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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 five for drug trafficking

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Tehran: Iran hanged five convicted drug traffickers in a prison in the northern city of Shahrud on Monday, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The report did not give the identities or ages of the people sent to gallows but mentioned that they were from different Iranian cities.

The hangings bring to 277 the number of people put to death in Iran this year, according to an AFP tally based on media and official reports.

Human Rights Watch counted 388 executions in Iran in 2010.

Amnesty International put the figure at 252, ranking the Islamic republic second only to China in the number of people put to death last year.

Iran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order, and that it is applied only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking, homosexuality and adultery are among the crimes punishable by death in Iran.

Source: Agence France-Presse, December 26, 2011
Location: Shāhrūd, Iran
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