Editing Decapitation (section)

=== Middle East ===
==== Iran ====
[[Iran]], since the 1979 [[Islamic Revolution]], has alleged it uses beheading as one of the methods of punishment.<ref name="amnesty1990">{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/021/1990/en/ |title=Iran: Violation of Human Rights 1987–1990 |date=1 December 1990 |publisher=Amnesty International |access-date=5 November 2019 |archive-date=9 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209124547/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/021/1990/en/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/senate-bill/1082/text Text of the Iran Democracy Act] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105175426/https://www.congress.gov/bill/108th-congress/senate-bill/1082/text |date=5 November 2019 }}, [[United States Senate]]</ref>

==== Iraq ====
[[File:Assyrian military campaign in southern Mesopotamia, beheaded enemies, 7th century BC, from Nineveh, Iraq. The British Museum.jpg|thumb|Assyrian military campaign in southern Mesopotamia, beheaded enemies, 7th century BC, from Nineveh, Iraq. The British Museum.]]
Though not officially sanctioned, legal beheadings were carried out against at least 50 prostitutes and pimps under [[Saddam Hussein]] as late as 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article10190019.ab |title=Saddam halshögg 50 prostituerade |date=11 December 2000 |language=sv |trans-title=Saddam beheaded 50 prostitutes |access-date=25 February 2017 |archive-date=26 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226132339/http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article10190019.ab |url-status=live }}</ref>

Beheadings have emerged as another [[terrorism|terror]] tactic especially in Iraq since 2003.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/movies/14TERROR.html |title=The Terrorist as Auteur |first=Michael |last=Ignatieff |date=14 November 2004 |access-date=25 February 2017 |work=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=28 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528045132/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/14/movies/14TERROR.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Civilians have borne the brunt of the beheadings, although U.S. and Iraqi military personnel have also been targeted. After kidnapping the victim, the kidnappers typically make some sort of demand of the government of the hostage's nation and give a time limit for the demand to be carried out, often 72 hours. Beheading is often threatened if the government fails to heed the wishes of the hostage takers. Sometimes, the [[beheading video|beheadings are videotaped]] and made available on the Internet. One of the most publicized of such executions was that of [[Nick Berg]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Beheading video tops web searches The decapitation of American Nick Berg and the Iraq war have replaced pornography and pop stars as the main internet searches |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/5/18/beheading-video-tops-web-searches |website=[[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]] |date=18 May 2004 |access-date=26 October 2021 |archive-date=8 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608031707/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/5/18/beheading-video-tops-web-searches |url-status=live }}</ref>

Judicial execution is practiced in Iraq, but is generally carried out by [[hanging]].

==== Saudi Arabia ====
{{See also|Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia}}
Saudi Arabia has a criminal justice system based on [[Shari'ah]] law reflecting a particular state-sanctioned interpretation of Islam. Crimes such as rape, murder, apostasy, and sorcery<ref name="BBCexecutioner2">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm |title=Saudi executioner tells all |date=5 June 2003 |access-date=11 July 2011 |work=[[BBC News]] |archive-date=1 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401233508/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2966790.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> are punishable by beheading.<ref name="saudibehead2">{{cite web |url=https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-177028385/sword-of-justice-beheadings-rise-in-saudi-arabia |title=Sword of Justice? Beheadings Rise in Saudi Arabia |author-last=Weinberg |author-first=Jon |date=Winter 2008 |publisher=[[Harvard International Review]] |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=20 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320053529/https://www.questia.com/library/1G1-177028385/sword-of-justice-beheadings-rise-in-saudi-arabia }}</ref> It is usually carried out [[Public execution|publicly]] by beheading with a sword.

A public beheading will typically take place around 9am. The convicted person is walked into the square and kneels in front of the executioner. The executioner uses a sword to remove the condemned person's head from his or her body at the neck with a single strike.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/document/?indexNumber=mde23%2f004%2f1993&language=en |title=Saudi Arabia: An upsurge in public executions |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |access-date=2 August 2020 |archive-date=1 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501211651/https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/document/?indexNumber=mde23%2F004%2F1993&language=en |url-status=live }}</ref> After the convicted person is pronounced dead, a police official announces the crimes committed by the beheaded alleged criminal and the process is complete. The official might announce the same before the actual execution. This is the most common method of execution in Saudi Arabia.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/justice-sword-saudi-arabias-embrace-death-penalty-780819 |title=Justice by the Sword: Saudi Arabia's Embrace of the Death Penalty |date=11 September 2012 |work=[[International Business Times]] |access-date=5 April 2014 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407121151/http://www.ibtimes.com/justice-sword-saudi-arabias-embrace-death-penalty-780819 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[Amnesty International]], at least 79 people were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2013.<ref name="AIExecutions2013">{{cite web |url=http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/act500012014en.pdf |title=Death Sentences and Executions 2013 |publisher=[[Amnesty International]] |year=2014 |access-date=19 September 2014 |archive-date=4 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304190649/http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/act500012014en.pdf }}</ref> Foreigners are not exempt, accounting for "almost half" of executions in 2013.<ref name="AIExecutions2013"/>

In 2015 [[Ashraf Fayadh]] (born 1980), a Saudi Arabian poet, was sentenced to be beheaded, but his sentence was later reduced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes, for [[apostasy]].

==== Syria ====
The Syrian government employs hanging as [[Capital punishment in Syria|its method of capital punishment]]. However, the terrorist organisation known as the [[Islamic State]], which controlled territory in much of eastern Syria, had regularly carried out beheadings of people.<ref>{{cite news |title=Syrian Rebels used a child to behead a prisoner |url=http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2012/12/10/syrian-rebels-use-a-child-to-behead-a-prisoner/ |publisher=Human Rights Investigation |date=12 December 2012 |access-date=22 March 2013 |archive-date=6 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130406055236/http://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2012/12/10/syrian-rebels-use-a-child-to-behead-a-prisoner/ |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Syrian rebels attempting to overthrow the Syrian government have been implicated in beheadings too.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/jihadist-rebels-behead-2-syrian-soldiers-in-northern-syria/ |title=Jihadist rebels behead 2 Syrian soldiers in northern Syria |date=13 August 2019 |website=AMN – Al-Masdar News |language=en-US |access-date=14 August 2019 |archive-date=15 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815031847/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/jihadist-rebels-behead-2-syrian-soldiers-in-northern-syria/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/20/syrian-opposition-group-which-killed-child-was-in-us-vetted-alliance |title=Syrian opposition group that killed child 'was in US-vetted alliance' |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=9 April 2020 |archive-date=3 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103012949/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jul/20/syrian-opposition-group-which-killed-child-was-in-us-vetted-alliance |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=155503 |title=Nearly 45 regime and Turkish soldiers and rebels killed in shelling and violent battles on Al-Nayrab frontline, east of Idlib |date=21 February 2020 |publisher=SOHR |access-date=9 April 2020 |archive-date=11 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200311151950/http://www.syriahr.com/en/?p=155503 |url-status=live }}</ref>