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
- JANUARY 13, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana...
A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana described Turkey's decision to postpone hanging Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan as "a firm step in the right direction" as Ankara tries to join the 15-nation bloc
- JANUARY 13, 2000VirginiaDEATH PENALTY
Steve Edward Roach, 23, white, was put to death by...
Steve Edward Roach, 23, white, was put to death by lethal injection in Greensville Correctional Center
- JANUARY 10, 2000VirginiaDEATH PENALTY
Douglas Christopher Thomas, 26, white, was put to death...
Douglas Christopher Thomas, 26, white, was put to death by lethal injection
- JANUARY 9, 2000ChinaDEATH PENALTY
The Sunday Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper revealed...
The Sunday Morning Post, a Hong Kong newspaper revealed that executed prisoners' organs were offered to Hong Kong patients at Guangdong's main transplant hospital for up to $300,000 each
- JANUARY 7, 2000AlabamaDEATH PENALTY
David Ray Duren, 37, white, was put to death by electric...
David Ray Duren, 37, white, was put to death by electric chair in Holman Prison, Altmore
- JANUARY 6, 2000BahamasDEATH PENALTY
David Mitchell, 27, was hanged at the main Fox Hill...
David Mitchell, 27, was hanged at the main Fox Hill prison in the capital Nassau
- JANUARY 5, 2000BahamasDEATH PENALTY
Death row inmate John Higgs, 51, killed himself while...
Death row inmate John Higgs, 51, killed himself while under suicide watch
- JANUARY 4, 2000ThailandDEATH PENALTY
Hla Win, a 60-year-old Myanmar man was executed in...
Hla Win, a 60-year-old Myanmar man was executed in Thailand for attempting to smuggle 11
- JANUARY 4, 2000PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Alex Bartolome, 41, was executed by lethal injection...
Alex Bartolome, 41, was executed by lethal injection shortly after dawn
- JANUARY 4, 2000Myanmar (Burma)DEATH PENALTY
Hla Win, a 60-year-old Myanmar man was executed in...
Hla Win, a 60-year-old Myanmar man was executed in Thailand for attempting to smuggle 11
- JANUARY 3, 2000TürkiyeDEATH PENALTY
Tensions were rising between the members of Turkey's...
Tensions were rising between the members of Turkey's coalition government over the fate of Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, who had been sentenced to death by a Turkish court
- JANUARY 1, 2000CubaDEATH PENALTY
The Penal Code presently in force provides for the...
The Penal Code presently in force provides for the death penalty for 112 offenses, 33 of which are common crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2000UgandaDEATH PENALTY
In 1999, 28 people were executed in Uganda
In 1999, 28 people were executed in Uganda
- JANUARY 1, 2000Palestinian TerritoriesDEATH PENALTY
In Palestine three types of legislation are applied
In Palestine three types of legislation are applied
- JANUARY 1, 2000AustraliaDEATH 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, 2000CzechiaDEATH PENALTY
A total of 1,207 people, including 75 women, were executed...
A total of 1,207 people, including 75 women, were executed under the death sentence in former Czechoslovakia from 1918 to July 1990, when the death sentence was abolished
- JANUARY 1, 2000YemenDEATH PENALTY
Capital crime is premeditated murder
Capital crime is premeditated murder
- JANUARY 1, 2000SingaporeDEATH PENALTY
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against...
Capital crimes are: murder, treason, offenses against the President, illegal possession of arms, and causing an innocent person to be executed by bearing false witness
- JANUARY 1, 2000North KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is mandatory for political offenses...
The death penalty is mandatory for political offenses and has reportedly been handed down for ordinary crimes and for theft and embezzlement
- JANUARY 1, 2000Trinidad & TobagoDEATH PENALTY
On July 28, 1999, Anthony Briggs, 31, was put to death...
On July 28, 1999, Anthony Briggs, 31, was put to death at the Royal jail in Port of Spain
- JANUARY 1, 2000Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of executions...
Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of executions in the world in both absolute numbers and per capita, accounting for more than 1,000 lives over the last 20 years
- JANUARY 1, 2000PhilippinesDEATH PENALTY
Under legislation passed in 1993, seven people have...
Under legislation passed in 1993, seven people have been executed by lethal injection for various "heinous crimes
- JANUARY 1, 2000PakistanDEATH 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, 2000VietnamDEATH PENALTY
At least 76 prisoners were executed in 1999 for drug...
At least 76 prisoners were executed in 1999 for drug trafficking in the Southeast Asian nation
- JANUARY 1, 2000LebanonDEATH PENALTY
Laws in the Lebanese Penal Code are based on the first...
Laws in the Lebanese Penal Code are based on the first Ottoman Penal Code of 1840
- JANUARY 1, 2000IranDEATH PENALTY
Following elections held in February 2000 the reformists...
Following elections held in February 2000 the reformists backing moderate President Mohammad Khatami won 79 percent of the vote compared with 21 percent for the conservatives
- JANUARY 1, 2000KuwaitDEATH PENALTY
Kuwait has executed 35 people since introducing the...
Kuwait has executed 35 people since introducing the death penalty in 1964
- JANUARY 1, 2000GuatemalaDEATH PENALTY
The Guatemalan Congress adopted lethal injection after...
The Guatemalan Congress adopted lethal injection after a botched firing squad execution in 1996 forced prison guards to finish off two men with pistol shots to the head, a gruesome scene replayed hundreds of times on local television
- JANUARY 1, 2000Governo 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, 2000United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Five women have been executed in the United States...
Five women have been executed in the United States since the Supreme Court lifted a ban on the death penalty in 1976