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 10, 2002North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
Desmond Carter, 35, was executed at 2:17 a
Desmond Carter, 35, was executed at 2:17 a
- DECEMBER 10, 2002OklahomaDEATH PENALTY
In McAlester, an Army veteran who killed 4 people during...
In McAlester, an Army veteran who killed 4 people during a 1990 robbery was executed
- DECEMBER 9, 2002FloridaDEATH PENALTY
Linroy Bottoson, an inmate who believed he was locked...
Linroy Bottoson, an inmate who believed he was locked in a battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, was executed for the kidnapping, robbery and slaying of the Eatonville postmistress 23 years ago
- DECEMBER 6, 2002North CarolinaDEATH PENALTY
In Raleigh, Ernest Basden was executed by injection
In Raleigh, Ernest Basden was executed by injection
- DECEMBER 4, 2002JordanDEATH PENALTY
Yasir Abu-Shinnar, who was convicted of the 1994 killing...
Yasir Abu-Shinnar, who was convicted of the 1994 killing of a Jordanian diplomat in Beirut by the State Security Court, was executed at Swaqa prison at dawn, official sources said
- DECEMBER 4, 2002TexasDEATH PENALTY
In Huntsville, Leonard Rojas, 52, who confessed to...
In Huntsville, Leonard Rojas, 52, who confessed to killing his common-law wife and brother, whom he suspected of having an affair, was executed
- DECEMBER 2, 2002JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
Jamaica plans to bring back hanging to try to stem...
Jamaica plans to bring back hanging to try to stem a rise in violent crime, the Caribbean nation's No
- DECEMBER 2, 2002JapanDEATH PENALTY
Kyodo News published an interview with Masaharu Harada,...
Kyodo News published an interview with Masaharu Harada, the brother of a murder victim, whose killer Toshihiko Hasegawa had been sentenced to death and executed on December 27, 2001
- NOVEMBER 25, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Red Cross said that 200 people died during clashes...
The Red Cross said that 200 people died during clashes in Kaduna
- NOVEMBER 25, 2002ItalyDEATH PENALTY
The relocation of the Miss World Contest away from...
The relocation of the Miss World Contest away from the Nigerian capital Abuja dealt a resounding setback to the process of democracy in Nigeria, Hands Off Cain said
- NOVEMBER 24, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Guangdong police executed six people convicted of forging...
Guangdong police executed six people convicted of forging bank drafts
- NOVEMBER 20, 2002TexasDEATH PENALTY
In the death chamber at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit,...
In the death chamber at the Huntsville "Walls" Unit, professing his innocence, 66-year-old William Wesley Chappell became the oldest man executed by Texas since the state in 1924 took over capital punishment duties from counties
- NOVEMBER 20, 2002MissouriDEATH PENALTY
William R
William R
- NOVEMBER 20, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Ruan Junxian, a man convicted of murder, kidnapping,...
Ruan Junxian, a man convicted of murder, kidnapping, extortion and assault become the third member of a gang in Guangdong province to be executed for their crimes, according to state press
- NOVEMBER 20, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Thailand's Parliament unanimously passed a bill to...
Thailand's Parliament unanimously passed a bill to change the method of execution from shooting to lethal injection
- NOVEMBER 19, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Thousands of people gathered in south-western Pakistan...
Thousands of people gathered in south-western Pakistan for the funeral of a Pakistani executed in the United States for killing two CIA employees, and hailed Mir Amil Kansi as an Islamic hero
- NOVEMBER 16, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man convicted of murder and robbery was...
An Iranian man convicted of murder and robbery was hanged in a prison near the capital Tehran, the Seday-e-Edalat newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 15, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Softly chanting "There is no God but Allah" until he...
Softly chanting "There is no God but Allah" until he lost consciousness, a Pakistani man was put to death by injection on November 14 for the slayings of two CIA employees in 1993
- NOVEMBER 15, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hundreds of hardline demonstrators in Tehran called...
Hundreds of hardline demonstrators in Tehran called for the execution of Hashem Aghajari, a popular academic and ally of President Mohammad Khatami sentenced to death for blasphemy
- NOVEMBER 13, 2002SpainDEATH PENALTY
With an article published by El Mundo, Emma Bonino,...
With an article published by El Mundo, Emma Bonino, former EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid, reacted strongly to the resolution approved by a commission of Spanish Parliamentarians and Senators calling for a boycott of the Miss World contest by the co
- NOVEMBER 12, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man found guilty of kidnapping and rape...
An Iranian man found guilty of kidnapping and rape was publicly hanged in the central holy city of Qom, the Abrar newspaper reported
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
Nigerian officials celebrated as a planeload of beauty...
Nigerian officials celebrated as a planeload of beauty queens arrived for the Miss World pageant which had been threatened by a mass boycott over the country's Islamic stoning sentences
- NOVEMBER 11, 2002UgandaDEATH PENALTY
Human-rights groups in Uganda stepped up their campaign...
Human-rights groups in Uganda stepped up their campaign against the death penalty, with several of them submitting strong memoranda to the Constitution Review Commission urging for its removal from the statute books
- NOVEMBER 7, 2002United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In blocking the execution of a Texas killer, the Supreme...
In blocking the execution of a Texas killer, the Supreme Court revealed interest in a new area of capital punishment: the mentally ill
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002TexasDEATH PENALTY
In Huntsville, a mentally ill convicted killer won...
In Huntsville, a mentally ill convicted killer won a reprieve from the U
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
An Iranian man was hanged in the northwestern city...
An Iranian man was hanged in the northwestern city of Tabriz after being convicted of drug-trafficking, IRNA reported
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Hands Off Cain appealed to the media, political parties...
Hands Off Cain appealed to the media, political parties and citizens aware of the death penalty issue to campaign in favour of four Iranian women, who like Amina Lawal in Nigeria, were condemned to death by stoning
- NOVEMBER 6, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China has executed 46 people in two days, ahead of...
China has executed 46 people in two days, ahead of the 16th Communist Party Congress, human rights group Amnesty International has said
- NOVEMBER 5, 2002OhioDEATH PENALTY
Gregory Esparza will not be executed and eventually...
Gregory Esparza will not be executed and eventually could be paroled
- NOVEMBER 3, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
The Information Service of the Student Movement Co-Ordination...
The Information Service of the Student Movement Co-Ordination Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) said a person had been executed in the City of Tabriz