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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

WINDOWS ON DEATH ROW: Art From Inside and Outside the Prison Walls

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Untitled (Blue Cell), ink on paper, 9" x 11 5/8” by Armando Macias
Untitled (Blue Cell), ink on paper, 9" x 11 5/8” by Armando Macias
Images can trigger conversations, sometimes far better than words. Internationally known political cartoonist Patrick Chappatte and journalist Anne-Frederique Widmann have come together to organize a one of a kind exhibition, entitled WINDOWS ON DEATH ROW: Art From Inside and Outside the Prison Walls.

The exhibition will feature over 60 works of some of the most famous American political cartoonists as well as artworks drawn from a more unlikely source, death row inmates. By presenting a variety of perspectives, from both inside and outside of the prison walls, Chappatte and Widmann hope to stimulate conversation on an issue that touches politics, race, morality, and the question of equality under the law.

WINDOWS ON DEATH ROW will run from October 22 - December 18, 2015, at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School of Communication. The exhibition space will span both the site’s first floor and mezzanine gallery areas. It will include educational materials and interactive displays that will allow viewers to engage directly with the complex and challenging subject matter.

Using art as a tool for social awareness, this exhibition will open a window into an often hidden part of the ongoing conversation about capital punishment - exploring the system through the eyes of the incarcerated. At a moment when our country is becoming ever more polarized regarding racial injustice and economic inequality, these questions that the exhibition raises could not be more timely.

Chappatte and Widmann also reached out to victims organizations. Murders Victims’ Families for Human Rights (MFVHR), the largest victims association in the USA, is sponsoring the project.

Click here to visit the website

Source: WINDOWS ON DEATH ROW, October 12, 2015

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