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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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13 executed in Iran, including 5 Afghan nationals

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Iran Human Rights, April 26: Five prisoners were executed in the prison of Shahrud (northern Iran) Tuesday April 25. reported the offcial Iranian sources. Eight other prisoners were hanged in Karaj (west of Tehran) according to unofficial reports.

According to the official website of the Iranian judiciary in Semnan Province five prisoners, among them four Afghan citizens, were hanged in the prison of Shahrud. The prisoners were identified as "M. M.", "S. P.", "A. S.", "M. B." (all Afghan citizens) and "H. P.", and were convicted of keeping and carrying large quantities of narcotic substances, according to the report.

Eight prisoners, among them one Afghan citizen, were hanged in Karaj:

According to unofficial reports published by the "Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran" (HRDAI) eight prisoners were hanged in the Rajaei Shahr prison of Karaj (west of Tehran) on Tuesday April 25. The report identified these prisoners as "Mohammad Shafi Heydari (33 year old, Afghan citizen), Hossein Bagheri (20), Mohammad Rezaei (60), Mohammad Jafghaei (42), Yadollah Kabiri (50), Abbas Beigi (38), Abolghasem Pourhasan (37) and Alireza Shokohi-Manesh (37). The charges were not mentioned in the report.

Source: Iran Human Rights, April 26, 2012

Related article: "15 executed on drug charges in Iran", Radio Zamaneh, April 25, 2012
Location: Iran
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