Reference · International
FS-2026-ID-0001
The company
Idaho keeps.
Eleven nations still shoot prisoners as a matter of law in 2026. This is who they are — and where the United States now stands among them.
China
ActiveFiring squad remains a legal method alongside lethal injection. Total execution figures are classified as a state secret; Amnesty International estimates thousands annually.
Belarus
ActiveSole European country retaining capital punishment. Executions are carried out by a single shot to the back of the head. Families are typically not notified in advance.
North Korea
ActivePublic and non-public firing squad executions documented by UN Commission of Inquiry (2014) and subsequent reports.
Saudi Arabia
ActivePrimarily beheading; firing squad used in specific military and terrorism-related cases.
Somalia
ActiveFiring squad used by military tribunals and the Federal Government of Somalia; multiple executions annually.
Yemen
ActiveFiring squad remains a statutory method under Yemeni criminal law.
United Arab Emirates
ActiveRetained as a legal method though rarely used.
Indonesia
ActiveSole legal method of execution. Used most recently against foreign nationals convicted of drug trafficking in 2015 and 2016.
Vietnam
Abandoned 2011Replaced firing squad with lethal injection in 2011.
Taiwan
ActiveExecutions carried out by a single shot; the condemned is anaesthetized first.
United States
ActiveFive states retain the firing squad by statute; Idaho made it primary July 1, 2026. Separately, the Army has scheduled Hasan’s military execution for December 3 at Fort Hood, with a proposed livestream. Neither the execution nor broadcast has occurred as of October 14.
Countries that abolished execution by firing squad
The Council of Europe reference
"The death penalty has no place in Europe."
— Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, 2002. Ratified by every Council of Europe member state except Belarus, which is not a member.