Death Penalty News

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 19, 2024: Shahrouz Alimorad, a man on death row for murder, was executed in Ardabil Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Ardabil (Darya) Central Prison on 17 November. His identity has been established as 46-year-old Shahrouz Alimorad, a father of two. He was arrested three years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court.

In a November 15, 2024, ruling, the Texas Supreme Court cleared the way for the state to reschedule the execution of Robert Roberson, despite compelling evidence of his innocence and widespread support for a new trial.  Mr. Roberson was scheduled to be executed October 17, but on October 16 the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence issued a subpoena for Mr. Roberson to testify on a day after his execution was to occur. A district court temporarily halted the execution so that Mr. Roberson could testify, and the state appealed.

Some death certificates even lacked causes of death, and others raised suspicions that executions may not align with official accounts. The Iraqi government has dramatically escalated the pace of executions in 2024, raising serious concerns among human rights groups, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). A report released on Tuesday, 19 November, by HRW details allegations of torture-tainted confessions, denial of fair trials, and executions carried out without notifying lawyers or families. The executions are described as part of a broader pattern of systemic abuse and lack of transparency in Iraq's judicial and prison systems.

Ahead of the scheduled execution of a man for drug-related offences, in violation of international law and standards, in Singapore on Friday 22 November, Amnesty International’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said:  “The upcoming execution of Rosman bin Abdullah underlines the chilling determination of the Singapore authorities to continue to implement the death penalty. Singapore is among a handful of countries still executing people for drug-related offences, in violation of international human rights law and standards. This must stop immediately. 

A woman in Thailand has been sentenced to death in the first of a string of cases in which she is accused of murdering 14 friends with cyanide. The court in Bangkok found Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, guilty of putting poison in a wealthy friend's food and drink while they were on a trip last year.

Ron McAndrew is a former Florida State Penitentiary warden A pro-Trump former Florida prison warden who oversaw executions is urging President Biden to commute all federal and military death sentences before leaving office. "I voted for President Trump in all of his campaigns, and I agree with him on most of his positions, but not the death penalty," Ron McAndrew, former warden of the Florida State Penitentiary, wrote in a letter to the outgoing president. "I have written to President Trump personally to ask him to stop calling for more executions."

Iranian authorities have issued a flurry of new death sentences in recent weeks, sentencing political prisoners, ethnic minorities, and foreign nationals to capital punishment, Human Rights Watch said today.  Among the latest cases is a Kurdish political prisoner, Warisha Moradi, a member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan. Iran’s revolutionary court in Tehran sentenced Moradi to death on the charge of “armed rebellion against the state” on November 10, 2024.

BACK IN 2010, overseas Filipino worker (OFW) Mary Jane Veloso was arrested in Indonesia. She was convicted of drug trafficking after being caught carrying 2.6 kilograms of heroin in Yogyakarta. She was then given the death penalty despite pleading innocence – saying that she was only a victim of human trafficking.  Initially, she started working as an OFW to give her children a better life. As per her lawyer Agus Salim, she had gone to Dubai to work as a domestic helper, but returned to Manila before the end of her contract because she was allegedly almost raped.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 18, 2024: At the same time as the drastic execution hike in Iran, a new wave of death sentences have been issued against at least eight protesters and political prisoners in the past week. Furthermore, the death sentences of four Baluch political prisoners have been sent for implementation.

Alabama is set to execute Carey Dale Grayson by nitrogen gas hypoxia Thursday evening for a brutal Jefferson County murder. It would be the state's sixth execution for the year and third in two months. It would also be only the third nitrogen gas hypoxia execution in the nation, after Alabama conducted the first execution by the then-untried method in January.

I once witnessed a public execution in China. It was in the early summer of 1993. As a student studying abroad, I was traveling in the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwestern China and happened to see the public spectacle of killing criminals in the town of Lhasa. Even now, recalling it makes me feel a twinge of pain deep in my chest. It’s an unforgettable memory.

Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 foreigners this year, according to an AFP tally indicating a sharp increase which one rights group said was unprecedented. The latest execution, on Saturday in the southwestern region of Najran, was of a Yemeni national convicted of smuggling drugs into the Gulf kingdom, the official Saudi Press Agency reported. That brought to 101 the number of foreigners executed so far in 2024, according to the tally which is compiled from state media reports.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 16, 2024: Amanj Azizi, a Kurdish man on death row for drug-related offences, was executed in Urmia Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Urmia (Darya) Central Prison on 15 November. His identity has been established as Amanj Azizi, a married Kurdish man from the village of Aghlan who lived in Sardasht.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 16, 2024: At least nine people including a woman, an Afghan national and two Kurdish minorities were executed for murder and drug-related charges in Ghezel Hesar Prison on Wednesday.  Ahmad Alizadeh was previously reported to have been executed that day, bringing the total number of people executed that day to ten. At least five others have been transferred for execution.

A private-sector panel made up of academics, legislators and other experts has called for a fundamental review of the problem-plagued death penalty system. In its recommendations to the government, the group pointed out that capital punishment “harbors fundamental problems” and said it “must not be allowed to continue as is.” It unanimously recommended the establishment of an “official council” under the Diet and Cabinet to carry out the proposed review. The panel also called for executions to be put on hold until the council reaches a conclusion.

Texas death-sentenced prisoner Melissa Lucio is “actually innocent; she did not kill her [two-year-old] daughter,” explained Judge Arturo Nelson in his October 16th decision, which was made public on November 14, 2024.  Judge Nelson’s Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law now go to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA), which will make the final decision about whether to overturn Ms. Lucio’s conviction and 2008 death sentence. 

Less than half of millennials, Gen Z are in favor of it for convicted murderers WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Younger generations of U.S. adults are far less likely than older generations to favor the death penalty for convicted murderers. As a result, overall support for the death penalty in the U.S. has fallen to 53% today, a level not seen since the early 1970s.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 14, 2024: Mehdi Sharif and Hossein Faramarzi, two men on death row for drug-related offences in separate cases, were executed in Kashan Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Kashan Prison on 13 November. Their identities have been established as Mehdi Sharif and 40-year-old Hossein Faramari from Kashan. Mehdi was arrested two years ago and Hoseein was arrested for carrying 85 kilograms of shisheh (methamphetamines) and opium sap three years ago.

The Japanese government on Thursday ruled out abolishing the death penalty, rejecting calls by domestic legal experts for a review amid international pressure to end executions. "The government thinks it is not appropriate to abolish" the death penalty, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference.  "The death penalty is unavoidable for a person who has committed an extremely grave and atrocious crime."

Three child rapists were executed on Wednesday after their death sentences were approved by China's top court, showing the country's "zero tolerance" against those harming juveniles. The behaviors of the three criminals, who had sexually assaulted and raped girls for a long time or several times, greatly damaged the physical and mental health of the minors and seriously challenged the legal and moral bottom line, bringing extremely negative effects to society, the Supreme People's Court said.

Taliban authorities in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday executed a convicted murderer by gunfire at a sports stadium, in the sixth public execution since their return to power. The condemned man was shot with three bullets to the chest by a member of the victim's family in front of thousands of spectators in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province, according to an AFP journalist at the scene. The evening before the execution the governor's office called on officials and residents to "attend this event" on social media.

Paris (AFP) – Iran hanged a 26-year-old man for a second time Wednesday months after a previous execution was halted half a minute in, an NGO said. Ahmad Alizadeh was arrested in October 2018 on a murder charge, which he denied, and was sentenced to death, Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), which tracks executions in Iran, said in a statement. His death sentence was carried out on April 27 in Ghezel Hesar prison in Karaj outside Tehran. But just 28 seconds into the hanging he was brought down from the gallows when the victim's family suddenly shouted "forgiveness". His "lifeless" body was successfully resuscitated and the execution was halted, IHR said.

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); November 11, 2024: Mohammadnabi Papolzehi, an Afghan man on death row for drug-related charges, was executed in Zahedan Central Prison. According to Haal Vsh, at least one man was executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 10 November. His identity has been reported as Mohammadnabi Papolzehi, a 28-year-old Afghan national. He was arrested in Zahedan two years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges by the Zahedan Revolutionary Court.

Verisheh Moradi, a Kurdish political prisoner and a member of the East Kurdistan Free Women Society (KJAR), has been sentenced to death by Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of “armed insurrection” (baghi). The verdict, handed down by Judge Abolghassem Salavati, followed two court hearings on 16 June and 5 October, and the death sentence was formally notified to Moradi’s lawyers on 10 November.