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List of methods of capital punishment
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<h2 id="current-methods">Current methods</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th>Method</th><th>Description</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Hanging/U4n77YAI">Hanging</a></td><td>One of the two most prevalent methods, in use in most countries still retaining capital punishment, usually with a calculated drop to cause neck fracture and instant loss of consciousness. Used by <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Afghanistan/1VNRUHFj">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_Bahamas/0twulA5M">Bahamas</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Bangladesh/ncT6FldB">Bangladesh</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Botswana/p6ze3ojY">Botswana</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Egypt/PU3RA1fD">Egypt</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_Gaza_Strip/tze41qbb">Gaza Strip</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_India/ump2bewd">India</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Iran/YUXsw9R0">Iran</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Iraq/9vpA7xqw">Iraq</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Japan/IK4do3UW">Japan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Jordan/9wcxPSzx">Jordan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Kuwait/fxetBwYh">Kuwait</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Lebanon/g5mSKT9x">Lebanon</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Liberia/WKFtXLqN">Liberia</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Malaysia/jlAjhLAe">Malaysia</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Myanmar/JafWPueD">Myanmar</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Oman/IsozYsgM">Oman</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Pakistan/rTewP8Ev">Pakistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Saint_Kitts_and_Nevis/bCzpArfY">Saint Kitts and Nevis</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Singapore/r9VtywEY">Singapore</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_South_Sudan/4aHXm45k">South Sudan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Sudan/gETSrqmp">Sudan</a>, and <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Syria/rJ8VKbRL">Syria</a>.<ul><li>In Iran, short-drop hanging is used. This involves pulling a stool out from below the condemned. The drop is too short to cause breakage of the neck, resulting in a slower death from strangulation.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Execution_by_shooting/pGjGRBw3">Shooting</a></td><td>The other most prevalent method. Can be applied:<ul><li>By a single shot, such as a shot to the back of a head or heart, as in Afghanistan, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Belarus/Wn8fxmug">Belarus</a>, Burma, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_China/GUBzkwhm">China</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo/tDsWC3hA">DRC</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Ethiopia/fUppzj7w">Ethiopia</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Libya/X0AAusx7">Libya</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Saudi_Arabia/dc2PVVDx">Saudi Arabia</a>, Sudan, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Taiwan/DFjCEpjf">Taiwan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Yemen/zMmgKmbm">Yemen</a>, and <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Russia/aaWIEJEG">Russia</a> (before the moratorium).</li><li>By machine gun (as in <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Thailand/0xd2KTEg">Thailand</a> before the switch to lethal injection).</li><li>By <a href="/facts/Execution_by_firing_squad/toYkANJp">firing squad</a> (as in parts of the <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States/D3YCzcrL">United States</a>, <a href="/facts/Bahrain/ndXdWPhr">Bahrain</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Cuba/UhTMpQFa">Cuba</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Nigeria/gqyGzcXw">Nigeria</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_North_Korea/UuM4vhjx">North Korea</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Indonesia/h1FcQPAD">Indonesia</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Oman/IsozYsgM">Oman</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Somalia/lyJ89aR8">Somalia</a>, <a href="/facts/Somaliland/5sSah01x">Somaliland</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Tajikistan/GMBdgcVu">Tajikistan</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Qatar/azHNn12t">Qatar</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Uganda/8wGs1w7E">Uganda</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_Arab_Emirates/7eA77tQT">United Arab Emirates</a>).</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Lethal_injection/Ckyz8Nvg">Lethal injection</a></td><td>First used in the United States in 1982, lethal injection has since been adopted by China, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Guatemala/0gzuSavl">Guatemala</a>, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_Maldives/9PzgjX9x">Maldives</a>, Nigeria, Taiwan, Thailand, and <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Vietnam/AxrqAuwS">Vietnam</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Electric_chair/tchgfBBg">Electrocution</a></td><td>Only ever used by the United States and <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_the_Philippines/6gXBHPnm">Philippines</a>. Only South Carolina has it as the primary method. Now only legal in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee as a secondary method.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Inert_gas_asphyxiation/YYRwpQPU">Nitrogen hypoxia</a></td><td>Only ever used by the United States, first in 2024, nitrogen hypoxia has since been adopted by Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma as a secondary method.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Gas_chamber/5lVDJXVy">Gas chamber</a></td><td>Only ever used by the United States and <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Lithuania/FaTUsz7G">Lithuania</a>. Now only legal in Arizona, California, Missouri, and Wyoming as a secondary method.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Decapitation/Mbe8UAeF">Decapitation</a></td><td>Used at various points in history in many countries. One of the most famous methods was the <a href="/facts/Guillotine/E6SUBNJF">guillotine</a>. Now only used in Saudi Arabia with a sword.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Stoning/5C5FMDbB">Stoning</a></td><td>The victim is battered by stones thrown by a group of people, with the injuries leading to death. It is legal in Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Mauritania/0PNyFnu9">Mauritania</a>, Northern Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen.</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="former-methods">Former methods</h2> <p>Many of the former methods combine execution with torture, often intending to make a spectacle of pain and suffering with overtones of <a href="/facts/Sadistic_personality_disorder/eRwaBzjD">sadism</a>, cruelty, intimidation, and <a href="/facts/Dehumanisation/bp0VlKGF">dehumanisation</a>, at times aimed at attempting to deter the commission of offences. </p> <table><tbody><tr><th>Method</th><th>Description</th></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Animal/4b8J33nd">Animals</a></td><td><ul><li><a href="/facts/Execution_by_elephant/aWb0qNlH">Crushing by elephant</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a></li><li>Biting by animals, as in <i><a href="/facts/Damnatio_ad_bestias/x2YpSpbU">damnatio ad bestias</a></i> (i.e., the <a href="/facts/Clich%C3%A9/G1HJa9k1">cliché</a>, "being thrown to the lions"), as well as <a href="/facts/Alligators/8eVwtou3">alligators</a>, <a href="/facts/Crocodile/yr24HAHf">crocodiles</a>, <a href="/facts/Piranha/618Rn526">piranhas</a>, <a href="/facts/Scorpion/clJKHDdY">scorpions</a>, <a href="/facts/Shark/rh5Cotvx">sharks</a> and <a href="/facts/Venom/2jMUVqKe">venomous</a> <a href="/facts/Snake/YhA2gcn0">snakes</a>.</li><li>Tearing apart by horses (<i>e.g.</i>, in <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">medieval</a> Europe and <a href="/facts/History_of_China/TNqRSvQ4">Imperial China</a>, with four horses; or "<a href="/facts/Dismemberment/llBqh31A">quartering</a>", with four horses, as in <i><a href="/facts/The_Song_of_Roland/mmUST355">The Song of Roland</a></i>), variant with tearing apart by camels was sometimes used in the <a href="/facts/Middle_East/8CD6pLWv">Middle East</a>.</li><li>Trampling by horses (example: <a href="/facts/Al-Musta%27sim/S5sIC4Hz">Al-Musta'sim</a>, the last <a href="/facts/Abbasid/mPeLAbXt">Abbasid</a> <a href="/facts/Caliph/qQ6hCspe">Caliph</a> in <a href="/facts/Baghdad/RbtLzzHe">Baghdad</a>).</li><li><a href="/facts/Poena_cullei/aQ1Rwer8">Poena cullei</a>, used during the Roman Empire. The victim was stuffed into a sack with a number of animals and thrown into a body of water.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Asphyxia/bahl3DJf">Asphyxia</a></td><td><ul><li><a href="/facts/Suffocation_in_ash/ehKr7Qun">Suffocation in ash</a>.</li><li><a href="/facts/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning/UyjKzy4W">Carbon monoxide poisoning</a> by burning coal in a sealed room.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a></li><li><a href="/facts/Premature_burial/vI1cWEqk">Premature burial</a>. Used for <a href="/facts/Vestal_virgins/97Idc5rI">Vestal virgins</a> who broke their vows.</li><li>By <a href="/facts/Strangulation/b8sSMTpx">strangulation</a>. The result of short-drop hanging (only used in Iran in modern times).</li><li>By <a href="/facts/Garrote/Nl8hAwsQ">garrote</a>. Used in Spain and former Spanish colonies (e.g., the Philippines).</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td>Back-breaking</td><td>A Mongolian method of execution that avoided the spilling of blood on the ground<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> (example: the Mongolian leader <a href="/facts/Jamukha/CPPyTtEa">Jamukha</a> was probably executed this way in 1206).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Blowing_from_a_gun/HHlGp3bx">Blowing from a gun</a></td><td>Tying to the mouth of a cannon, which is then fired.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Blood_eagle/bmaAwxJC">Blood eagle</a></td><td>Cutting the skin of the victim by the spine, breaking the ribs so they resembled blood-stained wings, and pulling the lungs out through the wounds in the victim's back. Possibly used by the <a href="/facts/Vikings/d0WFeQ6f">Vikings</a> (of disputed historicity).</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Death_by_boiling/S0pSQK1K">Boiling</a></td><td>Carried out using a large cauldron filled with water, oil, tar, tallow, or even molten lead.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Breaking_wheel/yMrzdANg">Breaking wheel</a></td><td>Also known as the Catherine wheel, after <a href="/facts/Catherine_of_Alexandria/be31dtxN">Catherine of Alexandria</a> who was executed by this method.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Death_by_burning/EB2Cx1sJ">Burning</a></td><td><ul><li>At the stake. Infamous as a method of execution for <a href="/facts/Heresy/1eHqC2km">heretics</a> and <a href="/facts/Witchcraft/kdbQwmBD">witches</a>. A slower method of applying single pieces of burning wood was used by <a href="/facts/Indigenous_peoples_of_North_America/LG2r6wXm">Native Americans</a> to torture their captives to death.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li><li>Molten metal. <a href="/facts/Marcus_Licinius_Crassus/2YRp9fTf">Marcus Licinius Crassus</a> and <a href="/facts/Pavlo_Pavliuk/ISVMHhXy">Pavlo Pavliuk</a> were supposedly killed this way. The execution method is associated with counterfeits (by pouring down the neck) or traitors (by pouring on the head).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li><li><a href="/facts/Brazen_bull/88ExMtNH">Brazen bull</a>. The victim was put inside an iron bull statue and then cooked alive after a fire was lit under it (of disputed historicity).</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Crushing_(execution)/ENhgsLzh">Crushing</a></td><td>By a weight, abruptly or as a slow ordeal. <a href="/facts/Giles_Corey/EAUt79al">Giles Corey</a> and John Darren Caymo were killed this way.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Dismemberment/llBqh31A">Dismemberment</a></td><td>Used as punishment for <a href="/facts/High_treason/lqT6ECtV">high treason</a> in the <a href="/facts/Ancien_r%C3%A9gime/4pCsWuFK">Ancien régime</a>; also used by several others countries at various points in history.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Execution_by_drowning/6RJuqmRu">Drowning</a></td><td>Execution by drowning is attested very early in history, by a large variety of cultures, and as the method of execution for many different offences.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Drawing_and_quartering/zYgsNN17">Drawing and quartering</a></td><td>English method of execution for <a href="/facts/High_treason/lqT6ECtV">high treason</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Falling_(execution)/bk09oc6j">Falling</a></td><td>The victim is thrown off a height or into a hollow (example: the <i>Barathron</i> in Athens, into which the Athenian generals condemned for their part in the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Arginusae/RcaUVasa">battle of Arginusae</a> were cast).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> In Argentina during the <a href="/facts/Dirty_War/WP373D9c">Dirty War</a>, those <a href="/facts/Forced_disappearance/9hKI94ns">secretly abducted</a> were later drugged and <a href="/facts/Death_flights/rhA7XPzK">thrown from an airplane into the ocean</a>.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Flaying/D555cplH">Flaying</a></td><td>The removal of the entire skin.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Impalement/a0mz3Pzs">Impalement</a></td><td>The penetration of the body by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by complete or partial perforation of the torso.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Keelhauling/QK54Aw6o">Keelhauling</a></td><td>European maritime punishment of dragging the victim against the barnacles on a ship (not usually intended to be lethal).</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Poisoning/oKDkhLbz">Poisoning</a></td><td>Before modern times, sayak (사약, 賜藥) was the method used for nobles (<i><a href="/facts/Yangban/1gecWmHy">yangban</a></i>) and royals during the <a href="/facts/Joseon_Dynasty/Vv7SVEfL">Joseon Dynasty</a> in <a href="/facts/Korea/cj2kDBzc">Korea</a> due to the <a href="/facts/Confucianist/Nlbwgmxw">Confucianist</a> belief that one may kill a <a href="/facts/Seonbi/mEFyN5tN">seonbi</a> but may not insult him (사가살불가욕, 士可殺不可辱). Poisoning by drinking an infusion of <a href="/facts/Conium_maculatum/DdT2tfqx">hemlock</a> was used as a method of execution in Ancient Greece (e.g., the <a href="/facts/Trial_of_Socrates/BLbWzQYz">death of Socrates</a>).</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Death_by_sawing/dL3uRhG9">Sawing</a></td><td>Practiced by sawing or cutting a victim in half, either sagittally (usually midsagittally), or transversely.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Scaphism/BpKkWSUC">Scaphism</a></td><td>An Ancient <a href="/facts/Persian_Empire/avlzWxF0">Persian</a> method of execution in which the condemned was placed in between two boats, force-fed a mixture of milk and honey, and left floating in a stagnant pond. The victim would then suffer from severe diarrhoea, which would attract insects that would burrow and nest in the victim, eventually causing death from <a href="/facts/Sepsis/n52bkffJ">sepsis</a>. Of disputed historicity.</td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Slow_slicing/TvT9Lgku">Slow slicing</a></td><td>The methodical removal of portions of the body over an extended period of time, usually with a knife, eventually resulting in death. Sometimes known as "death by a thousand cuts".<ul><li><a href="/facts/Pendulum_(torture_device)/D2hQXwlI">Pendulum</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> A machine with an axe head for a weight that slices closer to the victim's torso over time (of disputed historicity).</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><a href="/facts/Exposure/xAVuxCJ4">Exposure</a></td><td><ul><li><a href="/facts/Crucifixion/754Fyshn">Crucifixion</a>. Roping or nailing to a wooden cross or similar apparatus (such as a tree) and leaving to perish. The <a href="/facts/Crucifixion_of_Jesus/6BmdyCNg">crucifixion of Jesus</a> is the most notable instance of this method.</li><li><a href="/facts/Gibbeting/njUEe7XU">Gibbeting</a>. The victim is placed in cage hanging from a gallows-type structure in a public location and left to die to deter other existing or potential criminals.</li><li><a href="/facts/Immurement/yTKuxC6F">Immurement</a>. The confinement of the victim by walling in. Though this was also used as a form of imprisonment for life, in which case, the victim was usually fed and watered.</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_in_Judaism/bkmBg2UW">Capital punishment in Judaism</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/index.cfm">Death Penalty Worldwide:</a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131113215756/http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/index.cfm">Archived</a> 2013-11-13 at the <a href="/facts/Wayback_Machine/nmQ3a6JC">Wayback Machine</a> Academic research database on the laws, practice, and statistics of capital punishment for every death penalty country in the world.</li> <li><a href="https://23news.co/this-kind-of-horrific-punishment-in-ancient-times-the-person-who-was-punished-died-with-a-smile-on-his-face-it-was-mostly-used-to-punish-cheating/">Smile of death:</a> China History Punishment</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"This Won't Hurt a Bit: A Painlessly Short (and Incomplete) Evolution of Execution". neatorama.com. <a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/29/this-wont-hurt-a-bit-a-painlessly-short-and-incomplete-evolution-of-execution/" target="_blank">http://www.neatorama.com/2007/05/29/this-wont-hurt-a-bit-a-painlessly-short-and-incomplete-evolution-of-execution/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Penney, David G. (2000) Carbon Monoxide Toxicity, CRC Press, p. 5, ISBN 0-8493-2065-8. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=XsnPIfP0oBcC&pg=PA5" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=XsnPIfP0oBcC&pg=PA5</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Saunders, J. J. (1 March 2001). The History of the Mongol Conquests. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 53. ISBN 0812217667 – via Google Books. <a href="0812217667" target="_blank">0812217667</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>The Secret History of the Mongols, book 8, chapter 201. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Frederick Drimmer (ed.) "Captured by the Indians - 15 Firsthand Accounts, 1750-1870", Dover Publications, Mineola, N.Y., 1985. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Here is what happened during an execution by molten gold | Smart News | Smithsonian Magazine". <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-what-happened-people-who-were-executed-having-molten-gold-poured-down-their-throat-180951695/" target="_blank">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/heres-what-happened-people-who-were-executed-having-molten-gold-poured-down-their-throat-180951695/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Xenophon, "Hellenica", book I, chapter VII. <a href="/wiki/Xenophon" target="_blank">/wiki/Xenophon</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>R.D. Melville (1905), "The Use and Forms of Judicial Torture in England and Scotland," The Scottish Historical Review, vol. 2, p. 228; Geoffrey Abbott (2006) Execution: the guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts, the Spanish Donkey, and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death, MacMillan, ISBN 0-312-35222-0, p. 213. Both of these refer to the use of the pendulum (pendola) by inquisitorial tribunals. Melville, however, refers only to its use as a torture method, while Abbott suggests that the device was purposely allowed to kill the victim if he refused to confess. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>