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
- DECEMBER 13, 2005CaliforniaDEATH PENALTY
CALIFORNIA. OUTCRY AFTER WILLIAMS' DEATH GLITCHES SLOW BUT DON'T STOP EXECUTION
at 12:01 a.m., having exhausted all appeals, Stanley Tookie Williams shuffled into San Quentin's death chamber, shackled at the wrists and waist and escorted by four guards.
DECEMBER 13, 2005DEATH PENALTYCALIFORNIA, USA. STANLEY WILLIAMS, GANGLEADER TURNED PEACE MAKER, EXECUTED
California prison officials executed Stanley Tookie Williams, 51, the ex-leader of the Crips convicted of killing four people in 1979, early in the morning a day after top courts and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected final appeals to spare his life.
- DECEMBER 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. YOUNG MAN HANGED IN TEHRAN
a young man was hanged in the Iranian capital Tehran, the state-run news agency ISNA reported.
- DECEMBER 10, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. BUSINESSMAN EXECUTED FOR MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR SCAMS
Meng Fanhui was executed in China's Liaoning province for a series of scams that included swindling local consumers out of 30 million yuan (3.7 million dollars). Meng was executed for fake business operations he instigated as director of Shenyang Longjie
DECEMBER 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. IRAN PUBLICLY HANGS AFGHAN FOR CRIME COMMITTED AS MINOR
Iran publicly hanged Rostam Tajik, an Afghan national, for a crime he was alleged to have committed as a minor.
- DECEMBER 7, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. YOUNG WOMAN HANGED IN PRISON
a young Iranian woman was hanged in prison in the north-eastern town of Shirevan.
- DECEMBER 7, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
two young men were publicly hanged near the central city of Arak
two young men were publicly hanged near the central city of Arak
- DECEMBER 7, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
an Iranian man accused of fatally shooting a member of Iran’s paramilitary State Security Forces...
an Iranian man accused of fatally shooting a member of Iran’s paramilitary State Security Forces...
DECEMBER 7, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. TWO MEN PUBLICLY BEHEADED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia executed two men who were convicted of stabbing their victims to death in separate incidents.
- DECEMBER 6, 2005MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
MALAYSIA. GOVERNMENT HAS NO PLANS TO REPLACE DEATH SENTENCE BY HANGING
it was reported that the government of Malaysia had no plans to replace the death penalty by hanging with other methods of executions such as using the electric chair or lethal injection even though studies on other options had been undertaken.
DECEMBER 6, 2005DEATH PENALTYIRAN TO HANG AFGHAN YOUTH FOR CRIME COMMITTED AS MINOR
a young Afghan man is set to be executed on December 10 for a crime he committed as a minor, a semi-official daily reported.
- DECEMBER 5, 2005SudanDEATH PENALTY
Abd Alaziz Omer was executed at Kassala Prison, Port Sudan.
Abd Alaziz Omer was executed at Kassala Prison, Port Sudan.
DECEMBER 5, 2005MarylandDEATH PENALTYMARYLAND, USA. WESLEY BAKER EXECUTED FOR KILLING TEACHER'S AIDE
convicted murderer Wesley Eugene Baker was executed in Maryland for fatally shooting a teacher's aide in front of two of her grandchildren. Baker, 47, died by lethal injection at 9:18 pm EST (0218 GMT) at the Maryland Diagnostic and Classification Center
- DECEMBER 2, 2005JapanDEATH PENALTY
EUROPEAN UNION. JAPAN TO ABOLISH DEATH PENALTY
the European Union renewed its call on Japan to abolish the death penalty.
- DECEMBER 2, 2005North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Kenneth Lee Boyd, 57, was put to death by lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh.
Kenneth Lee Boyd, 57, was put to death by lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh.
- DECEMBER 2, 2005South CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Shawn Humphries was put to death by lethal injection
Shawn Humphries was put to death by lethal injection night in the Broad River Correctional Institution Humphries was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.
DECEMBER 2, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE. SINGAPORE HANGS AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL NGUYEN, THOUSANDS MOURN
Singapore executed Australian national Nguyen Tuong Van just before dawn despite repeated pleas by Australia's government for clemency.
DECEMBER 2, 2005DEATH PENALTYNORTH CAROLINA. KENNETH LEE BOYD BECOMES 1,000TH PERSON EXECUTED IN U.S. SINCE 1977
a convicted murderer was put to death in the nation's 1,000th execution since capital punishment resumed in 1977. Kenneth Lee Boyd, 57, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m., said state Department of Correction spokeswoman Pam W
DECEMBER 2, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. CHINA TO 'TIDY UP' TRADE IN EXECUTED PRISONERS' ORGANS
China broke its silence to admit for the first time that the organs of executed prisoners were sold to foreigners for transplant.
NOVEMBER 30, 2005PakistanDEATH PENALTYPAKISTAN. SIX PEOPLE FROM SAME FAMILY HANGED FOR MURDER
six men from the same family were hanged in Pakistan for the 1989 killing of three men they believed had insulted some of their womenfolk.
NOVEMBER 30, 2005CaliforniaDEATH PENALTYCALIFORNIA, USA. COURT DECLINES TO STAY STANLEY WILLIAMS’ EXECUTION
the California Supreme Court refused to stop the execution due on December 13 of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the 51-year-old founder of the notorious Crips gang, who is set to die by lethal injection at California's San Quentin prison on December 13.
NOVEMBER 30, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDERING WIFE
Saudi national Hadi Bin-Umayr Bin-Muhammad al-Manjahi was executed in Al-Qahmah, in Saudi Arabia’s Asir region, after being found guilty of shooting dead his Saudi wife Zaynah Bint-Yahya Bin-Abdallah Bin-Mashari following an argument.
- NOVEMBER 29, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTY
VIRGINIA. GOVERNOR STOPS MILESTONE U.S. EXECUTION
Gov. Mark Warner spared the life of a convicted killer who would have been the 1,000th person executed in the United States since the Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976. The governor commuted Robin Lovitt's death sentence to life
- NOVEMBER 29, 2005VietnamDEATH PENALTY
the Hanoi firing squad executed 31-year-old Ngo Thanh Lam for embezzling...
the Hanoi firing squad executed 31-year-old Ngo Thanh Lam for embezzling more than US$4.6 million while he worked for a bank in 2003.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2005OhioDEATH PENALTY
John Hicks, 49, died by injection at 10:20 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
John Hicks, 49, died by injection at 10:20 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2005ArkansasDEATH PENALTY
Eric Nance was put to death by lethal injection
Eric Nance was put to death by lethal injection in the Cummins unit of the Arkansas State Penitentiary in Varner Monday night around 9:30.
- NOVEMBER 28, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. TWO MEN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia executed two men who were convicted of murder, bringing to six the number of people put to death in the conservative Muslim kingdom in the last week.
- NOVEMBER 27, 2005ThailandDEATH PENALTY
THAILAND. MANY IN FAVOUR OF DEATH PENALTY, SURVEY SHOWS
about 45 per cent of respondents to a Dhurakij Pundit University poll in Thailand said they supported capital punishment for drug traffickers and almost 8 per cent condoned the extrajudicial killing of drug dealers.
NOVEMBER 27, 2005YemenDEATH PENALTYYEMEN. MUSLIM CLERIC EXECUTED FOR MURDER
head of an extremist group in south Yemen who was convicted of murdering four tourists hardline Muslim cleric Ali Ahmed Jarallah was executed in Yemen by firing squad in the courtyard of the main Sanaa prison after being convicted of the murder of a top o
- NOVEMBER 25, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MAN BEHEADED FOR MURDERING COMPATRIOT
Saudi authorities executed Saudi national Ahmad Bin-Muhammad Bin-Abdallah al-Shamrani following his conviction for murdering compatriot Badr Bin-Muq'ad al-Shibani.