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
- FEBRUARY 27, 1999Saudi ArabiaDEATH PENALTY
On February 27, a man convicted of stabbing to death...
On February 27, a man convicted of stabbing to death another Saudi Arabian national in a dispute was executed in Mecca
- FEBRUARY 26, 1999Palestinian TerritoriesDEATH PENALTY
On February 26, Colonel Ahmad 'Atiya Abu Mustafa was...
On February 26, Colonel Ahmad 'Atiya Abu Mustafa was executed by the Palestinian Authority after he received a summary and unfair trial before a Palestinian court late at night on 25 February
- FEBRUARY 19, 1999OhioDEATH PENALTY
Ohio had its first execution in over thirty-five years...
Ohio had its first execution in over thirty-five years when Wilford Berry Jr
- FEBRUARY 5, 1999Vatican CityDEATH PENALTY
On February 5, the Philippines Supreme Court rejected...
On February 5, the Philippines Supreme Court rejected a last-minute appeal to halt the execution of Leo Echegaray, who was put to death at 3
- FEBRUARY 4, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
Although international law prohibits the execution...
Although international law prohibits the execution of people who were under 18 at the time of the crime, on February 4, 1999, Oklahoma executed Sean Sellers, 29, for murders he committed when he was 16 years old
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999IraqDEATH PENALTY
In February, 23 people accused of murder and theft...
In February, 23 people accused of murder and theft were executed
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999EgyptDEATH PENALTY
In February, two people were hanged in a Cairo jail,...
In February, two people were hanged in a Cairo jail, Sayed Abdel Hameed Mohammed was convicted for kidnapping and raping a young woman, and Mohsen El Husseini Osman for murdering an entrepreneur
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999ArkansasDEATH PENALTY
Johnie Michael Cox, 42, a triple-murderer who claimed...
Johnie Michael Cox, 42, a triple-murderer who claimed that he might be immune to the poisons used to kill death row inmates was executed by injection on 2 February
- FEBRUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On February 1, 8 people were executed in Beijing for...
On February 1, 8 people were executed in Beijing for murder, rape and robbery
- JANUARY 29, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 29, authorities in China's southern boomtown...
On January 29, authorities in China's southern boomtown of Shenzhen, a freewheeling special economic zone plagued by drugs, prostitution and organized crime, executed Zhang Guojin and 5 members of his criminal extortion gang shortly after sentencing them
- JANUARY 27, 1999IndonesiaDEATH PENALTY
On January 27, two Indonesian men were executed in...
On January 27, two Indonesian men were executed in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
- JANUARY 25, 1999JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
On January 25, Justice Wesley James dismissed Patrick...
On January 25, Justice Wesley James dismissed Patrick Taylor's and Anthony McLeod's summonses complaining about the inhumane conditions in which they are being kept in prison
- JANUARY 19, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 19, 6 people were executed in Beijing for...
On January 19, 6 people were executed in Beijing for murder and robbery
- JANUARY 15, 1999BotswanaDEATH PENALTY
On January 15, Gwara Brown Motswetla, 28, and Tlhabologang...
On January 15, Gwara Brown Motswetla, 28, and Tlhabologang Phetolo Maauwe, 30, two men condemned to death in 1995, won an eleventh hour stay of execution because Justice Reynolds in an interim ruling said that the 4-year delay in carrying out the sentence
- JANUARY 13, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
On January 13, Li Yubao, an unemployed worker from...
On January 13, Li Yubao, an unemployed worker from Anhui Province, was executed in Shanghai after being convicted of killing on February 12, 1998 a Shanghai passenger with a knife during a quarrel at Huainan Railway Station
- JANUARY 7, 1999JamaicaDEATH PENALTY
On January 7, the Constitutional Court, comprising...
On January 7, the Constitutional Court, comprising Chief Justice Lensley Wolfe, Justice Cooke and Justice Karl Harrison, heard and dismissed a motion filed by Neville Lewis against his prison conditions and the 6-month limit set by Governor General Howard
- JANUARY 1, 1999CubaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty has been used in Cuba since the 1959...
The death penalty has been used in Cuba since the 1959 revolution, after which Castro's triumphant revolutionary forces tried and executed scores of supporters of former dictator Fulgencio Batista
- JANUARY 1, 1999GuatemalaDEATH 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, 1999NigeriaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Code...
The death penalty is provided for by the Criminal Code and the legislation on civil disturbances for armed robbery, murder, treason, and offenses against the State
- JANUARY 1, 1999Sierra LeoneDEATH PENALTY
Murder, aggravated robbery and treason are capital crimes
Murder, aggravated robbery and treason are capital crimes
- JANUARY 1, 1999SomaliaDEATH PENALTY
In January, Majertein militia loyal to Mohamed Said...
In January, Majertein militia loyal to Mohamed Said Hersi, known as General Morgan, said in a statement that 9 Majertein prisoners captured the first week of January, during a round of fighting had been executed two weeks after by the Marehan Somali Natio
- JANUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
In 1999, five foreign nationals - a Thai, a Filipino,...
In 1999, five foreign nationals - a Thai, a Filipino, a Canadian and two German brothers - were executed in the United States
- JANUARY 1, 1999United StatesDEATH PENALTY
The results of two new studies underscore the continuing...
The results of two new studies underscore the continuing injustice of racism in the application of the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 1999ArizonaDEATH PENALTY
Arizona executed two German citizens, Karl and Walter...
Arizona executed two German citizens, Karl and Walter LaGrand, Karl on February 24 and Walter on March 3, for killing a bank manager in Arizona in 1982
- JANUARY 1, 1999FloridaDEATH PENALTY
Florida officials imposed a one-year moratorium on...
Florida officials imposed a one-year moratorium on executions after a fire started during Pedro Medina's electrocution on March 25, 1997
- JANUARY 1, 1999TennesseeDEATH PENALTY
Tennessee is one of eight states, and the only one...
Tennessee is one of eight states, and the only one in the south, with the death penalty but no executions since the law was reinstated
- JANUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in...
A revised Criminal Procedure Law came into force in January 1997
- JANUARY 1, 1999ChinaDEATH PENALTY
In January, in the northwestern region of Xinjiang,...
In January, in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, a man was executed for stabbing a Communist Party cadre to death and wounding the official's wife, daughter and mother-in-law
- JANUARY 1, 1999IranDEATH PENALTY
740 drug traffickers were executed in Iran in 1999
740 drug traffickers were executed in Iran in 1999
- JANUARY 1, 1999VietnamDEATH 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