If the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, proceeds with plans to livestream the execution of a soldier radicalized to extremist Islam, who killed 13 people at a military base in Texas, the US would join a group of lesser powers and rogue actors known for public executions in recent years.
Currently, only Iran and Afghanistan systematically carry out capital sentences in public. In 2025, the Taliban executed six such individuals, while Tehran conducted 11, according to Amnesty International. The Taliban also executed four men accused of murder in public sports stadiums last April, a practice reminiscent of their rule in the 1990s, claiming a due court process was followed.
In July, two men accused of killing policemen were hanged publicly in Isfahan, Iran. Human rights monitors have reported around 30 public executions in Iran over the last five years, with an increase following popular unrest and ongoing conflict with the US and Israel. Historically, many hangings in Iran have used a crane as a makeshift gallows.
Saudi Arabia appears to have discontinued public executions after years of beheading criminals in Riyadh and other cities.
Legal experts and historians suggest public executions serve various purposes. They can reassure communities about the punishment of criminals, especially when the rule of law is uncertain. Additionally, these spectacles can intimidate populations through fear.
Armed militant groups often use public executions to assert authority. Islamic State, which controlled parts of Iraq and Syria between 2014 and 2019, conducted thousands of executions, many public or recorded to terrorize and radicalize. In October 2025, Hamas executed six men in Gaza for alleged collaboration with Israel, echoing a similar event in 2017.
The execution of Maj. Nidal Hasan, a former army psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, would mark the first public execution in the US in many decades. Public executions in the US largely ceased in the 1930s. However, some survivors and victims' relatives were permitted to witness Timothy McVeigh's 2001 execution by lethal injection for the Oklahoma City bombing.
Hasan's execution is scheduled for December 3. Hegseth has indicated it would occur at Fort Hood using firearms, mirroring Hasan's attack. Hasan may appeal within the civilian federal court system, potentially delaying the execution.
In 2025, Amnesty International recorded 2,707 executions worldwide, the highest since 1981, with a significant increase from the previous year, mainly due to Iran's actions. Amnesty criticized the use of the death penalty to assert control and project state power, noting a trend in countries where authorities restrict civic freedoms and disregard international human rights standards.
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