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
MARCH 31, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ANOTHER FOUR DEATH ROW PRISONERS EXECUTED IN VARIOUS JAILS OF THE COUNTRY
four convicts for murder and kidnapping in separate cases were hanged in jails of Attock, Mianwali, Sargodha and Rawalpindi, taking to 64 the number of executions since the country reversed the self-imposed moratorium on the death penalty in December.
- MARCH 26, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: ANOTHER MURDER CONVICT HANGED IN FAISALABAD
another murder convict was hanged in Faisalabad's Central Jail after being on death row for around two decades.
MARCH 26, 2015IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: 12 PRISONERS SECRETLY EXECUTED IN A DAY
Iran secretly hanged at least 12 inmates in prisons in cities of Shiraz and Mashhad.
MARCH 26, 2015IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: SEVEN PRISONERS HANGED IN SHIRAZ
At least seven prisoners were hanged in a prison in the southern city of Shiraz.
MARCH 25, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: SIX MORE HANGED IN VARIOUS JAILS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
six more death row prisoners were executed in various jails across Punjab and Sindh provinces, bringing the number of executions to 59 since an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in December.
MARCH 25, 2015Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: PAKISTANI NATIONAL AND SAUDI MAN BEHEADED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING AND MURDER
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani national and a Saudi man after sentencing them to death for drug trafficking and murder.
MARCH 24, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: ANOTHER MURDER CONVICT HANGED IN MULTAN
a murder convict was hanged at the Multan Central Jail, bringing to 53 the number of convicts put to death since Pakistan resumed executions in December 2014 after Taliban militants gunned down 154 people, most of them children, at a military-run school i
MARCH 24, 2015ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA: THREE PEOPLE EXECUTED FOR KUNMING RAILWAY STATION ATTACK
three people were executed for a mass stabbing that killed 31 people at a train station in Kunming in March 2014, China’s Supreme People’s Court announced in a microblog post, with authorities blaming the attack on separatists from mainly Muslim Xinjiang.
MARCH 24, 2015SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA: TWO FEDERAL GOVT SOLDIERS EXECUTED FOR CIVILIANS MURDER
Federal Government of Somalia’s military court executed two Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers for the murder of civilians, Garowe Online reported.
MARCH 24, 2015IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: ISIS MILITANTS STONE COUPLE ACCUSED OF ADULTERY
Islamic State militants in Iraq publicly stoned a man and woman to death on charges of adultery, parading the victims in a public square in the northern city of Mosul, according to witnesses and an Iraqi military official.
MARCH 24, 2015VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM PLANS TO REMOVE ROBBERY, DRUG CRIMES FROM DEATH PENALTY LIST
The Ministry of Justice has proposed abolishing the death penalty for a number of crimes including robbery and heroin smuggling, reducing it to life sentence at most.
- MARCH 23, 2015UtahDEATH PENALTY
USA - Utah. Gov. Gary Herbert signed a controversial bills to designate the firing squad as the state’s backup execution method.
USA - Utah. Gov. Gary Herbert signed a controversial bills to designate the firing squad as the state’s backup execution method.
MARCH 23, 2015DEATH PENALTYUTAH (USA): GOVERNOR HERBERT APPROVES EXECUTIONS BY FIRING SQUAD
Gov. Gary Herbert signed one of the 2015 Utah Legislature’s most controversial bills on Monday to
- MARCH 20, 2015SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
SOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB MILITANTS EXECUTE 'ETHIOPIA SPY'
The Al-Qaeda linked extremist group in Somalia executed a man for allegedly being a spy for the
MARCH 19, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: FOUR MORE PRISONERS SENT TO THE GALLOWS
four more death row prisoners were executed in Rawalpindi and Mianwali. All convicts had been awarded the death sentence in non-terror related cases.
MARCH 19, 2015IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: TWO MORE HANGED IN PUBLIC IN JIROFT
two men were hanged in public in the city of Jiroft, reported the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
MARCH 19, 2015PennsylvaniaDEATH PENALTYPENNSYLVANIA: 'STOP TRYING TO EXECUTE TERRY WILLIAMS,' SAYS WIDOW OF MAN HE MURDERED
Mamie Norwood, widow of a man death row inmate Terrence Williams was convicted of murdering, criticizes politicians who are using that case to challenge Gov. Tom Wolf's moratorium on the death penalty.
MARCH 18, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: NINE MORE CONVICTS HANGED IN PUNJAB JAILS
nine more murder convicts were hanged in six prisons of Pakistan, a day after 12 convicts were sent to gallows, the largest number of people executed on the same day since an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in December.
MARCH 18, 2015TanzaniaDEATH PENALTYTANZANIA: KARAGWE MAN TO HANG OVER FRIEND'S MURDER
A resident of Karagwe District in Kagera Region, Mulokozi Anatory, is to be hanged for killing his friend
- MARCH 17, 2015MissouriDEATH PENALTY
USA - Missouri. Missouri executes Cecil Clayton
USA - Missouri. Missouri executes Cecil Clayton
MARCH 17, 2015Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA: A PAKISTANI AND TWO SAUDIS BEHEADED
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Pakistani and two Saudis, bringing to 48 the number of death sentences carried out this year. That is more than half of the 87 people executed during all of 2014.
MARCH 17, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN: TWELVE MURDER CONVICTS EXECUTED IN VARIOUS JAILS
Pakistan hanged at least twelve convicted murderers at seven different jails across the country, the highest number in a single day after the government lifted a six-year-old moratorium on capital punishment.
- MARCH 17, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTY
USA - Most death penalty sentences are overturned.
USA - Most death penalty sentences are overturned.
MARCH 17, 2015DEATH PENALTYMISSOURI (USA): BRAIN-DAMAGED COP-KILLER EXECUTED
Cecil Clayton, 74, White, was executed by lethal injection beginning at 9:13 p.m. at a prison in Bonne Terre. He was pronounced dead at 9:21 p.m.
MARCH 17, 2015United StatesDEATH PENALTYUSA: MOST DEATH PENALTY SENTENCES ARE OVERTURNED
“If a person is given a death sentence, what is his or her chance of actually being executed? Based on a
MARCH 16, 2015IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ: IN TWO YEARS 236 CONVICTS HANGED
Despite the pressure by the international human right organizations, the Iraqi government continues to execute and hang convicts.
- MARCH 16, 2015Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA: MAN BEHEADED IN RIYADH FOR MURDER
A man convicted of murder was beheaded in the Saudi capital Riyadh amid a steep rise in the number of executions in the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom this year.
MARCH 15, 2015IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN: FIVE PRISONERS INCLUDING 3 AFGHANS HANGED IN ZAHEDAN AND SHIRAZ
At least five men, including three Afghani citizens, were hanged between March 14 and 15 in two Iranian prisons, said the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
MARCH 13, 2015ZimbabweDEATH PENALTYZIMBABWE: MINISTER EMMERSON MNANGAGWA, 'REMOVE DEATH PENALTY TOTALLY'
Zimbabwe’s acting President and Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, reiterated he wanted the death penalty “totally” abolished by the Constitution.
- MARCH 13, 2015PakistanDEATH PENALTY
PAKISTAN: TWO DEATH ROW PRISONERS HANGED IN FAISALABAD JAIL
Prison authorities in Faisalabad hanged two death row prisoners convicted of murder and rape, bringing to 27 the number of executions in Pakistan since it resumed capital punishment in December.