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
- JANUARY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Two drug traffickers were executed by hanging in the...
Two drug traffickers were executed by hanging in the north-eastern Iranian town of Ghonabad, the hardline Kayhan newspaper reported
- JANUARY 4, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Abbas Dalili was hanged in the prison courtyard in the city of Sari, in Iran
Abbas Dalili was hanged in the prison courtyard in the city of Sari, in Iran
- JANUARY 1, 2004IranDEATH PENALTY
Ali Abdollahi was hanged outside the Iranian State...
Ali Abdollahi was hanged outside the Iranian State Security Forces headquarters in the northern city of Tonekabon in front of 2,000 local residents
- DECEMBER 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
An ex-deputy police chief in southern Vietnam who shot...
An ex-deputy police chief in southern Vietnam who shot a Communist Party cadre with a machine gun during a meeting to punish him for being disorganised had been executed, officials said
- DECEMBER 29, 2003ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
Spare [1997 military coup leader] Captain Solo and...
Spare [1997 military coup leader] Captain Solo and all those on the death row, [opposition] Patriotic Front president Michael Sata urged [Zambian] President [Levy] Mwanawasa
- DECEMBER 29, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
The Afghan ambassador to Australia strongly denied...
The Afghan ambassador to Australia strongly denied suggestions that asylum seekers sent home had been killed, and threatened legal action against those making such claims
- DECEMBER 29, 2003AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Afghan ambassador to Australia strongly denied...
The Afghan ambassador to Australia strongly denied suggestions that asylum seekers sent home had been killed, and threatened legal action against those making such claims
- DECEMBER 26, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Chief Mike Ozekhome, a lawyer and human rights activist...
Chief Mike Ozekhome, a lawyer and human rights activist prominent in the pro-democracy struggle until the military left the political centre stage in 1999, joined the national debate on the retention of the death penalty in Nigeria
- DECEMBER 22, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Mafia kingpin Liu Yong was sentenced to death and executed...
Mafia kingpin Liu Yong was sentenced to death and executed despite doubts over his confession, in a ruling that marked the first time the Supreme Court has circumvented China's two-trial criminal law system
- DECEMBER 15, 2003IraqDEATH PENALTY
The mood for revenge was growing as ordinary Iraqis...
The mood for revenge was growing as ordinary Iraqis demanded that Saddam Hussein be executed in public for crimes against his people
- DECEMBER 13, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Two Vietnamese men were executed at dawn by firing...
Two Vietnamese men were executed at dawn by firing squad at an execution site in Thot Not town in southern Can Tho province
- DECEMBER 13, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three farmers, a worker and an unknown number of other...
Three farmers, a worker and an unknown number of other people were executed in China's capital, the Beijing Legal Times reported
- DECEMBER 12, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand carried out its first executions by lethal...
Thailand carried out its first executions by lethal injection after abolishing the firing squad, putting to death three drug traffickers and a murderer at the notorious Bang Kwang jail, officials said
- DECEMBER 10, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Iranian prisoners convicted of murder were hanged...
Three Iranian prisoners convicted of murder were hanged in a jail in Tehran, one of whom killed and dissected his brother and niece, the Entekhab daily reported
- DECEMBER 10, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Ignoring appeals from human rights groups, Vietnam...
Ignoring appeals from human rights groups, Vietnam sentenced at least 100 people to death up to December 8 and the country's get-tough-on-crime policy showed no signs of letting up
- DECEMBER 9, 2003IraqDEATH PENALTY
Saddam Hussein's government may have executed 61,000...
Saddam Hussein's government may have executed 61,000 Baghdad residents, a number significantly higher than previously believed, according to a survey obtained by Associated Press
- DECEMBER 8, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
Britain's Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of...
Britain's Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in Britain when she was sent to the gallows in 1955 for murdering her estranged lover
- DECEMBER 5, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Robbie James Lyons, 31, was pronounced dead at 2:17 a
Robbie James Lyons, 31, was pronounced dead at 2:17 a
- DECEMBER 4, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
Ivan Murphy, 38, was executed tonight for the 1989...
Ivan Murphy, 38, was executed tonight for the 1989 slaying of Lula Mae Denning, an 80-year-old woman he'd known since childhood
- DECEMBER 3, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
Richard Charles "Chuck" Duncan was executed tonight...
Richard Charles "Chuck" Duncan was executed tonight for the Oct
- NOVEMBER 29, 2003TaiwanDEATH PENALTY
The number of executions carried out in Taiwan had...
The number of executions carried out in Taiwan had decreased in recent years, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ)
- NOVEMBER 28, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt criminal...
Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt criminal executions after an Australian man appeared in court on charges of trafficking in heroin - a crime that carries a mandatory death sentence
- NOVEMBER 27, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen Tat Tung, a 31 year old farmer, was executed...
Nguyen Tat Tung, a 31 year old farmer, was executed in northern Vietnam for stabbing to death his father and younger brother following a dispute over family inheritance, state media said
- NOVEMBER 27, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese man who beheaded a crying baby during a botched...
A Chinese man who beheaded a crying baby during a botched 10 yuan (1
- NOVEMBER 23, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man was hanged publicly in a square in the...
An Iranian man was hanged publicly in a square in the north-western city of Tabriz after being convicted of raping 23 girls ranging in age from six to 11, the Kayhan newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 21, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Three men were executed in Guangdong for robbery and...
Three men were executed in Guangdong for robbery and murder immediately after being sentenced at mass sentencing rallies held on November 21 at seven different locations in the provincial capital, Guangzhou, the Xinxi Shibao newspaper said
- NOVEMBER 21, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A drug addict from Beijing and three people from southern...
A drug addict from Beijing and three people from southern China's Guangdong province were executed for drug-related crimes, state media reported
- NOVEMBER 21, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Changjiang, a hired assassin, was executed after...
Li Changjiang, a hired assassin, was executed after being convicted of the murder of the woman who hired him
- NOVEMBER 20, 2003TexasDEATH PENALTY
In Huntsville, Robert Henry, 41, was executed
In Huntsville, Robert Henry, 41, was executed
- NOVEMBER 17, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Nguyen The Thang, 27, was executed in Vietnam's northern...
Nguyen The Thang, 27, was executed in Vietnam's northern province of Ha Tay for killing a taxi driver in May 2002