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
- NOVEMBER 14, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
In Raleigh, a man who strangled his elderly aunt in...
In Raleigh, a man who strangled his elderly aunt in 1990 was executed by injection
- NOVEMBER 12, 2003EgyptDEATH PENALTY
Ashraf Mahmud, a 46-year-old Egyptian, was sentenced...
Ashraf Mahmud, a 46-year-old Egyptian, was sentenced to hang for having murdered his three children, his wife and her lover, court sources said
- NOVEMBER 9, 2003ChadDEATH PENALTY
A man was shot dead by firing squad in the Chadian...
A man was shot dead by firing squad in the Chadian capital Ndjamena for the murder of a Guatemalan religious worker
- NOVEMBER 7, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Joseph Timothy Keel, 39, was executed by lethal injection...
Joseph Timothy Keel, 39, was executed by lethal injection at Central Prison in Raleigh
- NOVEMBER 6, 2003SudanDEATH PENALTY
A Sudanese man was publicly executed by firing squad...
A Sudanese man was publicly executed by firing squad in Chad's capital city of Ndjamena
- NOVEMBER 6, 2003ChadDEATH PENALTY
Chad ignored protests from human rights groups and...
Chad ignored protests from human rights groups and carried out the death penalty for the first time since 1991, executing eight people after vowing to crack down on unrest in the impoverished desert state
- NOVEMBER 4, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Truong Quoc Viet, 35, was put to death by firing squad...
Truong Quoc Viet, 35, was put to death by firing squad in Vietnam's central province of Lam Dong, a clerk at the Lam Dong People's Court said
- OCTOBER 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tran Van Khoa, a 50-year old Vietnamese man convicted...
Tran Van Khoa, a 50-year old Vietnamese man convicted of the murder of his grandfather, was executed in the central Binh Dinh province
- OCTOBER 29, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Pham Thanh Tuan, a 40 year old man who pretended to...
Pham Thanh Tuan, a 40 year old man who pretended to be a doctor of traditional medicine, was executed in southern Vietnam for fatally poisoning four people and robbing them
- OCTOBER 29, 2003MissouriDEATH PENALTY
John Clayton Smith, 42, was put to death by injection...
John Clayton Smith, 42, was put to death by injection at the Potosi Correctional Center in the July 5, 1997 fatal stabbings of his former girlfriend, Brandie Kearns, 22, and her stepfather, Wayne Hoewing, 51
- OCTOBER 28, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Hu Qineng, an official convicted in what was called...
Hu Qineng, an official convicted in what was called the biggest corruption case in southwest China's Chongqing municipality, was executed for embezzlement
- OCTOBER 28, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
George Kelly, hanged in the UK for murder was the victim...
George Kelly, hanged in the UK for murder was the victim of a miscarriage of justice which must be "deeply regretted", the Court of Appeal said
- OCTOBER 27, 2003ZambiaDEATH PENALTY
A Zambian High Court sentenced Felix Mulela, a Christian...
A Zambian High Court sentenced Felix Mulela, a Christian church pastor, and his wife, Sharon Mulela, to death by hanging after finding them guilty of killing their domestic worker, Sara Soko, in 2000
- OCTOBER 24, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ujimamadi Abbas, a Uighur Muslim leader who campaigned...
Ujimamadi Abbas, a Uighur Muslim leader who campaigned for the establishment of an East Turkestan state, was executed in Xinjiang, the South China Morning Post reported
- OCTOBER 23, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Four drug traffickers were executed in Vietnam's northern...
Four drug traffickers were executed in Vietnam's northern province of Thanh Hoa
- OCTOBER 23, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
The Iranian daily newspaper, Qods, reported that a...
The Iranian daily newspaper, Qods, reported that a member of a gang found guilty of rape was hanged in a prison in the Iranian city of Mashhad
- OCTOBER 23, 2003United KingdomDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian court sentenced Ian Millar, a 54 year old...
A Nigerian court sentenced Ian Millar, a 54 year old British businessman, to death by hanging for murdering his 43-year-old partner Anne Marie Gale, on April 12, 2002, in their home in Lagos
- OCTOBER 23, 2003NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
A Nigerian court sentenced Ian Millar, a 54 year old...
A Nigerian court sentenced Ian Millar, a 54 year old British businessman, to death by hanging for murdering his 43-year-old partner Anne Marie Gale, on April 12, 2002, in their home in Lagos
- OCTOBER 19, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
After 68 years and 319 lives taken by the firing squad,...
After 68 years and 319 lives taken by the firing squad, a ceremony was held to mark the end of this execution style and the beginning of death row convicts getting lethal injections
- OCTOBER 17, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Three men were executed in Vietnam for murder as part...
Three men were executed in Vietnam for murder as part of the government's ongoing crackdown against violent crime
- OCTOBER 16, 2003IranDEATH PENALTY
A court in the southern Iranian city of Kerman condemned...
A court in the southern Iranian city of Kerman condemned a gang of six men to hang publicly for committing a series of murders in a bid to clean up on social vices, the Etemad newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 10, 2003VietnamDEATH PENALTY
Tong Thanh Thao, 28, and Pham Nhat Tri, 32, were executed...
Tong Thanh Thao, 28, and Pham Nhat Tri, 32, were executed by firing squad in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, on the Thu Duc killing fields, for beating to death another prisoner in October 1995
- OCTOBER 10, 2003ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Amnesty International urged Thailand to abolish the...
Amnesty International urged Thailand to abolish the death penalty and said its October 19, 2003 switch to execution by lethal injection instead of firing squad did not change the "inhumanity" of the penalty
- OCTOBER 6, 2003AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Inflicting the death penalty was the ultimate acknowledgement...
Inflicting the death penalty was the ultimate acknowledgement of the failure of civilisation, Australian High Court Justice Michael Kirby said
- OCTOBER 3, 2003North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Edward Hartman, 38, was executed by injection at Central...
Edward Hartman, 38, was executed by injection at Central Prison in Raleigh
- OCTOBER 3, 2003IndiaDEATH PENALTY
Singapore prison officials hanged Arunprakash Vaithilingam,...
Singapore prison officials hanged Arunprakash Vaithilingam, 25, an Indian immigrant worker, for the murder of a flat mate on 22 December 2001
- OCTOBER 3, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Singapore prison officials hanged Arunprakash Vaithilingam,...
Singapore prison officials hanged Arunprakash Vaithilingam, 25, an Indian immigrant worker, for the murder of a flat mate on 22 December 2001
- SEPTEMBER 30, 2003ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed at least 18 people in the run-up to...
China executed at least 18 people in the run-up to National Day, including five members of the same family and the notorious leader of a massive prostitution ring, state media reported
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Singapore executed two convicted Malaysian heroin traffickers...
Singapore executed two convicted Malaysian heroin traffickers despite protests by human rights group Amnesty International
- SEPTEMBER 26, 2003MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
Singapore executed two convicted Malaysian heroin traffickers...
Singapore executed two convicted Malaysian heroin traffickers despite protests by human rights group Amnesty International