Death Penalty News

Iranian authorities secretly executed two Iraqi nationals, Ali Nader al-Obeidi and Fazel Sheikh Karim, in Karaj Central Prison during the final days of the 40-day war involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. The two men had previously been sentenced to death in a joint case on charges of allegedly spying for one of the Arab countries in the region. According to a report received by Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, the executions were carried out in the early hours of Monday, April 6, 2026. The two men, both Arab residents of the Iraqi city of Amarah, were identified as 27-year-old Ali Nader al-Obeidi and 29-year-old Fazel Sheikh Karim.

The Presidency of the European Union is deeply concerned by reports of the imminent executions of Mohammad-Reza Haddadi and Amir Amrollah, both convicted and sentenced to death for crimes committed as minors. The Presidency reiterates the previous communications by the European Union with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on executions of minors. The Presidency, on behalf of the European Union, urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to commute the death sentences for Mr Haddadi and Mr Amrollah, to abolish the use of the death penalty for crimes committed before the age of eighteen and further to amend its legislation to bring it in line with the international human rights conventions that Iran has ratified, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Presidency reiterates the longstanding opposition of the European Union to the death penalty in all circumstances and recalls that any miscarriage or fa...

With 37 prisoners executed last year, the United States is among the top five countries that still have the death penalty. Washington - The United States does not often find itself in a league with China, Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. But as international human rights groups and a number of countries, particularly in the European Union [EU], prepare to mark World Day Against the Death Penalty Saturday [October 10, 2009], that list of the five countries where nearly all of 2008's executions were carried out is where the US finds itself. Proponents of abolishing the death penalty worldwide say the global trend is in their favor, and they claim the march of countries putting an end to executions is accelerating. But even though a large majority of known executions carried out last year were in China, the US remains a key target of the abolition campaign as a country that in most other instances is seen sharing values with other Western powers. "The death penalty is...

CAMBRIDGE, England — Nearly two years after an Iraqi court sentenced Saddam Hussein to death, new disclosures by Western lawyers who helped guide the court have given fresh ammunition to critics who contend that he was railroaded to the gallows by vengeful officials in Iraq’s new government. These lawyers say the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, forced the resignation of one of five judges in the trial only days before the court sentenced Mr. Hussein. The purpose, the lawyers say, was to avert the possibility that judges who were wavering would spare Mr. Hussein the death penalty and sentence him to life imprisonment instead. The disclosures, made amid a steep decline in violence in Iraq, seem likely to raise fresh questions about the degree to which the Bush administration has succeeded in promoting democratic principles, including the rule of law, among Iraq’s new leaders. Inevitably, they will also lend new momentum to die-hard Baathists who regard Mr. Hussein as a martyr...

The EU has rebuked Iran for the sentencing of 9 people to death by stoning even as a new report by a European rights group shows the number of executions worldwide is on the rise. The European Union said this week it was deeply worried about news that Iran had sentenced 9 women and 1 man to death by stoning for separate adultery convictions in different Iranian cities. A statement issued by France, which currently holds the EU presidency, on Thursday, July 24, reminded Tehran it had pledged to introduce a moratorium on stoning and urged it to abide by its commitments and international standards. "The European Union calls on the Iranian government and parliament to abolish, in law and in practice, recourse to cruel and degrading punishment and, in particular the use of stoning, as a method of execution," the statement read. News reports say the 8 women, ranging in age from 27 to 43, had convictions including prostitution, incest and adultery. The man, a 50-year-old mus...

May 19, 2008: the Archbishop of Kirkuk, Louis Sako, said that the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq opposed the death penalty passed by an Iraqi court on the convicted killer of an archbishop in Mosul. "This conviction does not meet Christian values." We are not satisfied with this decision because the church is against the death penalty." Archbishop Sako said the death sentence against a suspect "will also not help improve the situation" in Iraq which is plagued by sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites in addition to attacks against religious minorities. He said the church had no details about the trial or the accused nor was it aware of the motives of the killers. It learnt about the sentencing from television. "The announcement of the government gave very little detail. We do not know any of those responsible. We don't know why the archbishop was kidnapped, whether it was due to political, religious or criminal intentions," he said. Sour...

April 13, 2008: Iraqi's interior ministry executed 28 criminals and militant cult members in the city of Basra, some 550 kilometres south of Baghdad, media reports said. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, a department chief in the ministry, told the Iraqi al-Sabah newspaper that the ministry carried out the 28 verdicts issued by Iraq's central criminal court. "The execution of such criminals is considered as a message to all criminals in Basra," Khalaf was quoted as saying in al-Sabah. "The message says that law is above all and will not make any exceptions for any one involved in crimes." Iraqi officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the executed criminals included militants of a Shiite cult known as "Jund al- Samaa." Source: Earth Times, DPA, 14/04/2008)

L'exécution d'Ali Hassan al Madjid, cousin de Saddam Hussein condamné à mort en juin, a été retardée par de nouvelles divergences entre le Premier ministre irakien Nouri al Maliki et le conseil de la présidence. Ce conseil, formé par le chef de l'Etat, Djalal Talabani, et les deux vice-présidents, a donné vendredi son feu vert à la pendaison, attendue de longue date, d'"Ali le chimique", mais pas à celles de deux anciens responsables militaires condamnés avec lui. Or, Maliki tient à ce que les trois hommes soient exécutés ensemble, a déclaré à Reuters Ali al Dabbagh, porte-parole du gouvernement à dominante chiite. Madjid, l'ancien ministre de la Défense Sultan Hachem et l'ancien général Hussein Rachid Mohamed ont été condamnés à mort pour leur rôle dans l'opération Anfal, qui fit plusieurs dizaines de milliers de morts au sein de la minorité kurde, en 1988. Talabani, membre de la communauté kurde, et le vice-président Tarek al Hachemi, de confessi...