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
- 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
- DECEMBER 18, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
A draft amendment bill to change the method of execution...
A draft amendment bill to change the method of execution from shooting to lethal injection is ready to go before parliament for approval
- DECEMBER 17, 2001NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The Nigerian Coalition of Women's Rights and Economic...
The Nigerian Coalition of Women's Rights and Economic Empowerment (CWREE) picked holes in the shari'ah court judgment that sentenced Safiya Hussaini, to death, saying that the death penalty runs counter to the constitution of all known international laws
- DECEMBER 16, 2001ThailandDEATH PENALTY
The Thai Cabinet recently resolved that sentences of...
The Thai Cabinet recently resolved that sentences of execution or life imprisonment for under 18 year olds shall be commuted to 15 years' imprisonment
- DECEMBER 16, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A rally gathered in the Hotan sports stadium in October...
A rally gathered in the Hotan sports stadium in October to watch court officials sentence a man to death, a scene that was played out hundreds of times across China in 2001 as part of the Communist Party's latest drive against crime
- DECEMBER 16, 2001PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Renowned international, anti-capital punishment advocate...
Renowned international, anti-capital punishment advocate Roger G
- DECEMBER 14, 2001ChinaDEATH PENALTY
Li Yufen, a former manager in Changchun, the capital...
Li Yufen, a former manager in Changchun, the capital of Jilin Province, northeast China, was executed for embezzling over 90 million yuan (11 million U
- DECEMBER 14, 2001AfghanistanDEATH PENALTY
The Taliban staged so many public executions during...
The Taliban staged so many public executions during their five years in power that Supreme Court Judge Zalmai Payeda lost count
- DECEMBER 12, 2001TexasDEATH PENALTY
Vincent Edward Cooks has been executed in the Huntsville...
Vincent Edward Cooks has been executed in the Huntsville death chamber for the Feb