UN: Islamic State Committing Atrocities on an "Industrial Scale"

June 22, 2015: The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in counter-terrorism, Ben Emmerson, says people in areas controlled by the Islamic State group live in daily fear for their lives.

He cited mounting evidence the group was guilty of "systematic violations of international law that could amount to genocide, crimes against humanity, (and) war crimes", and criticised Russia and China for vetoing UN Security Council resolutions to refer the war in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Mr Emmerson said IS was breaking international law on "an industrial scale", attacking ethnic minorities, academics, journalists and homosexuals and imposing a reign of terror in the areas it controls.

He also added that the US-led bombing coalition, which includes Australia, should do more to investigate mounting reports of civilian casualties and publish the results.

The Islamic State group hanged two youths Monday (June 21) after accusing them of eating during daylight hours in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said.

“Residents of the village of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province reported that IS hanged (see story below) from a crossbar two boys aged under 18 near the HQ of the Hissba,” the jihadist police, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

“The children have been suspended by ropes from a pole since noon, and they were still there in the late evening,” he said.

“Apparently, they were caught eating.”

A placard was attached to the bodies reading “They broke the fast with no religious justification”.

Throughout the month of Ramadan, which began on June 18, believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset.

Sources: AFP-JIJI-abc.net.au, HOC, June 22, 2015

Isis suspends two boys from pole in Syria for eating during Ramadan – report

Isis made two youths hang from a beam by their wrists on Monday after accusing them of eating during daylight hours in the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said.

“Residents of the village of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province reported that Isis suspended from a crossbar two boys aged under 18 near the headquarters of the Hissba [jihadi police]”, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

“The children have been suspended by ropes from a pole since noon, and they were still there in the late evening,” he said.

“Apparently, they were caught eating.”

A placard was attached to them: “They broke the fast with no religious justification.”

Throughout the month of Ramadan, which began on Thursday, believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking and having sex from dawn until sunset.

Isis, which controls swathes of territory across Syria and Iraq where it has created a self-proclaimed caliphate, advocates an extreme view of the application of Islamic law.

This article was amended on Tuesday 23 June 2015 following a correction issued by Agence France-Presse. The original article stated that the two boys had been hanged.

Source: The Guardian, June 22/23, 2015

ISIS drowns, decapitates ‘spies’ in brutal new video

ISIS militants murdered 5 men by drowning them in a cage

The men killed in the latest video are said to be “spies”, with some of them making recorded “confessions”.

Baghdad— Daesh group video released on Tuesday showed the militants murdering 16 men by drowning them in a cage, decapitating them with explosives and firing a rocket-propelled grenade into a car.

The video, apparently shot in Iraq’s Nineveh province, was one of the most brutal yet in a series released by the militants of killings of opponents in areas under Daesh control.

Daesh has executed hundreds of people by gunfire, dozens by beheading, stoned some to death, thrown others from buildings and burned a captured Jordanian pilot alive.

Videos of the killings are a key propaganda tool of the militants, used to shock and terrify their enemies as well as to draw in new recruits seeking the most brutal and active militant group.

The men killed in the latest video are said to be “spies”, with some of them making recorded “confessions”.

First, the militants lead four men to a car and close the doors, after which one fires a rocket-propelled grenade under the vehicle, setting it alight.

A militant is later shown locking five men inside a metal cage, which is then lifted by a crane and submerged in what appears to be a dirty swimming pool.

Two cameras affixed to the outside of the cage show the men’s deaths in the murky water.

The last killings show a militant looping blue detonating cord around the necks of seven kneeling men, after which the explosives are set off and some of the men are decapitated.

Daesh spearheaded an offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and also holds significant territory in neighbouring Syria.

Its military gains and atrocities drew a US-led coalition of countries to launch an air campaign against it last year, as well as to provide training and arms to Iraqi forces.

Source: Agence France-Presse, June 24, 2015

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Alabama executes Jeremy Williams

Tennessee and Oklahoma have put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other, and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men in one day. Tennessee and Oklahoma put inmates to death within 30 minutes of each other Thursday, and Alabama followed suit hours later as U.S. states executed three men by lethal injection in one day for the first time since 2010. The Tennessee man was executed for killing a maid at a motel in 1985, and the Oklahoma man for killing his girlfriend in 2003. In Alabama, a man was put to death Thursday evening for killing a 5-year-old girl he had paid her mother to abuse.

Tennessee executes Darrell Hines

The state has spent millions of dollars over decades to execute a seriously ill man who was already incarcerated. The state of Tennessee executed death row inmate Darrell Hines Thursday morning, according to an advocacy group. No formal announcement of the execution has been issued by state leaders yet. The execution was slated for 10 a.m. Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. [DPN update] Hines was pronounced dead at 10:43 a.m. CDT. His last meal was fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, coleslaw, corn, fries, biscuits, a chicken sandwich, chocolate chip cake, and sweet tea.

Alabama Set To Carry Out Execution This Week

Alabama is preparing to execute Jeremy Williams, who pled guilty to the 2021 rape and murder of five-year-old Kamarie Holland. The execution is scheduled for Thursday (August 13) at the Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama. Williams, who is 41, requested the death penalty and waived his right to appeal, making this the first execution in Alabama this year.

Oklahoma executes Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez

Oklahoma has carried out 1 of 3 executions set for the same day in the United States in another sign of the resurgence of the death penalty in the country. Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez was pronounced dead at 10:13 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He was put to death by lethal injection for the murder of his common-law wife in 2003 at their Oklahoma City home. He admitted to police he shot her twice during an argument. Cuesta-Rodriguez, 70, did not fight for his life, stunning his attorneys in July when he told the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board that he didn't want clemency. "It's time for me to pay for what I did," he said.

Tennessee set to execute Anthony Darrell Hines

Barring any last-minute interventions, the Tennessee Department of Correction will execute Anthony Darrell Hines by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville Thursday morning. This week, two courts had the opportunity to halt the execution: the federal court in Middle Tennessee and the U.S. Supreme Court. Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday he personally would not prevent the execution. “After deliberate consideration of Anthony Darrell Hines’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” he said in a written statement. The U.S. Supreme Court has not granted a stay or reprieve.

Tennessee | The doctor who helps put prisoners to death

Dr. Mark Fowler assisted in the failed execution of a Tennessee prisoner. Physicians are meant to heal patients—why is he working in the death chamber? Mark Fowler, a physician with 25 years’ experience, stepped beneath the bright lights and approached the middle-aged man lying on a gurney. Around him, people in medical gowns prepared needles and sterile tubing. It had all the appearances of a hospital setting. Fowler had been called in to help establish an IV line through which the 57-year-old man, Tony Carruthers, would be injected with pharmaceutical drugs. The team had struggled to find a vein, so Fowler was summoned to set a central line—an intravenous catheter inserted into the major vein below the collarbone.

Iran’s War on Women: Executions, Floggings, and the Politics of Fear

The Iranian regime is increasingly using death sentences, corporal punishment, and judicial persecution against women—not only to silence dissent but also to intimidate a society demanding change. The Iranian regime has long viewed women as central to the country’s struggle for freedom—and therefore as central targets of repression. The nationwide uprising of 2022 fundamentally altered the political landscape, demonstrating that Iranian women were no longer merely participants in protest movements but among their principal organizers and symbols. Since then, the authorities have steadily intensified their campaign against women, expanding the use of executions, imprisonment, corporal punishment, and judicial intimidation.

The 'Black Widow' shakes Iran: 10 death sentences for a serial killer who killed 12 men

Kolthum Akbari, an Iranian woman widely dubbed the “Black Widow,” was convicted of serial murders of elderly men she married, often temporarily. Official accounts generally center on 11 murders (plus one attempted murder), though Akbari herself gave varying figures and investigations suggested she had many more marriages. The sentencing occurred primarily in September 2025 in Mazandaran Province, with ongoing reporting and updates into 2026. The 56- to 59-year-old killer confessed to killing at least 11 elderly men after temporarily or officially marrying them; Iranian authorities have linked her to additional marriages and possible further victims.

Arizona prosecutors seek death penalty a second time for 2 inmates

County Attorney Brad Miller said Aug. 6 that the nature of the attack and both men's past criminal records meet the strict legal bar required for execution under Arizona law. FLORENCE, Ariz. - Pinal County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against two inmates accused of violently killing a fellow prisoner behind bars, officials announced Thursday. Pinal County Attorney Brad Miller filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty against Pete Van Winkle and Tracy Hampton in connection with the fatal attack on Kenneth Thompson.

Iran | Executions in Tabriz, Zanjan, Qazvin

Iranian authorities executed at least three prisoners, including two Turks, identified as Amrollah Dousti, Hojjat Khayat, and Yousef Bagheri, in Tabriz and Zanjan Central Prisons. Dousti and Khayat were executed on drug-related charges, while Bagheri was executed for “premeditated murder.” According to information received by the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Dousti, 40, from Bandar Abbas and a father of two, and Khayat, 51, from Tabriz and a father of three, were executed in Tabriz Central Prison on Sunday, August 9, 2026.

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