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 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A total of 23 Hong Kong residents were either executed...
A total of 23 Hong Kong residents were either executed or sentenced to death in mainland China in 2001
- JANUARY 1, 2002AustraliaDEATH PENALTY
Australia abolished the death penalty for ordinary...
Australia abolished the death penalty for ordinary crimes in 1984 and for wartime crimes in 1985
- JANUARY 1, 2002YemenDEATH PENALTY
Yemen applies the death penalty for rape and murder
Yemen applies the death penalty for rape and murder
- JANUARY 1, 2002SudanDEATH PENALTY
In accordance with Shari'a law, the Criminal Act provides...
In accordance with Shari'a law, the Criminal Act provides for physical punishments including flogging, amputation, stonings, and crucifixion--the public display of a body after execution
- JANUARY 1, 2002UgandaDEATH PENALTY
Uganda's new Constitution, adopted 5 years ago, retains...
Uganda's new Constitution, adopted 5 years ago, retains the death sentence for crimes including treason, rape, robbery with aggravating circumstances, murder and arms trading
- JANUARY 1, 2002GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
The Guatemalan penal code (1973) provides for the death...
The Guatemalan penal code (1973) provides for the death penalty for parricide, aggravated homicide and assassination of the President or Vice-President
- JANUARY 1, 2002United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Executions in the U
Executions in the U
- JANUARY 1, 2002IranDEATH PENALTY
Iran carried out at least 198 executions, including...
Iran carried out at least 198 executions, including at least 6 women and a juvenile, in 2001
- JANUARY 1, 2002Governo Federale degli Stati UnitiDEATH PENALTY
The United States federal death penalty was first used...
The United States federal death penalty was first used on June 25, 1790, when Thomas Bird was hanged for murder in Maine
- JANUARY 1, 2002IllinoisDEATH PENALTY
Illinois does not forbid the execution of the mentally...
Illinois does not forbid the execution of the mentally retarded but does forbid the execution of juvenile offenders
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China still holds the record for executions
China still holds the record for executions
- JANUARY 1, 2002ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China also condemned to death and executed many people...
China also condemned to death and executed many people in accord with the national campaign against corruption, which was strengthened after March's annual session of the National People's Congress
- JANUARY 1, 2002PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
The Philippine penal code says defendants over the...
The Philippine penal code says defendants over the age of 70 are exempted from capital punishment
- JANUARY 1, 2002PakistanDEATH PENALTY
Pakistani judges handed down a total of more than 4,000...
Pakistani judges handed down a total of more than 4,000 death sentences, in trials that international rights groups complain were often miscarriages of justice
- JANUARY 1, 2002Palestinian TerritoriesDEATH PENALTY
In Palestine three types of legislation are applied
In Palestine three types of legislation are applied
- JANUARY 1, 2002ThailandDEATH PENALTY
According to Section 31 of the Constitution, "A person...
According to Section 31 of the Constitution, "A person shall enjoy rights and liberties in his/her life and person
- JANUARY 1, 2002MalaysiaDEATH PENALTY
More than 200 people have been hanged in Malaysia since...
More than 200 people have been hanged in Malaysia since a mandatory death penalty was introduced for convicted drug traffickers in 1975
- DECEMBER 29, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Chinese authorities executed 41 people during an anti-corruption...
Chinese authorities executed 41 people during an anti-corruption campaign, newspapers reported
- DECEMBER 28, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In Shanghai, China, three heroin traffickers were executed...
In Shanghai, China, three heroin traffickers were executed this week after being sentenced, an official at the No 1 Intermediate People's Court said
- DECEMBER 27, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
At least 13 convicted criminals were executed and a...
At least 13 convicted criminals were executed and a spate of others sentenced to death as China began its end of the year judicial purge
- DECEMBER 27, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
Japan hanged two male death row inmates, Japan's first...
Japan hanged two male death row inmates, Japan's first executions in 13 months and the first under the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
- DECEMBER 25, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
China executed five members of a violent gang that...
China executed five members of a violent gang that murdered 21 people over the eight years in China's northernmost province of Heilongjiang
- DECEMBER 25, 2001JapanDEATH PENALTY
A right-wing activist will be sent to the gallows after...
A right-wing activist will be sent to the gallows after an appeal court overruled a life term handed down at a district court
- DECEMBER 25, 2001SudanDEATH PENALTY
Muhammad Adam Yahya and Ahmad Sulayman Muhammad were...
Muhammad Adam Yahya and Ahmad Sulayman Muhammad were sentenced to amputation of the right hand followed by death by hanging, for armed robbery, Human Rights Watch said
- DECEMBER 25, 2001SudanDEATH PENALTY
Three men were executed in northern Darfur in Sudan
Three men were executed in northern Darfur in Sudan
- DECEMBER 22, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
Afghanistan has an interim administration which was...
Afghanistan has an interim administration which was inaugurated on 22 December 2001 and which is due to govern for six months
- DECEMBER 20, 2001TajikistanDEATH PENALTY
According to a Voice and Vision [of Iran] correspondent...
According to a Voice and Vision [of Iran] correspondent from Dushanbe, participants of the two-day conference said the number of those executed in Tajikistan in 2000 was 65, and a total of 100 people were executed in 2001
- DECEMBER 20, 2001EswatiniDEATH PENALTY
With a stroke of his pen, King Mswati commuted the...
With a stroke of his pen, King Mswati commuted the death sentences of four convicted murderers on November 13, and reduced the number of inmates on death row from 13 to nine
- DECEMBER 19, 2001IranDEATH PENALTY
Three Iranians, convicted of murder, were sent to the...
Three Iranians, convicted of murder, were sent to the gallows at the Tehran Qasr Prison, while the fourth was pardoned while the noose was on his neck
- DECEMBER 19, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The former vice-mayor of Shenyang in China's northeastern...
The former vice-mayor of Shenyang in China's northeastern province of Liaoning and the city's former deputy finance chief were executed for corruption and embezzlement, official media reported