Death Penalty News

Two Sudanese women have been sentenced to death by stoning in separate cases in Sudan, raising serious concerns about Sudan’s compliance with its international human rights obligations, particularly following its ratification of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).

As the Church's liturgical readings recall Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery, the Director of the US-based Catholic Mobilizing Network explores the Lord’s rejection of capital punishment. This Sunday’s Gospel reading for Year C describes the event traditionally called the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). My friends have helped to give it new relevance for me this year. In our work at Catholic Mobilizing Network, we strive to end the death penalty, advance justice, and begin healing.

The Taliban’s Supreme Leader has vowed to start stoning women to death in public as he declared the fight against Western democracy will continue. “You say it’s a violation of women’s rights when we stone them to death,” said Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada in a voice message, aired on state television over the weekend, addressing Western officials.

Brutal executions are on the rise in Saudi Arabia under the reign of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with human rights activists calling the score of beheadings and crucifixions a 'relentless killing spree'. The Saudi authorities have killed hundreds in capital punishments since the Crown Prince's tenure started in 2015, hitting a new milestone that Amnesty International said reveals the kingdom's 'chilling disregard for the right to life'. 

GHAZNI, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban carried out a double public execution Thursday at a stadium in the country’s southeast, where relatives of the victims of stabbing deaths fired guns at two convicted men while thousands of people watched. The Taliban’s Supreme Court ruled that the two men were responsible for the stabbing deaths of two victims in separate attacks, according to a court statement. It identified the two as Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni — though it was unclear who carried out the stabbings, the two convicted men or others.

The atrocities of the Iranian regime against Iran’s women have become so disgraceful that even the regime’s own media and analysts are becoming worried about their consequences. On January 13, the state-run Setareye Sobh Daily ran a piece titled, “Harsh punishments will cause discontent,” in which it warned about the social consequences of punishments such as flogging and wrote, “Flogging is a violent punishment and today, the society will not tolerate it.” On the same day, the state-run Etemad daily wrote, “[Such punishments] do more harm than good for the punished and society.”

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 2, 2023: Branch 5 of the Tehran Criminal Court has sentenced Leila Kholghi Sakachayi and Abolfazl Barat Vakili to hanging for adultery charges. Branch 12 of the Tehran Criminal Court has also sentenced another woman, Mitra to death for the same charges and the man in the case, Khosro, to lashes. Sex outside of marriage is criminalised by the Islamic Republic and if one party is married, it is considered adultery with the married party receiving the death penalty. Iran Human Rights once again draws the international community’s urgent attention to the increasingly high death sentences and executions in Iran. 

TEHRAN, Iran -- An Iranian court has sentenced a woman to death for adultery, state media said. A report by the IRAN newspaper on Wednesday said the woman worked as a trainer in a gym for females. It said her husband contacted police in 2022 when he found her with another man at their home.  The husband discovered from surveillance cameras that she was having relations with other men, it said.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); July 26, 2023: The scope of offences leading to the death penalty has widened significantly this year. In the latest case, state media have reported the death sentence against an unidentified man for consensual sex. Extramarital relations are criminalised under the Islamic Republic’s laws which proscribe the death penalty for the married party. On the other hand, Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei called for the execution of those who burnt the Quran in Sweden last week. Iran Human Rights once again calls for the urgent attention of the international community to the growing number of death sentences and executions in Iran. Director, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam said: “In order to create fear to prevent popular protests, Islamic Republic authorities have expanded the scope of charges for which they’re issuing and carrying out death penalty charges as well as the already significant rise in the number of executions.”

It may have started as a row with another stallholder in the market or perhaps with a remark to a beggar. But while the beginning is unclear, how the day’s events unfolded and its tragic denouement have become all too familiar in northern Nigeria – not least because the mob that murdered Usman Buda filmed him being stoned to death . Buda, a butcher and father of six, was the latest person to be lynched for ‘blaspheming’ in Sokoto, one of 12 among Nigeria’s 36 states to adopt sharia law in 2000. The Associated Press reported that it began as an argument with another trader. The accusation of blasphemy – whether true or not – quickly led to ‘a large crowd that included children pelting stones at Buda on the floor as they cursed him’.

Young children are seen participating in the murder actively, with no adult trying to prevent the children from throwing stones or even trying to prevent them from watching the bloody murder. Usman Buda, the deceased victim, worked as a butcher in the local market. In a disturbing and shocking incident from Nigeria’s Sokoto, a mob has brutally stoned a man to death over allegations of ‘blasphemy’. As per reports, the deceased person Usman Buda worked as a butcher in an abattoir in Sokoto city.  Locals accused him of blasphemous comments against Prophet Mohammad on Sunday, June 25.

In May 2023, the de facto Deputy Chief Justice of Afghanistan announced that courts across the country had sentenced 175 individuals to Qisas (retribution in kind) punishments and 37 to stoning. Other sentences included physical punishments such as flogging and burying under a wall. The de facto Deputy Chief Justice did not specify a timeline for implementation of these sentences. The announcement was met with international condemnation, including from the United Nations experts who indicated that many of the punishments constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment and are contrary to international law. Both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), to which Afghanistan is a State party, prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

A new report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) highlights Taliban human rights violations that have received little attention: the use of corporal punishment and the death penalty. Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021 until November 2022, UNAMA documented 18 cases of corporal punishment, all lashings and mostly for so-called moral crimes. These include punishments for sex outside of marriage and for girls and women “running away” from their homes, often to escape domestic violence (acts the former government also prosecuted ). Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are also at high risk under the Taliban and have been subjected to lashings. Corporal punishment increased significantly since November 2022 when the Taliban’s leader called on judges to impose it whenever “Sharia [Islamic law] conditions … are met.” More of these punishments are also being carried out in public, including 27 people lashed in a sports stadium in Parwan on December...

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); April 29, 2023: Three Baluch men were executed for drug-related and murder charges in Zahedan Central Prison and Iranshahr Prison. According to Hal Vash, two Baluch men were executed in Zahedan Central Prison and one in Iranshahr Prison on April 29.  The two men executed in Zahedan were identified as 48-year-old Nematollah Rigi Ladiz (known as Abdollah Roudini) and Abdolsattar Shahuzehi who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Revolutionary Court. Nematollah Rigi Ladiz, a Zahedan native, had six children and had been arrested around five years ago. The Baluch man executed in Iranshahr Prison was identified as Mahmoud Rahmani (pictured) who was arrested around 12 years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder. Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making u...

Iranian conservative politician and former diplomat Javad Larijani has defended stoning for adultery, saying it is a good Islamic law protecting “family values.” Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where people throw stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It is attested as a form of punishment for unlawful sexual intercourse.

The announcement emphasized the  intentions of the Taliban to continue hardline policies implemented since they took over the country in August 2021 and to stick to their interpretation of the Islamic law, or Sharia Farah (Afghanistan): Taliban on Wednesday confirmed they publically executed a man here convicted for murdering another man, marks the first execution since the hard-line Islamists came back to power. The confirmation came as the spokesperson of Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement saying the Supreme court was instructed to implement the order of qisas (an Islamic term interpreted to mean “retaliation in kind”, “eye for an eye”, or retributive justice), in a public gathering of compatriots. The announcement in a way emphasized on the the intentions the Taliban to continue hard-line policies implemented since they took over the country in August 2021 and to stick to their interpretation of the Islamic law, or Sharia. Reportedly, the execution took place in west...

The Taliban have flogged a group of people in a crowded football stadium for “moral crimes” including gay sex. Twelve people, including three women, were lashed in front of thousands of onlookers in the eastern Logar province, a Taliban official has informed the BBC.  According to the source they were punished for “sins” including “adultery, robbery, and gay sex”. The people flogged received between 21 and 39 lashes each, with the maximum a person can receive being 39, another Taliban official shared. It comes a week after the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, announced the group would be “implementing sharia law” in full force across the country. The islamic law enforces punishments such as public executions, stoning, floggings and the amputation of limbs for thieves. Under Sharia law same-sex sexual activity is prohibited and can be punished by the death penalty. The recent floggings resemble the group’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, when it was condemned for ca...

Salima was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, which was to take place Friday October 14. A young woman has been found dead in an alleged suicide one day before she was reportedly to be executed by stoning. Salima, 24, was sentenced to death by stoning last week after the Taliban arrested her with a man, Sirajuddin, who was not her family member. They were both from Dolina district and allegedly ran away from their homes on October 10 to get married.  However, they were apprehended by Taliban forces, who shot and killed Sirajuddin. Salima was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, which was to take place Friday October 14. 3 local sources in Ghor province, who prefer not to be identified for security reasons, have confirmed to Rukhshana Media that Salima was found dead in an apparent hanging on October 13. She was buried the next day. One source said that Salima was released on bail on Wednesday October 12 due to the lack of a women’s prison in the district governor’s ...

“Amputating prisoners’ fingers is a form of torture, and is yet another shocking reminder of the shameless inhumanity of the criminal justice system in Iran, which legalizes a crime under international law. Carrying out such heinous punishments is not justice; it is an abhorrent assault on human dignity.” So said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa in June this year. It came after eight men convicted of robbery were moved from Urmia to Greater Tehran Penitentiary ahead of their fingers being chopped off as part of their sentence. The next month, after these and two other amputations were carried out in Iranian prisons, Amnesty called on the international community to step in: “The victims of judicial amputations in Iran are overwhelmingly from impoverished backgrounds and lack legal representation of their choosing. It is extremely difficult for them and their families to alert human rights organizations or the media of ...

Reporters in Oklahoma are asking a candidate with a violent past why he refuses to reply to their questions about comments he made years ago suggesting gay people should be executed. Today, Republican Scott Esk faces fellow Republican Gloria Banister in a runoff for a state house seat. Esk, 56, according to LGBTQ Nation, is being confronted by the local press about his previous comments, and, "He's not handling them well." Esk said in a video he disseminated online on Sunday to "set the record straight" for the third time that reports of his views were manufactured to make him appear in a bad light, calling them "hit pieces." As a result of a local news station reporting on his old comments, he responded in a YouTube video on July 15. He said that he believes his stance on homosexuality makes him a "Christian." "I've stood up for what is right in the past, and I intend to in the future, and I am right now. That's got me in troubl...