Execution by shooting

Execution by shooting is a method of capital punishment in which a person is shot to death by one or more firearms. It is the most common method of execution worldwide, used in about 70 countries,^[1] with execution by firing squad being one particular form.

Execution by shooting

Capital punishment

In most countries, execution by a firing squad has historically been considered a more honorable death and was used primarily for military personnel, though in some countries—among them Belarus, the only state in Europe today that has the death penalty—the single executioner shooting inherited from the Soviet past is still in use.

uses firing squads for execution.^[7]

Bahrain

In , shooting as a method of execution takes two typical formats, either a pistol shot in the back of the head or neck or a shot by a rifle in either the back or the back of the head from behind.^[1] Some more recent executions have been private and carried out using lethal injection, though shooting is still more frequently used.^[8]^[9] Hong Kong abolished the death penalty and Macau never had the death penalty prior to the handover, and neither restored it when they returned to Chinese sovereignty.

China

In , during the Mughal rule, soldiers who committed crimes were executed by being strapped to a cannon which was then fired. This was known as blowing from a gun. This method, invented by the Mughals, was continued by the British who used it to execute native deserters and mutineers, especially after the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.^[10] It is no longer practiced in the Republic of India, having been replaced by long drop hanging.

India

In , capital punishment is administered by a firing squad which aims for the heart.^[11]

Indonesia

In , capital punishment has been abolished since 2016, but the method of execution in 2012 was a bullet to the neck^[12] from a .38 caliber revolver, a method inherited from Soviet legislation (see Capital punishment in Mongolia).

Mongolia

Executions by shooting have occurred in .^[13]

Myanmar

In , executions are carried out by firing squad in public, making North Korea one of four countries that continue performing public executions.^[14]

North Korea

uses firing squads for execution.^[15]

Oman

In , the customary method is a single shot aimed at the heart (or at the brain stem, if the prisoner consents to organ donation). Before the execution, the prisoner is injected with a strong anesthetic to leave them completely senseless (see Capital punishment in Taiwan).

Taiwan

In from 1934 until 2003, a single executioner would shoot the convict in the back from a mounted machine gun.^[16]^[17] In 1979, a Thai woman named Ginggaew Lorsoungnern was executed only to wake up and walk. She was then shot a second time.^[18] Executions are now done by lethal injection.^[19]

Thailand

Shooting is the primary method of execution in the .^[20]

United Arab Emirates

Shooting is the primary method of execution in .^[21]

Yemen

Shooting is used in , but beheadings are more common.

Saudi Arabia

Before 2011, used firing squad for execution. Since 2011, Vietnam has used lethal injection as the main form of death penalty.

Execution by shooting