Death Penalty News

Iranian authorities executed 11 prisoners across the country on Wednesday, including a woman, according to a human rights organization that tracks executions in Iran. The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights said 10 men were executed in prisons in Bushehr, Damghan, Chabahar, Kashmar, Sabzevar, Malayer, Shiraz, Mashhad, and Karaj. They had been sentenced to death for murder or drug-related offenses. Separately, authorities executed Razieh Abbasi, a 40-year-old woman convicted of killing her husband, at Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj in the early hours of Wednesday, Hengaw reported.

Singapore's High Court dismissed on Tuesday the first legal challenge in years to the city-state's mandatory death penalty for certain drug crimes, a blow for campaigners in a year that has seen executions peak.  Human rights activists and relatives of 3 executed drug convicts had petitioned the court, arguing that the mandatory death penalty violates parts of Singapore's constitution guaranteeing the right to life and equal protection under the law.  They also said legislation restricts judges from using their own discretion in issuing sentences, despite amendments in 2012 that carved out some exceptions. 

On December 15, 2025, Mohammad Javad Vafaei was notified at Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad that his request for a retrial had been rejected by the regime’s Supreme Court. On the same day, Javad’s mother was unexpectedly granted an in-person visit with her son at Vakilabad Prison, a move that could signal his imminent execution. Furthermore, she was informed in a phone call from the prison that his sentence has been forwarded to the department for the implementation of sentences in Mashhad. His life is now in grave danger.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 17, 2025: Yavar Farhadi, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Khorramabad Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Khorramabad Central Prison on 7 December 2025. His identity has been established as Yavar Farhadi, a father of one from Aligudarz. He was arrested around five years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

A man convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman during home invasion robbery and later confessing to three other killings is set to be the 19th person executed in Florida this year STARKE, Fla. -- A man convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman during home invasion robbery and later confessing to three other killings is scheduled to be executed Thursday evening. Frank Athen Walls, 58, is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. Walls was convicted of two counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping, burglary and theft and sentenced to death in 1988. The Florida Supreme Court later reversed the conviction and ordered a new trial, and Walls was again convicted and sentenced to death in 1992.

Naveed Akram, the surviving suspect in Sunday's mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, has been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist act, the New South Wales Police say. His father Sajid Akram, 50, was killed in an exchange of fire with police at the scene. Fifteen people were killed and dozens of others were injured in the attack, which targeted Australia's Jewish community at an event celebrating the first night of Hanukkah. It was the country's deadliest shooting since 1996.

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application.  Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

Texas also saw counties set the fewest new execution dates in at least three decades, according to an annual report by the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Harris County was an outlier in that trend. Texas continued a long-term downward trend in capital punishment in 2025, coming in a distant second-place tie behind Florida in terms of the number of executions carried out in U.S. states. There have been five executions apiece this year in Texas, Alabama and South Carolina. Florida leads the nation with 18.

Executions in the U.S. nearly doubled in 2025 over the previous year as Florida executed more prisoners in a 12-month span than ever before, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The organization, which tracks capital punishment, released its year-end report on Monday. It showed a complicated picture: although public support for the death penalty remained at a low point, executions ticked upward. "These trends show there is a real disconnect between what the American public wants and what elected officials are doing with the death penalty," said Robin Maher, the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center (DPI). The group does not take a position on the death penalty itself but is critical of how it has been applied.

An Iranian cultural activist has been formally charged with “armed rebellion,” an offense that can carry the death penalty, according to a human rights organization. Ehsan Rostami appeared on December 10 at Branch Five of the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor’s Office, where he was charged on suspicion of membership in groups opposed to the government, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. Rostami was immediately transferred to solitary confinement at Evin Prison following the charging session.

The kingdom has killed 340 people so far this year, according to AFP's count, and has in recent years trailed only China and Iran among countries carrying out the death penalty. DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Saudi Arabia has broken its own record for executions carried out in a single year, according to an AFP tally, after authorities said three people were put to death Monday. The kingdom has killed 340 people so far this year, according to AFP's count, and has in recent years trailed only China and Iran among countries carrying out the death penalty.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 15, 2025: Mohammad Rahimi, a man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Gorgan Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was hanged in Gorgan Central Prison on 14 December 2025. His identity has been established as 50-year-old Mohammad Rahimi. He was arrested two years ago and sentenced to death on drug-related charges in separate cases by the Revolutionary Court. At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A proposed law could mean the death penalty for more child rapists in Tennessee. The legislation adds circumstances under which a rapist could be executed, like filming the attack. “It’s another tool,” the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Greg Martin, said. A new bill at the Tennessee State Capitol is aimed at making it easier for prosecutors to seek the death penalty against child rapists. Lawmakers said it builds on a law passed just last year, one that first opened the door for juries to consider the death penalty in some child rape cases.

New drugs and med­ical treat­ments under­go rig­or­ous test­ing to ensure they are safe and effec­tive for pub­lic use. Under fed­er­al and state reg­u­la­tions, this test­ing typ­i­cal­ly involves clin­i­cal tri­als with human sub­jects, who face sig­nif­i­cant health and safe­ty risks as the first peo­ple exposed to exper­i­men­tal treat­ments. That is why the law requires them to be ful­ly informed of the poten­tial effects and give their vol­un­tary con­sent to par­tic­i­pate in trials. Yet these reg­u­la­tions have not been fol­lowed when states seek to use nov­el and untest­ed exe­cu­tion meth­ods — sub­ject­ing pris­on­ers to poten­tial­ly tor­tur­ous and uncon­sti­tu­tion­al­ly painful deaths. Some experts and advo­cates argue that states must be bound by the eth­i­cal and human rights prin­ci­ples of bio­med­ical research before using these meth­ods on prisoners.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); December 10, 2025: At least six men, including four Baluch minorities, were secretly executed in a group hanging in Birjand Central Prison. Ramezan Deldadeh, Behzad Mazarzehi, Ali Barahouyi, Mirzakhan Basati and two unidentified Baluch men were on death row for drug-related offences. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, at least six men were hanged in Birjand Central Prison on 9 December 2025. They were all sentenced to death on drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Two of the men who were Baluch minorities have not been identified at the time of writing.

Iran on Saturday executed a woman in the country's northwest after convicting her of killing her four-year-old stepdaughter, the judiciary said. The child, identified as Ava, died in December 2023 after sustaining brain injuries caused by wounds inflicted by her stepmother, the judiciary's Mizan Online news outlet reported at the time. Following legal proceedings, the woman was sentenced in March 2024 to qisas , a punishment which allows the family of a victim to demand the death penalty.

Thirty-seven years after confessing to a series of rapes and the murder of Karen Pulley, Nichols expressed remorse in final words Strapped to a gurney in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution Thursday morning, Harold Wayne Nichols made a final statement.  “To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” he said, according to prison officials and media witnesses. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”

For the first time, the NGO states that the scale and brutality of the atrocities exceed previously documented war crimes and clearly constitute crimes against humanity Amnesty International released a sharply critical report on Thursday, asserting that Hamas committed crimes against humanity during its October 7, 2023 attack in Israel.  The organization documents acts of murder, torture, and both physical and sexual violence against hostages abducted during the assault. The report, titled “Targeting Civilians: Murder, Hostage-Taking and Other Violations by Palestinian Armed Groups in Israel and Gaza,” concludes that most civilians killed that day died as a result of deliberate actions by Palestinian armed groups.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Tuesday said he will not intervene to stop the execution of Harold Wayne Nichols. Nichols, 64, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 20-year-old student at Chattanooga State University. Nichols confessed to killing Pulley as well as raping several other women in the Chattanooga area. Although he expressed remorse at trial, he admitted that he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested. He was sentenced to death in 1990.