High treason, premeditated murder and torture are capital crimes.

High treason, premeditated murder, torture and acts of terrorism are capital crimes in Mauritania, although the last executions took place in 1987, when three armed forces officers sentenced to death by the State Security Chamber for plotting to overthrow the regime were put to death.
With the introduction of Islamic law in 1980, the scope of the death penalty has been widened to include apostasy, homosexuality and rape. However, the enforcement of strict punishments – such as floggings – has been rare since the 1980s.
In 2017, as in 2016, no execution neither death sentence has been recorded. 90 people, were under sentence of death at the end of the year, according to Amnesty International.

United Nations
On November 3, 2015, in its response to the recommendations received under the Universal Periodic Review of the UN Human Rights Council, Mauritania rejected those to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, abolish the death penalty and ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR.
On December 16, 2020, Mauritania abstained again on the Resolution on a Moratorium on the Use of the Death Penalty at the UN General Assembly.