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
JULY 26, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN HANGED IN SOUTHERN PORT CITY FOR MURDER
an Iranian man was hanged at dawn in a prison in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, the Iranian state-run daily Aftab Yazd said.
JULY 25, 2005IndiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. INDIAN BEHEADED FOR KILLING COMPATRIOT
Soper Amani Rafi, an Indian national, was beheaded by the sword in the Saudi capital Riyadh after being convicted of killing a compatriot, the country’s interior ministry announced.
JULY 25, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. MAN ACCUSED OF FUKUOKA FAMILY MURDERS EXECUTED FOLLOWING FAILED APPEAL
Yang Ning, a Chinese man sentenced to death over the killing of a family of four in the Japanese city of Fukuoka in 2003 had been executed for the crime, Japanese diplomats said.
JULY 25, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTYEUROPEAN UNION. PANNELLA CALLS FOR END TO ALL DEALINGS WITH IRAN
MEP and Hands Off Cain President Marco Panella deposited a parliamentary question to the European Commission regarding the European bloc’s relations with Iran.
- JULY 23, 2005IraqDEATH PENALTY
SADDAM TO BE EXECUTED SOON, PAPER
the government-financed al-Sabah daily said that toppled President Saddam Hussein was expected to be sentenced and executed within weeks.
JULY 23, 2005SwedenDEATH PENALTYIRAN. NOBEL LAUREATE SLAMS TEEN HANGINGS
Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi condemned the hanging of two teenagers accused of raping younger boys in north-eastern Iran, a punishment that also prompted protests by the international community and rights groups.
- JULY 21, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Song Zhang’ai, 48, was executed in Beijing, China...
Song Zhang’ai, 48, was executed in Beijing, China...
- JULY 19, 2005OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
OKLAHOMA, USA. PENNINGTON EXECUTED FOR 1991 MURDER
Michael Pennington, convicted of killing a store clerk during a 1991 robbery and blamed it on steroid use, was executed by lethal injection.
JULY 19, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTYCHINA. SIX MEN CONVICTED OF HOMICIDE PUT TO DEATH
six men were executed in the Chinese capital Beijing for murder and other crimes including robbery and rape, state media reported.
JULY 19, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. TWO MEN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR RAPING TEENAGER
Mahmoud Asgari, 16, and Ayaz Marhoni, 18, two men convicted for raping a teenage boy were hanged in public in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad
JULY 18, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. MAN BEHEADED FOR MURDERING TEENAGER IN 54TH EXECUTION OF THE YEAR
Ali bin Ahmad bin Hashidi Shuhaythi, a Saudi man, was beheaded by the sword in the holy city of Mecca, for strangling to death a teenager, the Saudi interior ministry announced.
JULY 18, 2005EgyptDEATH PENALTYLIBYA. 4 EGYPTIANS EXECUTED
the Arab Centre for the Independence of the Judiciary and Legal Council, an Egyptian human rights group, said that Libyan authorities had recently executed four Egyptians on criminal charges.
- JULY 16, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
IRAN. MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER HANGED PUBLICLY
Eyvazali Hosseinzadeh, an Iranian man convicted of murder, was hanged in public in northwestern Ardebil province for killing a man in 1999.
JULY 16, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. PAKISTANI BEHEADED FOR MURDERING COMPATRIOT
Mohammad Zadeh Sawali, a Pakistani national, was beheaded by the sword in the northern Saudi town of Arar after being convicted of killing a compatriot residing in the kingdom, the Saudi interior ministry announced.
- JULY 14, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
52ND EXECUTION OF THE YEAR
Mohammad bin Ghanem al-Fifi, a Saudi man, was beheaded by the sword in the southwestern region of Asir after he was convicted of fatally shooting a compatriot.
- JULY 14, 2005LibyaDEATH PENALTY
LIBYA. TWO TURKISH NATIONALS EXECUTED FOR MURDER, TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY
two Turkish citizens were executed in Libya, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. ''Selim Aslan and Yunus Ozkan, who were sentenced to death in Libya as they were accused of committing murder in 1995, were executed today. We express condolences to their fam
JULY 13, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR MURDER OF POLICEMAN
Ali Safarpour, a 20 year old Iranian man convicted of killing police officer Hamid Enshadi, was hanged in public in Poldokhtar in the western province of Lorestan.
JULY 10, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTYSAUDI ARABIA. WOMAN EXECUTED FOR MURDER
Saudi Arabia executed Noura al-Faydi, a Saudi woman convicted of stabbing to death another woman and setting her body on fire.
- JULY 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTY
a man, Gafarzadeh Mohsen, was executed in Salmas, Iran
a man, Gafarzadeh Mohsen, was executed in Salmas, Iran
JULY 6, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. THREE MEN PUBLICLY HANGED FOR 'ARMED ROBBERY'
three men who had been condemned to death for armed robbery were hanged in the Qasemabad district of Mashhad, Iran.
JULY 5, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. COUPLE HANGED FOR MURDER
an Iranian couple, Roya, 28, and Mohammad, 30, accused of murder were hanged at dawn in the main prison in Isfahan (central Iran), according to a state-run daily.
JULY 5, 2005IranDEATH PENALTYIRAN. MAN CONVICTED OF RAPE HANGED IN PUBLIC
an Iranian man convicted of rape was hanged in public in Salmas, northwestern Azarbaijan province, the Shargh daily reported.
- JULY 3, 2005PakistanDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. TWO PAKISTANIS BEHEADED FOR KILLING AUNT
two Pakistani brothers convicted of murdering their aunt were beheaded by the sword in the western Saudi town of Yanbu, the interior ministry announced.
- JUNE 29, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. SINGER YU'S BROTHER HAS NOT BEEN EXECUTED FOR DRUG OFFENSE: BEIJING
news reports that Taiwanese singer Yu Tien's adopted younger brother had been executed in China on charges of narcotics trafficking were incorrect, a spokesman for the Chinese government said.
- JUNE 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. WOMAN EXECUTED FOR ORGANISING DRUG RING
China executed Wu Xiaohui, 24, a key woman drug trafficker who had left a gruesome tale of smuggling and murders, the 'China Daily' reported.
- JUNE 24, 2005ItalyDEATH PENALTY
HANDS OFF CAIN’S 2005 REPORT: MORE ABOLITIONIST STATES AND FEWER EXECUTIONS WORLDWIDE
The Death Penalty Worldwide 2005 Report illustrates a continued positive evolution towards abolition globally. HOC’s annual report, edited by Elisabetta Zamparutti, shows 8 countries dropped the death penalty in 2004, bringing up to 138 the total of count
- JUNE 24, 2005ChinaDEATH PENALTY
CHINA. EXECUTIONS IN RUN UP TO INTERNATIONAL ANTI-DRUG DAY
at least 14 convicted drug traffickers were executed in China, two days before the United Nations-sponsored International Anti-Drugs Day, state press reported.
- JUNE 24, 2005Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
SAUDI ARABIA. MAN EXECUTED FOR RAPING WOMAN AT KNIFEPOINT
Saudi authorities executed a man for raping a woman at knifepoint in front of her family, the Interior Ministry announced.
- JUNE 23, 2005JordanDEATH PENALTY
JORDAN. MAN MAY HAVE BEEN WRONGLY EXECUTED
the Jordan Times said the Arab Human Rights Organization (AHRO) in Jordan was waiting for a government response on claims a man was executed for murders he did not commit.
JUNE 22, 2005PhilippinesDEATH PENALTYTHE PHILIPPINES. COURT SENTENCES SEVEN MILITANTS TO DEATH
a Philippine court sentenced to death seven suspected members of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militant group for the kidnapping and murder of farmers on the southern island of Basilan in 2001.