Year
How to use the database
HANDS OFF CAIN’S 2015 REPORT
The worldwide situation (as of 30 June 2016)
EXECUTIONS IN 2014
EXECUTIONS IN 2015 (as of 30 June)
The most important facts of 2015 (and the first six months of 2016)
ADDRESS of Pope Francis
THE SMILING FACE OF THE MULLAHS
Reportage by Sergio D'Elia
ANALYSIS OF THE 2015 REPORT DATA AND OBJECTIVES OF HANDS OFF CAIN
Reportage by Marco Perduca
"THE ABOLITIONIST OF THE YEAR 2015” AWARD
Protocol of understanding between NTC and CNF
Dossier on death penalty and homosexuality
Final declaration of the Cairo workshop
Goals
Achievements
GENERAL MOTION OF THE FIFTH CONGRESS OF HOC
RESOLUTION OF THE KIGALI CONFERENCE
U.N. RESOLUTION 2014

U.N. RESOLUTION 2012
U.N. RESOLUTION 2010

REPORT ON THE 2ND ANNUAL EU FORUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY IN ZAMBIA

Videos

DECLARATION OF LIBREVILLE

Publications
Hands Off Cain Headquarters
U.N. RESOLUTION 2008

U.N. RESOLUTION 2007

Appeal To The United Nations
Board of Directors

LETHAL TRADE DOSSIER
2014 FREETOWN CONFERENCE Final Declaration
THE COTONOU DECLARATION 2014
DOSSIER IRAQ 2003

DOSSIER ON MORATORIUM
DOSSIER IRAQ 2012

DOSSIER USA 2011

NOBEL LAUREATES APPEAL
Bulletin Board
Sign up
Join appeal
Newsletter
Our Publications

NORTH KOREA: THREE MEN TIED UP AND EXECUTED IN FRONT OF VILLAGERS

March 17, 2025:

Three North Koreans have been tied to stakes and riddled with bullets in a public execution in front of villagers after they tried to flee the country, Mirror reported on March 14, 2025.
The three men were each blasted with ninety bullets before their bodies were set ablaze as locals, including children, watched on in the village of Songjong-ri. The trio faced a gruesome execution after they attempted to flee to the South.
They have been identified as two brothers with the surname Kim and their friend Ri, all in their 30s. The group had spent months planning their escape, pooling their savings together on January 6 to buy a small boat before setting sail in dense fog, desperate to reach the 'democratic' safety of South Korea.
But when the group mistakenly believed a passing ship to be a South Korean fishing boat and cried out for help, they were intercepted by a North Korean patrol boat and swiftly arrested. Eyewitnesses spoke of the chilling process, saying the men were dragged out, blindfolded and gagged, then bound so tightly they needed six restraints each just so their weakened bodies would stay held in place.
"Usually, those who are executed are tied to the stake in three places: the neck, the torso, and the legs," a resident from the northwestern province of North Pyongan who saw the execution on a trip to South Hwanghae, told Radio Free Asia. "But this time, they were so weakened by severe torture that they had to be bound in six sections because they could not support their own bodies."
"Traitors to the nation must be punished!" officials bellowed in a blood-curdling cry as the men were executed. A team of 10 executioners fired nine shots at each man - three to the head, three to the chest and three to the legs - meaning each victim was shot 90 times. Authorities then burned their remains in front of residents.
"There is no place to bury the bodies of defectors in this land!" the witness recalled the officials saying. They described how even the youngest onlookers witnessed the entire execution and were shocked, as some collapsed from the sheer terror.
Another source said the public executions are an attempt to instill fear in the residents about what will happen if they try to escape.
The executions are a stark reminder of increasingly severe penalties for anyone who attempts to flee the reclusive country. Would-be escapees were once sent to reeducation camps for up to 15 years, but nowadays defection carries the death penalty - a gruesome public execution designed to instil fear into any who may have ideas of following in defectors' footsteps.
More than 34,000 North Koreans have taken the huge risk to seek refuge in South Korea since the end of the Korean War - risking not only their lives if they are caught, but by using treacherous routes through China and Southeast Asia.

(Sources: Mirror, 14/03/2025; RFA, 10/03/2025)

IRAN - Hamid Hosseinnezhad Heydaranlou at imminent risk of execution
CHINA: SCHOOL BUS STOP MURDERER EXECUTED
GAMBIA COMMUTES DEATH SENTENCE OVER JAMMEH-ERA KILLING OF FINANCE MINISTER
IRAN - Amirhossein Maghsoudlou (Tataloo) Sentenced to Death
INDIA: THREE GET CAPITAL PUNISHMENT FOR MURDERING FIVE IN SINDHANUR
IRAN - 64th Week of the “No to Execution Tuesdays” Campaign
IRAN - 3 men executed in Karaj (central) on April 15
IRAN - Rahim Rahimnejad executed in Kerman on April 15
IRAN - Death Sentence of Naser Bakarzadeh Overturned
IRAN - Abubakr Shahbakhsh executed in Kerman on April 15
IRAN - Saeed Abbasi executed in Kermanshah on April 15
IRAN - Mehdi Motavalli and Gholamali Mashallahi executed in Arak on April 15
AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN FLOG 13 PEOPLE, INCLUDING FIVE WOMEN, IN KHOST AND JAWZJAN
IRAN - Feizollah Karami and Sohrab Heydari Hanged in Qom on April 15
SAUDI ARABIA: AFGHAN MAN EXECUTED IN MECCA FOR SMUGGLING HEROIN
IRAN - Ali Faza Doustiani executed in Karaj (Central) on April 15
IRAN - Sohrab Heydari executed in Qom on April 15
IRAN - 3 men executed in Bandar Abbas on April 15
IRAN - Regime Cleric Struggles to Justify 1988 Mass Executions
AFGHANISTAN: FOUR MEN PUBLICLY EXECUTED IN ONE DAY
IRAN - Ali Balochzehi executed in Zahedan on April 14
IRAN - Ahmad Boghlani Hanged in Borazjan on April 14
IRAN - Ali Dehani hanged in Zahedan on April 14
VIETNAM TO REPLACE DEATH PENALTY WITH LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT PAROLE
IRAN - 3 men executed in Zahedan on April 13
IRAN - 4 men executed in Zahedan on April 12
IRAN - Rabi Shah-Morad and Wasim Ahmad executed in Qazvin on April 12
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: GLOBAL RECORDED EXECUTIONS HIT THEIR HIGHEST FIGURE SINCE 2015
USA - South Carolina. Mikal Mahdi, 42, Black, was executed
USA - Military Judge Throws Out Sept. 11 Case Confession as Obtained Through Torture

1 2 3 [Succ >>]
2025
january
february
march
april
  2024
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2023
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2022
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2021
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
2020
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2019
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2018
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2017
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2016
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2015
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
2014
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2013
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2012
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2011
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2010
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2009
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
2008
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2007
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2006
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2005
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
  2004
january
february
march
april
may
june
july
august
september
october
november
december
 
IRAN - Wife of Djalali pleads for EU action
  IRAN - Hands off Cain Year End Report: At least 284 executions in 2020  
  IRAN: HANDS OFF CAIN, THE HANGING OF THE PROTESTER MOSTAFA SALEHI IS A SHAME FOR THE SO-CALLED DEMOCRATIC WORLD   
  USA: ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’, BUT IS IT ONLY RACISM?  
  IRAN. HANDS OFF CAIN, REDUCTION OF DRUG EXECUTIONS BUT NUMBERS REMAIN WORRISOME  
  HUMAN RIGHTS: DEMONSTRATION OF THE RADICAL PARTY BEFORE IRANIAN EMBASSY 14 FEBRUARY  
news
-
latest actions
-
data base
-
actions
-
who we are
-
registered users
-
credits