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U.S. | 'I comfort death row inmates in their final moments - the execution room is like a house of horrors'

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Reverend Jeff Hood, 40, wants to help condemned inmates 'feel human again' and vows to continue his efforts to befriend murderers in spite of death threats against his family A reverend who has made it his mission to comfort death row inmates in their final days has revealed the '"moral torture" his endeavor entails. Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood, 40, lives with his wife and five children in Little Rock, Arkansas. But away from his normal home life, he can suddenly find himself holding the shoulder of a murderer inside an execution chamber, moments away from the end of their life. 

Iran hangs 12

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Iran has hanged 12 men in 2 days in different cities for offences of murder, rape, drug trafficking or armed robbery, media reported on Wednesday.

Three men identified only as Alireza, Hassan and Mohammad Hassan were hanged in the prison of the province of Yazd on Wednesday for drug trafficking, the ISNA news agency reported.

In a group execution in Yazd prison, six men died on Tuesday after being convicted for murder, rape, armed robbery or drug trafficking, the Fars news agency reported.

Jan Mohammad M., 41, and Reza M., 34, were put to death in a prison in the province of Isfahan on Tuesday for drug trafficking, Fars said.

Another convicted drug trafficker, identified only as Gholam, was hanged on Tuesday in a prison in the northwestern city of Karaj, the Irannewspaper reported.

Fars also reported that 11 men were lined up to be sent to the gallows on Wednesday morning in the Evin prison of Tehran, but it did not say whether the executions were carried out or suspended.

The hangings bring to at least 16 the number of executions in Iran so farthis year. Iran executed at least 246 people last year, according to an Agence France-Presse count.

Amnesty International says Iran carried out more death sentences in 2007 than any other country apart from China, executing 317 people.

Capital offenses in the Islamic republic include murder, rape, armed robbery, homosexuality, drug trafficking and adultery.

Source: Agence France-Presse, Jan. 22, 2009
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