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Women Being Sent to the Gallows in Alarming Numbers in Iran

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Many Were Child Brides Hanged for Murder of Abusive Husbands From Whom There Was No Protection  December 18, 2024 — Amidst a huge surge in executions in the Islamic Republic— 862 so far in 2024, the highest per capita execution rate globally—the Iranian authorities are now increasingly including women in those it sends to the gallows. Since the start of 2024, Iran has executed at least 29 women. More executions of women may have taken place that are unknown.
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Virginia Adds New Lethal Injection Drug

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Virginia has added a new drug to be used in executions to replace one that is in short supply across the U.S.

The Virginia Department of Corrections said Friday that rocuronium bromide can now be used in the lethal injection cocktail. The drug is an alternative to the scarce pancuronium bromide, which is used to paralyze muscles.

Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center says Virginia appears to be the first state to substitute a drug for pancuronium bromide.

He says Texas and Georgia have switched from the three-drug cocktail to just one, bigger dose of a sedative.

In May, an anti-death penalty group called Reprieve complained that Virginia had a stockpile of pancuronium bromide while hospitals are in short supply.

Source: AP, July 27, 2012
Location: Virginia
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