fire to his home.
- APRIL 1, 2020SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB SAYS IT EXECUTED SIX PEOPLE IN SOMALIA FOR SPYING
Al-Shabaab on 31 March 2020 executed six men it said were spying for Somali intelligence agencies, the U.S. and Kenya, according to a broadcast on Radio Andalus, which supports the Islamist group that’s linked to al-Qaeda.
APRIL 1, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN - According to Hengaw, 18% of executed in 2019 were Kurds
IRAN - According to Hengaw, 18% of executed in 2019 were Kurds
- MARCH 31, 2020TexasDEATH PENALTY
USA - Texas. Appeals Court Rejects Recommendation for New Trial for Rigoberto Avila.
USA - Texas. Appeals Court Rejects Recommendation for New Trial for Rigoberto Avila.
- MARCH 31, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Iran Human Rights publishes its
IRAN - Iran Human Rights publishes its "Annual Death Penalty Report in Iran in 2019": 280 executions.
MARCH 30, 2020BotswanaDEATH PENALTYBOTSWANA: TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Botswana on 28 March 2020 executed two men convicted of murder.
- MARCH 28, 2020DEATH PENALTY
UNITED KINGDOM SUPREME COURT RULES BRITAIN CANNOT PROVIDE EVIDENCE TO U.S. FOR USE IN DEATH-PENALTY CASES
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom unanimously ruled that the British government unlawfully provided information to the United States about two suspected Islamic State members without first obtaining assurances that the information would not be used
MARCH 26, 2020JapanDEATH PENALTYJAPAN: HANGED EX-AUM MEMBER URGED WOULD-BE TERRORISTS TO HALT ATTACKS
A former senior Aum Shinrikyo member wrote a letter in English urging would-be terrorists not to carry out their planned attacks before he was executed in 2018 for his involvement in the cult's 1995 sarin nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system.
MARCH 26, 2020United NationsDEATH PENALTYA DAY AFTER NIRBHAYA CONVICTS' EXECUTION, UN ASKS STATES TO 'HALT USE OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT'
The United Nations on 21 March 2020 called on all nations to stop the use of capital punishment or put a moratorium on it, a day after four men convicted of gang-raping and murdering a 23-year-old woman were hanged in India.
- MARCH 25, 2020United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
UK - USA. United Kingdom Supreme Court Rules Britain Cannot Provide Evidence to U.S. for Use in Death-Penalty Cases.
UK - USA. United Kingdom Supreme Court Rules Britain Cannot Provide Evidence to U.S. for Use in Death-Penalty Cases.
MARCH 24, 2020North KoreaDEATH PENALTYNORTH KOREA: SMUGGLER EXECUTED AFTER CROSSING SINO-NORTH KOREAN BORDER
A smuggler in his 50s was recently executed in North Pyongan Province, sources told Daily NK earlier in March 2020.
MARCH 20, 2020IndiaDEATH PENALTYINDIA: FOUR MEN EXECUTED FOR BRUTAL 2012 DELHI BUS RAPE AND MURDER
India hanged four men on 20 March 2020 who were convicted for the rape and murder of a young woman on a bus in New Delhi in 2012, in a case that shocked the world and shamed the country over its appalling record for crimes against women.
MARCH 16, 2020NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA: COURT SENTENCES MAN TO DEATH BY HANGING FOR MURDER
An FCT High Court sitting in Nyanya, Nasarawa State, on 11 March 2020 sentenced Mohammed Tijani to death by hanging for killing a man who was fighting another in front of his barbershop.
MARCH 15, 2020IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 60-YEAR-OLD HOSSEIN KACHANLOO AND 70-YEAR-OLD ABDULLAH MOHAMMADZADEH HANGED AT THE PRISON OF URMIA
Hossein Kachanloo and Abdullah Mohammadzadeh were hanged on 12 March 2020 at the central prison of Urmia, West Azerbaijan province.
- MARCH 12, 2020United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - The Winter 2020 edition of Death Row USA (DRUSA), updated to January 1, 2020
USA - The Winter 2020 edition of Death Row USA (DRUSA), updated to January 1, 2020
MARCH 12, 2020Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTYSIERRA LEONE: 3 SENTENCED TO DEATH AND ONE FOR 40 YEARS AS PORT LOKO APPLAUDS THE CHIEF JUSTICE
The Criminal Session of the High Court of Sierra Leone held in Port Loko presided by the Justice Samuel O. Taylor has sentenced three convicted persons to death by hanging and one given 40 years imprisonment, theorganiser.net reported on 9 March 2020.
- MARCH 12, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - 2 prisoners, not identified, were reportedly hanged on March 12
IRAN - 2 prisoners, not identified, were reportedly hanged on March 12
- MARCH 12, 2020IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN - Hossein Kachanloo and Abdullah Mohammadzadeh hanged on March 12, at the prison of Urmia
IRAN - Hossein Kachanloo and Abdullah Mohammadzadeh hanged on March 12, at the prison of Urmia