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 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
- 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, 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