Foreigners Under
Sentence of
Death Worldwide
For detailed
data
regarding death-sentenced foreign nationals in the United States,
please visit
the Death Penalty Information Center's Foreign
Nationals home page.
The data for
other
nations are very tentative: many retentionist countries do not release
official
statistics on death sentences, the size of death row or the number of
executions. Entries for foreign nationals are derived mainly from media
accounts or reports by human rights monitoring organizations such as
Amnesty
International.
Death
sentences for
foreign nationals outside of the USA are most commonly imposed for drug
offenses, particularly in countries where the death penalty is
mandatory for
importing illegal drugs. In most of these countries, compliance with
consular
notification provisions under the VCCR ranges from infrequent to
non-existent.
If you are
aware of
other cases that should be included, please contact me.
Many
thanks to death
penalty researcher Karen Hooper for extensively reorganizing and
expanding this
table.
|
|
|||
|
COUNTRY |
REPORTED DEATH ROW POPULATION |
REPORTED FOREIGN NATIONALS |
PAST EXECUTIONS OF FOREIGNERS |
|
Bahrain |
unknown |
1 Ethiopian woman (2002, pending?) |
|
|
Bangladesh |
860 |
likely to include Indian nationals, others |
|
|
Botswana |
4 |
|
1 South African woman (2001) |
|
Brunei Darussalam |
unknown |
4 Malaysian nationals (2001, 2003) |
|
|
Burundi |
533 |
4 Rwandese |
|
|
Chad |
20 |
|
1 Sudanese (2003) |
|
China |
unknown; at least 1,600 death sentences in 2003 |
3 Japanese (2007), at least 1 South Korean (2002), 2 Nepali, others |
1 South Korean (2001), nationals of Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Hong Kong, probably others |
|
Cuba |
approx. 50 |
3 Salvadorans (2006) |
|
|
Egypt |
unknown |
reportedly many foreigners, for drug offenses |
Numerous, including 4 Sudanese, 2 Bangladeshis, 1 Somali, 1 Tanzanian, 1 Indian (all 1994) |
|
Ethiopia |
up to 100 |
5 Somalis (2002, pending) |
|
|
India |
up to 1,140 |
several Sri Lankans
and Pakistanis reported, possibly others |
|
|
Indonesia |
over 90 |
reports of 29 foreigners: Nigeria (8), Australia (6), Thailand (3), Malaysia (2), Brazil (1) Sierra Leone (1), Senegal (1), Nepal (1), Pakistan (1), Ghana (1), South Africa (1), Malawi (1), Netherlands (1), Zimbabwe (1) |
1 Malaysian (1995), 1 Indian, 2 Thais (2004) |
|
Iran |
unknown |
Likely to include Iraqis, Afghanis, other nationals from neighboring countries |
3 Afghanis (200 |
|
Iraq |
unknown |
|
1 Jordanian, for espionage (2000) |
|
Japan |
110 |
China (2), Malaysia
(1), Korea (1) |
|
|
Jordan |
at least 16 |
|
1 Palestinian (2002), 1 Iraqi (2003), 1 Palestinian (2003) |
|
Kuwait |
at least 30 |
Saudis, probably other nationalities |
1 Indian woman (2001), 3 Bangladeshis (2002), 2 Saudis, 2 Sri Lankans (2004), I Indian (2006) |
|
Libya |
unknown |
1 Ghanaian, 4 Nigerians (one sentenced in
absentia, 2001) |
|
|
Malaysia |
at least 159 |
reportedly Filipinos, Indonesians and other nationalities |
1 Australian, 1 Australian/UK (1986), 1
Australian (1993), 1 Singaporean (1994) |
|
Oman |
unknown |
2 Pakistanis (2001), 1 U.S. national
(female), sentenced 07/18/04 |
4 (nationality unknown, 2001) |
|
Pakistan |
7,436 |
1 Indian reported, probably includes nationals of other neighboring countries |
1 Afghan (2001) |
|
Qatar |
at least 19 |
1 Saudi (2001), 1 Jordanian (2002) |
3 Indians (2000) |
|
Saudi Arabia |
unknown |
many nationalities |
Over 200 reported in recent years. In 1995,
4 Turks. In 1999, at least 53, including 15 Pakistanis, 10 Nigerians
(three of them women), 9 Afghans, 6 Indians, as well as nationals of
Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Syria, Jordan, Ethiopia, Chad and
Yemen. |
|
Singapore |
unknown |
1 Australian, reported Malaysians, Thais and Indonesians, probably other nationalities |
At least 100, including Filipina (1995), 2 Pakistanis (2002), 1 Malaysian (2003), 1 Indian (2003) as well as migrant workers from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Ghana, the Netherlands, Britain and Portugal. |
|
Swaziland |
at least 3 |
1 South African (2003) |
|
|
Thailand |
more than 1,000 |
2 Israelis reported, 2 Chinese, also nationals from Ghana, Laos, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Singapore |
3 (?) Myanmar nationals (1999, 2000, 2001), 1 Hong Kong national and 1 Taiwanese (both 2001) |
|
United Arab Emirates |
unknown |
Numerous, including 7 Indians, 5 Pakistanis, 2 Iranians, 1 Filipina, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Russian, 1 Afghan (2000) |
2 Pakistanis (1998, 1999), 1 Sri Lankan (1999), 1 Yemeni (2002) |
|
United States |
3,350 (Jan. 2007) |
125, representing 33 nationalities |
21, since 1988: Mexico(5); Germany (2); Viet Nam (2); Cuba (2); Guyana (1); Phillipines (1); Dominican Republic (1); Canada (1); Paraguay (1); Thailand (1); South Africa (1); Iraq (1); Pakistan (1); Honduras (1). |
|
Uzbekistan |
several hundred |
1 Russian (2001) |
|
|
Viet Nam |
unknown; at least 103 death sentences in 2003 |
almost certainly |
1 Hong Kong (UK) (1995); dual nationals, including 1 Canadian (2000) |
|
Yemen |
several hundred |
1 Spaniard, 1 Ukrainian, 1 Russian, probably
others |
|
Reported
Commutations of Foreign Nationals' Death Sentences
|
|
|
|
COUNTRY OF SENTENCING |
NATIONALITY |
|
Indonesia |
1 Thai (sentenced in 1988, commuted in 1998) |
|
Iran |
1 Pakistani or Afghan juvenile (2001, sentence later commuted). |
|
Japan |
1 Nepali (eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, 2000) |
|
Oman |
1 Filipino, sentenced in 1999, pardoned in 2001. |
|
Philippines |
1 Briton, released in 1999 |
|
Saudi Arabia |
1 Briton and 1 Canadian (2002, sentences later commuted) |
|
Swaziland |
1 South African (sentence commuted in 2001) |
|
Tanzania |
2 Russians (2002, intervention of Russian authorities, sentences later commuted) |
|
United Arab Emirates |
1 Indonesian woman (2000, later commuted); one 14 year-old Pakistani, sentenced in 1990 and pardoned in 2000) |
|
United States of America |
3 Mexicans, 1 Pole, 1
Belizean (Illinois, 2003); 1 Mexican (Oklahoma, 2004) |
|
Philippines |
17 reported, nationality unknown (part of mass commutation, April 2006) |
|
Libya |
5 Bulgarians, 1 Palestinian (July 2007) |
Last updated: 12 December 2007