Jordan has executed six convicted criminals for the first time in nearly a decade, Human Rights Watch reported on Tuesday.
“Carrying out six executions in a single morning marks a sharp return to a practice Jordan has used only sporadically since reinstating capital punishment 12 years ago,” said Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Jordan should lead the region by example on rights and protection and renew its moratorium on the death penalty.”
The six men were hanged on Sunday, a government spokesman said, according to the state news agency Petra. They had been convicted of terrorism and drug offences in cases dating from 2014 onwards, in which several security personnel were among those killed.
The executions are the first since 2017, Human Rights Watch said. It described the six hangings on the same morning as a significant escalation.
The global number of recorded executions rose sharply last year, driven in particular by executions in Iran.
Amnesty International recorded at least 2,707 executions in 17 countries in 2025. Jordan, like Iran and Egypt, carries out the death penalty by hanging.
