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
- 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, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The United Committee for the Abolition of the Death...
The United Committee for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, a Hong Kong-based group, launched a signature campaign along with religious and human rights organisations in Italy, Australia, France, the US and Taiwan
- 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
- NOVEMBER 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Another 17 people have been executed on the mainland...
Another 17 people have been executed on the mainland as part of a crackdown on crime ahead of the crucial Communist Party meeting congress
- NOVEMBER 1, 2002Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Saudi men convicted of murder,...
Saudi Arabia beheaded two Saudi men convicted of murder, the official Saudi Press Agency reported
- OCTOBER 31, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
A medical student found guilty of kidnapping and murder...
A medical student found guilty of kidnapping and murder was hanged in public in a stadium of northern Iran, Ettelaat newspaper reported
- OCTOBER 31, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Twenty-eight people were executed over a two-day period...
Twenty-eight people were executed over a two-day period for murder and other violent crimes after sentencing rallies in two mainland Chinese cities
- OCTOBER 30, 2002RussiaDEATH PENALTY
Akhmed Zakayev, one of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov's...
Akhmed Zakayev, one of Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov's closest associates, was arrested on October 26 in Denmark after Moscow accused him of involvement in the theater siege and other "terror attacks
- OCTOBER 30, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Afghans convicted of murder, armed robbery, "seducing...
Three Afghans convicted of murder, armed robbery, "seducing children" and creating public disorder were hanged publicly in the Islamic republic of Iran's city of Qom, newspapers reported
- OCTOBER 30, 2002AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Three Afghans convicted of murder, armed robbery, "seducing...
Three Afghans convicted of murder, armed robbery, "seducing children" and creating public disorder were hanged publicly in the Islamic republic of Iran's city of Qom, newspapers reported