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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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Iran: Four Prisoners, Including a Woman, Executed

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Female prisoner hanged in Iran (file photo)
Iran Human Rights (IHR); October 15, 2019: Two prisoners, including a woman, were hanged at Rajai-Shahr prison last week. 

According to IHR sources, on the morning of Wednesday, October 9, a man and a woman were hanged at Rajai-Shahr prison, near Tehran. 

IHR sources could reveal the man’s name as Alireza Mehmandoust. However, the woman’s name is yet to be known. 

Both were sentenced to death for murder charges. 

Out of the 110 people who were executed in the first half of 2019, 83 were sentenced to qisas (retribution in-kind) for murder.

There is a lack of a classification of murder by degree in Iran which results in issuing a death sentence for any kind of murder regardless of intensity and intent.

Man Hanged in Southern Iran for Rape Charges


Iran Human Rights (IHR); October 15, 2019: A man was hanged for rape charges at Bandar Abbas prison Saturday. 

According to Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), a man hanged on Saturday, October 12, at the Iranian southern city of Bandar Abbas. 

He was arrested and sentenced to death for rape charges five years ago. 

Out of the 110 people who were executed in the first half of 2019, 13 were sentenced to death for rape charges.

Man Hanged at Sanandaj Prison


Iran Human Rights (IHR); October 13, 2019: Man hanged at the central prison of the Iranian city of Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, last Thursday.

According to IHR sources, Alem Karimi, 50, was hanged at Sanandaj prison on Thursday, October 10, 2019. He was sentenced to death 10 years ago for murder charges. 

Out of the 110 people who were executed in the first half of 2019, 83 were sentenced to qisas (retribution in-kind) for murder.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, October 13-15, 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
Location: Iran
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