Executions
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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
OCTOBER 10, 2006EgyptDEATH PENALTYEGYPT. RIGHTS GROUP CALLS FOR END TO DEATH PENALTY
an Egyptian human rights organization has called for the abolition of capital punishment, on the fourth annual World Day against the death penalty.
OCTOBER 1, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MINOR SENTENCED TO HANG
a 17 year old boy was sentenced to death in Iran for murder, the Etemad daily reported.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA EXECUTES FORMER LAWMAKER ON CORRUPTION, RAPE CHARGES
Sang Yuechun, president of Jigang Industrial and Trade Group Corp. and a former deputy to China's legislature, was executed in the northeastern province of Jilin on charges of rape, weapons possession and misappropriating 120 million yuan (US$15 million;
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO BROTHERS HANGED IN PUBLIC
two Iranian brothers convicted of murder have been hanged publicly in the western province of Lorestan, the official news agency IRNA said.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYUSA. CONGRESS HOLDS FIRST HEARING ON ORGAN HARVESTING
as many as 41,500 healthy people who practice Falun Gong became involuntary victims of organ transplants and murdered between 2002 and 2005, according to a report that was presented before the U.S. Congress.
SEPTEMBER 27, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. ORGAN SALES 'THRIVING', BBC NEWS REPORT
the sale of organs taken from executed prisoners appears to be thriving in China, an undercover investigation by the BBC found.
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2006CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
CALIFORNIA, USA. GUARDS BUNGLED WILLIAMS EXECUTION: OFFICIAL
a Californian official admitted that state prison guards had bungled the recent controversial execution of former gang leader Stanley Williams, but denied that lethal injection constituted cruel and unusual punishment.
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2006IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
INDONESIA. BALI BOMBERS TO KEEP THEIR HEADS
Indonesia will not meet a request by three Islamic militants sentenced to death over the 2002 Bali bombings to be executed by decapitation rather than firing squad. Lawyers of Amrozi, Ali Ghufron alias Mukhlas and Imam Samudra had said the previous week t
SEPTEMBER 24, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE DRUG TRAFFICKERS HANGED IN PRISON
three Iranian men convicted of drug trafficking were hanged in a prison in the southeastern city of Zahedan. The men were identified as Ali Karimi, Gholam Koohkan and Khodamorad Lashkarzadeh.
SEPTEMBER 23, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. FOUR PRISONERS HANGED IN PRISON
four prisoners were hanged by Iran’s judicial officials inside Zahedan Prison. State-run daily Khorassan identified those executed as Shah Mohammad, Nader Rigi, Abdolali Balouch and Mohammad Shakib.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2006SomaliaDEATH PENALTYSOMALIA. THOUSANDS WATCH PUBLIC EXECUTION IN MOGADISHU
over 6,000 people watched the public execution of a convicted murderer in the Somali capital Mogadishu, the first execution since the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) seized power from an alliance of warlords on June 5.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2006IndonesiaDEATH PENALTYINDONESIA. CHRISTIANS EXECUTED FOR RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE, VIOLENT PROTESTS ENSUE
the execution of three Christians in Indonesia brought thousands of protesters to the streets in the hometown of one of the dead, where they freed prisoners and burned an official's house, a witness said.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006IraqDEATH PENALTYIRAQ. 11 PEOPLE EXECUTED FOR TERRORISM
Iraq's northern Kurdistan administration executed 11 people, officially described as terrorists, sentenced to death for taking part in beheadings and bombings.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2006DEATH PENALTYINDONESIA. EXECUTION OF TIBO AND FRIENDS POSTPONED
three Indonesian Catholics imprisoned in Palu, province of central Sulawesi, will not be executed at least until tomorrow. “The execution will take place on Friday in the early hours,” (Palu time), said Fr Jimmy Tumbeleka, the spiritual director of the th
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2006ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR KILLING SEVEN WITH POISON GAS IN ROBBERY
two men were executed for killing seven people, including two accomplices, with poison gas in a robbery in east China's Jiangxi Province.
- SEPTEMBER 20, 2006IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. TWO MEN EXECUTED IN EVIN PRISON FOR MURDER
a man identified only as Akbar, was executed in Iran for killing his wife in 2000 because he suspected he was not the father of their nine-month-old baby girl. Akbar set their house ablaze after strangling and stabbing his wife but firefighters succeeding
SEPTEMBER 20, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN. FOUR MEMBERS OF A FAMILY HANGED IN BHAWALPUR JAIL
Pakistani authorities hanged four men from the same family who had been convicted of murdering local rivals over a small chunk of land, jail superintendent Tariq Babur Khan said.
SEPTEMBER 20, 2006FloridaDEATH PENALTYFLORIDA, USA. INMATE WHO HAD WON STAY IS EXECUTED
Clarence Hill, a convicted killer who argued that Florida's use of lethal injection amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, was put to death after the US Supreme Court narrowly denied him another stay. Hill, 48, was executed for the 1982 murder of a Pen
- SEPTEMBER 19, 2006AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. AFGHANI BEHEADED FOR DRUG SMUGGLING
SEPTEMBER 19, 2006BangladeshDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. BANGLADESHI BEHEADED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia beheaded a Bangladeshi man convicted of murdering an Egyptian, the Interior Ministry said.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2006PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN. TRIBESMAN EXECUTED BY PRO-TALIBAN MILITANTS
pro-Taliban militants executed a tribesman in a restive Pakistani tribal area bordering Afghanistan after convicting him of double murder, officials and witnesses said.
- SEPTEMBER 12, 2006MissouriDEATH PENALTY
MISSOURI, US. JUDGE ORDERS SECOND REVISION OF DEATH PENALTY PROTOCOLS
a federal judge ordered the state of Missouri to submit new protocols for carrying out the state death penalty by lethal injection and has refused to authorize executions until revisions are approved.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2006TexasDEATH PENALTYTEXAS. MAN EXECUTED FOR 1991 ROBBERY, MURDER SPREE
Texas executed Farley Charles Matchett for the 1991 murder of a 52-year-old Houston paint contractor who refused to hand over money in order to feed his drug addiction.
- SEPTEMBER 11, 2006MissouriDEATH PENALTY
in Kansas City, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan...
in Kansas City, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan...
SEPTEMBER 11, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. TWO SAUDIS, THREE YEMENIS BEHEADED FOR MURDER
two Saudis and three Yemenis were beheaded by the sword in Saudi Arabia on after they were convicted of murder, the interior ministry said.
SEPTEMBER 10, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. SAUDIS BEHEAD YEMEN MAN FOR RAPE
a Yemeni convicted of raping a woman expatriate in Saudi Arabia was beheaded by the sword in the capital Riyadh.
- SEPTEMBER 8, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MAN EXECUTED FOR KILLING FATHER
Saudi Arabia executed a man convicted of killing his father.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2006IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO PRISONERS HANGED IN TEHRAN
two Iranian men convicted of murder were hanged in a Tehran prison.
- SEPTEMBER 6, 2006Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. YEMENI BEHEADED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
a Yemen national was beheaded with a sword in southern Saudi Arabia after being convicted of drug smuggling.
SEPTEMBER 6, 2006VietnamDEATH PENALTYVIETNAM. THREE MEN EXECUTED FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING
three drug traffickers were executed by firing squad in Ho Chi Minh City for smuggling over 800kg of heroin, the biggest-ever drug haul in Vietnam.