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As clock ticks toward another Trump presidency, federal death row prisoners appeal for clemency

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President-elect Donald Trump’s return to office is putting a spotlight on the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, which houses federal death row. In Bloomington, a small community of death row spiritual advisors is struggling to support the prisoners to whom they minister.  Ross Martinie Eiler is a Mennonite, Episcopal lay minister and member of the Catholic Worker movement, which assists the homeless. And for the past three years, he’s served as a spiritual advisor for a man on federal death row.

Execution Trend in Iran: January to April 2019

Public hanging in Iran
In 2019, by April 30, at least 79 people have been executed in Iran. 

Only 22 of the cases were announced by Iranian authorities or media. 

There is a high possibility that more executions have been carried out far from the eyes of human rights defenders.

According to the Iran Human Rights (IHR) statistic department, from January 1 to April 30, 2019, at least 79 people have been executed in Iran. 

During the same period of time last year, 64 people were executed in the country.

At least two juvenile offenders, Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat, were among the executed prisoners. Both were executed on April 25 at Shiraz Central Prison (Adel-Abad Prison). 

They were less than 16 at the time of the alleged “rape and robbery” crime. 

Moreover, IHR has received unconfirmed information about another juvenile execution in Ilam prison which is under further fact-check investigation. 

IHR announces executions only after the confirmation of two different credible sources. 

Last year during the same period, 3 juvenile offenders were executed. Since juvenile executions is a sensitive issue for Iranian authorities, they keep such executions secret. 

Therefore, there is a high chance that the number of executed juvenile offenders are also higher than reported.

During the first 4 months of 2019, at least 5 prisoners have been executed for drug-related charges:

On March 11, 2019, Shirmohammad Narouei, 50, and his son Younes Narouei, 20, were executed at Birjan prison. Abdollah Ghanbarzehi, 29, was executed on April 15, 2019, at Dastgerd prison in the Iranian city of Isfahan. And on April 27, prisoner Kamal Shahbakhsh was executed at Kerman central prison.

Last year in the same period of time, 1 person was executed for drug offenses.

Public executions were also continued in 2019. 

At least 7 people have been hanged publicly in from by the end of April. During the same period of time last year, 3 people were executed in Iran.

And last but not least, 65 people have been executed for murder charges (qisas or retribution in kind) between January 1 and April 30, 2019. 

In the first 4 months of 2018, IHR reported 53 executions in Iran.

Only 22 cases out of 79 have been announced by Iranian authorities or media. 

The rest have been confirmed by IHR’s sources. Thus, the actual number could be much higher than what is reported here.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, May 5, 2019


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde

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