Crucifixion

== Modern use ==
[[File:Punishment china 1900.jpg|thumb|220px|Prisoner kneeling on chains, thumbs supporting arms, photographic print on [[Stereoscope|stereo card]], [[Shenyang|Mukden]], China (c.&nbsp;1906)]]

=== Legal execution in Islamic states ===
Crucifixion is still used as a rare method of execution in Saudi Arabia. The punishment of crucifixion (''șalb'') imposed in Islamic law is variously interpreted as exposure of the body after execution, crucifixion followed by stabbing in the chest, or crucifixion for three days, survivors of which are allowed to live.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7EAsmttzXjcC&pg=PA37|first=Rudolph|last=Peters|title=Crime and Punishment in Islamic Law|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-1-139-44534-4|pages=37–38}}</ref>

Several people have been subjected to crucifixion in [[Saudi Arabia]] in the 2000s, although on occasion they were first beheaded and then crucified. In March 2013, a robber was set to be executed by being crucified for three days.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news|last=AP|title=Saudi seven face crucifixion and firing squad for armed robbery|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/05/saudi-seven-crucifixion-armed-robbery|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=5 March 2013|access-date=3 November 2017}}</ref> However, the method was changed to death by firing squad.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Mar 18 |first1=Ali AlAhmed Published on |title=The execution of the Saudi Seven – iPolitics |url=https://ipolitics.ca/2013/03/18/the-execution-of-the-saudi-seven/ |access-date=14 April 2019}}</ref> The Saudi Press Agency reported that the body of another individual was crucified after his execution in April 2019 as part of a crackdown on charges of terrorism.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Qiblawi |first1=Tamara |last2=Alhenawi |first2=Ruba |title=Saudi Arabia executes 37 people, crucifying one, for terror-related crimes |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/23/middleeast/saudi-executions-terror-intl/index.html |access-date=April 23, 2019 |work=CNN |date=April 23, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Saudi Arabia executes dozens on 'terrorism' charges |url=https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/1556032383-saudi-arabia-executes-dozens-on-terrorism-charges |access-date=April 23, 2019 |date=April 23, 2019 |work=I24 News}}</ref>

[[Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr]] was arrested in 2012 when he was 17 years old for taking part in an [[2011–12 Saudi Arabian protests|anti-government protest]] in Saudi Arabia during the [[Arab Spring]].<ref>"[http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16487&LangID=E Saudi Arabia must immediately halt execution of children – UN rights experts urge]". [[Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights]]. 22 September 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2017.</ref> In May 2014, Ali al-Nimr was sentenced to be publicly beheaded and crucified.<ref>"[https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/saudi-arabia-beheading-crucifixion-nimr/407221/ When Beheading Won’t Do the Job, the Saudis Resort to Crucifixion]". ''[[The Atlantic]]''. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2017.</ref>

Theoretically, crucifixion is still one of the [[Hadd]] punishments in [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyccriminallawyer.com/Iran_Criminal_Code_in_English.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328104820/https://www.nyccriminallawyer.com/Iran_Criminal_Code_in_English.pdf |archive-date=2016-03-28 |url-status=live|title=Iran's Islamic Criminal Law, Article 195|website=nyccriminallawyer.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://revcurentjur.ro/arhiva/attachments_201003/recjurid103_13F.pdf |title=The Sanctions of the Islamic Criminal Law |access-date=2010-12-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110826030747/http://revcurentjur.ro/arhiva/attachments_201003/recjurid103_13F.pdf |archive-date=2011-08-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> If a crucified person were to survive three days of crucifixion, that person would be allowed to live.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/7863/3/Case_Study_in_Iranian_Criminal_system.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/7863/3/Case_Study_in_Iranian_Criminal_system.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Case Study in Iranian Criminal System|website=uni-muenchen.de}}</ref> Execution by hanging is described as follows: "In execution by hanging, the prisoner will be hung on a hanging truss which should look like a cross, while his (her) back is toward the cross, and (s)he faces the direction of [[Mecca]] [in Saudi Arabia], and his (her) legs are vertical and distant from the ground."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mehr.org/jazaa.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://mehr.org/jazaa.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=''Judicial Law on Retaliation, Stoning, Execution, Crucifixion, Hanging and Whipping'', section 5, article 24|website=mehr.org}}</ref>

[[Sudan]]'s [[penal code]], based upon the government's interpretation of [[shari'a]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1988-10-14/news/8802070300_1_sharia-law-fundamentalists-sudanese-citizens|title=MOSLEM CODE LOOMS IN SUDAN|first=Tom Masland, Chicago|last=Tribune|website=chicagotribune.com|date=14 October 1988 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/afr54/021/1991/es/|title=Amnesty International, Document AFR 54/21/91|website=amnesty.org|date=4 November 1991 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=Sudan| title = Death Penalty Worldwide: Sudan| access-date = 2013-09-16| archive-date = 2018-10-03| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181003004328/http://www.deathpenaltyworldwide.org/country-search-post.cfm?country=Sudan| url-status = dead}}</ref> includes execution followed by crucifixion as a penalty. When, in 2002, 88 people were sentenced to death for crimes relating to murder, armed robbery, and participating in ethnic clashes, [[Amnesty International]] wrote that they could be executed by either hanging or crucifixion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr54/013/2002/en/|title=Sudan: Imminent Execution/Torture/Unfair trial &#124; Amnesty International|publisher=Web.amnesty.org|date=2002-07-17|access-date=2009-12-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071203091152/http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/ENGAFR540132002|archive-date=December 3, 2007|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Jihadism ===
On 5 February 2015, the United Nations [[Committee on the Rights of the Child]] (CRC) reported that the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] (ISIL) had committed "several cases of mass executions of boys, as well as reports of beheadings, crucifixions of children and burying children alive".<ref>{{cite news|last=CBS News|title=ISIS is killing, torturing and raping children in Iraq, U.N. says|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/isis-is-killing-torturing-and-raping-children-in-iraq-u-n-says/|access-date=11 February 2015}}</ref>

On 30 April 2014, a total of seven public executions were carried out in [[Raqqa]], northern [[Syria]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Death and desecration in Syria: Jihadist group 'crucifies' bodies to send message |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/01/world/meast/syria-bodies-crucifixions/index.html?hpt=hp_c1|access-date=May 2, 2014|agency=CNN/Associated Press|date=May 2, 2014}}</ref> The pictures, originally posted to [[Twitter]] by a student at [[Oxford University]], were retweeted by a Twitter account owned by a known member of ISIL causing major media outlets to incorrectly attribute the origin of the post to the militant group.<ref name=TDB-Extremists>{{cite news|last=Siegel|first=Jacob|title=Islamic Extremists Now Crucifying People in Syria—and Tweeting Out the Pictures|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/30/islamic-extremists-now-crucifying-people-in-syria-and-tweeting-out-the-pictures.html|access-date=14 July 2014|work=[[The Daily Beast]]|date=30 April 2014|quote=CORRECTION: This story misidentified the origin of a tweet and attributed it to an ISIS member when it actually came from Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, a student at Oxford University who has no affiliation with ISIS. We regret the error.}}</ref> In most of these cases of crucifixion the victims are shot first then their bodies are displayed<ref name="CNN crucifixion">{{cite news|last1=Almasy|first1=Steve|title=Group: ISIS 'crucifies' men in public in Syrian towns|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/29/world/meast/syria-reported-crucifixions/|access-date=30 June 2014|agency=CNN|date=29 June 2014}}</ref> but there have also been reports of crucifixion preceding shootings or decapitations<ref>{{cite news|title=ISIS terror in and around Rojava, March–April 2014|url=http://kurdistantribune.com/2014/isis-terror-around-rojava-marchapril-diary-of-death/|access-date=30 June 2014|publisher=Kurdistan Times|date=13 April 2014}}</ref> as well as a case where a man was said to have been "crucified alive for eight hours" with no indication of whether he died.<ref name="CNN crucifixion" />

=== Other incidents ===
The human rights group Karen Women Organization documented a case of [[Tatmadaw]] forces crucifying several [[Karen people|Karen]] villagers in 2000 in the [[Dooplaya District]] in [[Burma]]'s [[Kayin State]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.karenwomen.org/Reports/WalkingAmongstSharpKnives.pdf|title=Walking amongst sharp knives|date=February 2010|publisher=Karen Women Organization|access-date=19 April 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110421224711/http://www.karenwomen.org/Reports/WalkingAmongstSharpKnives.pdf|archive-date=21 April 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/investigation/35194/regime-human-rights|title=Regime's human rights abuses go unpunished|date=28 March 2010|work=[[Bangkok Post]]|access-date=19 April 2011}}</ref>

On 22 January 2014, [[Dmytro Bulatov]], a Ukrainian anti-government activist and member of [[AutoMaidan]], claimed to have been kidnapped by unknown persons "speaking in Russian accents" and tortured for a week. His captors kept him in the dark, beat him, cut off a piece of his ear, and nailed him to a cross. His captors ultimately left him in a forest outside [[Kyiv]] after forcing him to confess to being an [[United States|American]] spy and accepting money from the US Embassy in [[Ukraine]] to organize [[Euromaidan|protests]] against then-President [[Viktor Yanukovych]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Walker|first=Oksana Grytsenko Shaun|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/31/ukrainian-protester-kidnapped-tortured-kiev-bulatov|title=Ukrainian protester says he was kidnapped and tortured|date=2014-01-31|work=The Guardian|access-date=2020-04-05|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Blair|first=David|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10609310/Ukraine-protest-leader-crucified-and-mutilated-after-being-abducted.html|title=Ukraine protest leader 'crucified and mutilated' after being abducted|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2014-01-31|access-date=2020-04-05|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-activist-dmytro-bulatov-kidnapped-tortured-and-left-to-die-9098770.html|title=Ukraine activist Dmytro Bulatov 'kidnapped, tortured and left to die'|date=2014-01-31|website=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2020-04-05}}</ref> Bulatov said he believed Russian secret services were responsible.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chivers|first=C. J.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/world/europe/a-kiev-question-what-became-of-the-missing.html|title=A Kiev Question: What Became of the Missing?|date=2014-03-09|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-05|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In 1997, the [[Ministry of Justice (United Arab Emirates)|Ministry of Justice]] in the [[United Arab Emirates]] issued a statement that a court had sentenced two murderers to be crucified, to be followed by their executions the next day.<ref>{{cite news |date=23 October 2011 |title=Crucifixion for UAE murderers |work=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/crucifixion-for-uae-murderers-1238085.html |access-date=30 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=September 1997 |title=UAE: Fear of imminent crucifixion and execution |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE25/010/1997/en |access-date=3 November 2017 |work=Amnesty International}}</ref> A Ministry of Justice official later stated that the crucifixion sentence should be considered cancelled.<ref>{{cite news |date=8 September 1997 |title=Crucifixion sentence is cancelled |newspaper=The Irish Times |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crucifixion-sentence-is-cancelled-1.104153 |access-date=30 April 2021}}</ref> The crucifixions were not carried out, and the convicts were instead executed by [[firing squad]].<ref>{{cite web |date=September 1997 |title=UAE: Further information on fear of imminent crucifixion and execution |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE25/011/1997/en |access-date=3 November 2017 |work=Amnesty International}}</ref>