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
NOVEMBER 23, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. SUPREME COURT SENTENCES WOMAN TO HANGING
Iran’s State Supreme Court upheld a death sentence against a woman, state dailies reported.
- NOVEMBER 22, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. 2 EXECUTED FOR BEIJING MURDERS
two men were executed in Beijing for killing two women and seriously injuring a man at their homes during robberies.
NOVEMBER 22, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDERING COMPATRIOT
Ahmad bin Ojab bin Faisal Al-Muhaidli Al-Otaibi was executed in Riyadh after he was convicted of shooting dead a compatriot following an argument, the interior ministry announced.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2005YemenDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. YEMENI PUBLICLY BEHEADED FOR MURDER
Mohammed bin Ali al-Kahali, a Yemeni, was beheaded in the southern city of Najran in Saudi Arabia after he was convicted of murdering compatriot Saleh bin Ahmed al-Kahali with a cleaver.
- NOVEMBER 21, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
SINGAPORE. NO PLANS TO CHANGE DEATH PENALTY BY HANGING
Singapore said it would continue to execute convicted criminals by hanging amid growing international criticism over its use of the death penalty to deter crime like murder and drug trafficking.
NOVEMBER 21, 2005PhilippinesDEATH PENALTYTHE PHILIPPINES. PHILIPPINE LEADER SAYS SPANISH INMATE WILL NOT BE EXECUTED
Spanish Defence Minister José Bono said he had received assurances from Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that a Spanish national sentenced to death by a court in Manila in 2004 would not be executed while she remained in power.
NOVEMBER 20, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTYTEXAS, USA. INVESTIGATION SUGGESTS WRONG MAN EXECUTED , HOUSTON CHRONICLE
a decade after Ruben Cantu was executed for capital murder, the only witness to the crime is recanting and his co-defendant says Cantu, then 17, wasn't even with him that night.
- NOVEMBER 18, 2005North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Elias Syriani, 67, was executed by injection at Central Prison.
Elias Syriani, 67, was executed by injection at Central Prison.
NOVEMBER 18, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE MEN CONVICTED OF RAPE HANGED
three Iranian men convicted of raping and kidnapping a male in his late teens were hanged in the western Iranian city of Kermanshah.
NOVEMBER 17, 2005SingaporeDEATH PENALTYSINGAPORE. EXECUTION DATE SET FOR AUSTRALIAN MAN CONVICTED OF DRUG SMUGGLING
Singapore will hang 25-year-old Australian drug smuggler Nguyen Tuong Van on December 2, despite numerous pleas by Canberra for clemency, his Australian lawyer Lex Lasry said.
- NOVEMBER 16, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTY
in Huntsville, Shannon Charles Thomas, 34, black, was executed
in Huntsville, Shannon Charles Thomas, 34, black, was executed
- NOVEMBER 15, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTY
Robert Dale Rowell was executed. Rowell, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. .
Robert Dale Rowell was executed. Rowell, 50, was pronounced dead at 6:24 p.m. .
- NOVEMBER 14, 2005BangladeshDEATH PENALTY
BANGLADESH. MAN EXECUTED IN COMILLA JAIL FOR KILLING WIFE
Nasiruddin, a 35-year old farmer, was executed in Comilla Central Jail, Bangladesh, at 12:30 am for the murder of his wife Marjina in March 1996.
NOVEMBER 14, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED FOR RUNNING PORN RING
a man was publicly hanged in the town of Qazvin, west of the Iranian capital Tehran.
NOVEMBER 13, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO YOUNG HOMOSEXUALS HANGED
two young men were hanged in a public square in the northern city of Gorgan after being found guilty of lavat, or homosexual relationship, the daily Kayhan reported.
NOVEMBER 13, 2005United StatesDEATH PENALTYUNITED STATES. US REPORTS DECLINE IN EXECUTIONS
the number of people sentenced to death in the United States and the number executed fell again in 2004, according to the latest government figures.
NOVEMBER 11, 2005North CarolinaDEATH PENALTYNORTH CAROLINA, USA. MCHONE EXECUTED FOR MURDER OF HIS PARENTS
Steven Van McHone was executed by lethal injection in the early morning for the 1990 shooting deaths of his mother and stepfather.
- NOVEMBER 10, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. EXECUTION SPARKS RAMPAGE OF REVENGE
the execution of a convicted killer in western Iran sparked a revenge shooting spree by his family against relatives of the murder victim.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia executed Saudi national Saeed al-Qahtani in the southern town of Khamis Mushayt.
NOVEMBER 10, 2005NigeriaDEATH PENALTYNIGERIA. ISLAMIC COURT SENTENCES TWO TO HANG FOR MURDER, SEXUAL ABUSE
a Nigerian Islamic Sharia court sentenced two men to death by hanging for killing and sexually abusing a three-year old girl.
NOVEMBER 9, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTYTEXAS, USA. CHARLES THACKER EXECUTED FOR 1993 MURDER OF TEACHER
Charles Daniel Thacker, a man convicted of strangling a schoolteacher during a sexual assault in 1993, was executed by lethal injection.
- NOVEMBER 8, 2005JordanDEATH PENALTY
JORDAN. MAN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
according to “Jordan Times”, Zuhair Khatib, a man convicted of murdering two people, was executed at dawn at Swaqa correctional and rehabilitation center. Khatib, 27, reportedly asked the execution committee minutes before being hanged to inform his sibli
NOVEMBER 8, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. YOUNG MAN PUBLICLY HANGED IN NORTH OF COUNTRY
a young man was publicly hanged in the northern Iranian town of Sari, a semi-official daily reported.
- NOVEMBER 7, 2005SlovakiaDEATH PENALTY
Slovakia abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 1990.
Slovakia abolished the death penalty for all crimes in 1990.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2005DelawareDEATH PENALTY
DELAWARE, USA. BRIAN STECKEL PUT TO DEATH
the state of Delaware executed Brian Steckel for the 1994 murder and rape of a friend's neighbor.
- NOVEMBER 4, 2005NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
NIGERIA. EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLINGS PERSIST IN NIGER DELTA - AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
ten years after the hanging of Ogoni- born environmentalist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa by the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, injustices are still being carried out towards a lot of people in the Niger Delta, indicating high levels of neglect and i
NOVEMBER 4, 2005South CarolinaDEATH PENALTYSOUTH CAROLINA, USA. HASTINGS WISE PUT TO DEATH
Hastings Wise was put to death by lethal injection for killing four workers at an Aiken County plant in September 1997 out of revenge for being fired.
NOVEMBER 3, 2005TexasDEATH PENALTYTEXAS. CONFESSED KILLER OF 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL EXECUTED
Melvin Wayne White was executed for the slaying of a 9-year-old girl who was abducted and raped in 1997 after attending a neighborhood barbecue.
- NOVEMBER 2, 2005GhanaDEATH PENALTY
Ghana still retains the death penalty for armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder.
Ghana still retains the death penalty for armed robbery, treason and first-degree murder.
- OCTOBER 31, 2005AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
AUSTRALIA. VIETNAMESE LEADER PLEADS TO STOP HANGING OF NGUYEN TUONG VAN
the state of Victoria’s most senior Vietnamese leader called on Australian Prime Minister John Howard to state unequivocally that Melbourne's Nguyen Tuong Van should not hang in Singapore.