Country-specific information

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has published a number of guides offering information and advice following the murder, manslaughter or death in suspicious circumstances of British citizens in the following countries:

The guides cover topics such as: post-mortems (autopsies); organ retention; burial, cremation or repatriation; police investigations; and foreign judicial process.

Countries with the death penalty

If a murder occurs in a country which has the death penalty, families face added barriers in their fight for justice. The FCDO's ability to assist a British family is often severely restricted if the crime occurred in one of these countries:

  1. Algeria

  2. Botswana

  3. Cameroon

  4. Central African Republic

  5. Chad (abolished for terrorism in 2020)

  6. Comoros

  7. Democratic Republic of the Congo

  8. Egypt

  9. Equatorial Guinea

  10. Eritrea

  11. Eswatini (Swaziland)

  12. Ethiopia

  13. Gambia

  14. Ghana

  15. Lesotho

  16. Liberia

  17. Libya

  18. Malawi

  19. Mali

  20. Mauritania

  21. Morocco

  22. Nigeria

  23. Sierra Leone

  24. Somalia

  25. South Sudan

  26. Sudan

  27. Tanzania

  28. Tunisia

  29. Uganda

  30. Zambia

  31. Zimbabwe


  32. Antigua and Barbuda

  33. Bahamas

  34. Barbados

  35. Belize

  36. Cuba

  37. Dominica

  38. Grenada

  39. Guyana

  40. Jamaica

  41. Saint Kitts and Nevis

  42. Saint Lucia

  43. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

  44. Trinidad and Tobago

  45. United States (27 of the 50 states currently have the death penalty, though some are under moratorium or have not conducted any executions in decades)


  46. Afghanistan

  47. Bahrain

  48. Bangladesh

  49. Brunei

  50. China

  51. India

  52. Indonesia

  53. Iran

  54. Iraq

  55. Japan

  56. Jordan

  57. North Korea

  58. Kuwait

  59. Laos

  60. Lebanon

  61. Malaysia

  62. Maldives

  63. Oman

  64. Pakistan

  65. Palestine

  66. Qatar

  67. Saudi Arabia

  68. Singapore

  69. Syria

  70. Taiwan

  71. Tajikistan

  72. Thailand

  73. UAE

  74. Vietnam

  75. Yemen


  76. Belarus

  77. Russia (death penalty is retained, but rarely used)


  78. Papua New Guinea

  79. Tonga


In addition, there are several ‘unrecognised’ states who have introduced the death penalty.

As reported in The Telegraph in September 2016, four countries considered to be industrialised still routinely execute criminals: the US, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. The most recent countries to abolish all capital punishment are Guinea (2016), Nauru (2016), Congo (2015), Suriname (2015), Fiji (2015), Madagascar (2012), Latvia (2012) and Gabon (2010).  Kenya abolished the mandatory death penalty for murder in 2017.