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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 | Mohammad Aziz Mahmoudi Executed at Sanandaj Central Prison

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Mohammad Aziz Mahmoudi
Iran Human Rights (IHR); June 30, 2020: A young man sentenced to "retribution" (qisas) for "premeditated murder" was executed in Sanandaj Central Prison.

According to Iran Human Rights, on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, Mohammad Aziz Mahmoudi’s death sentence was carried out in Sanandaj Central Prison. 

IHR had previously warned of the imminent execution of this prisoner.

Mohammad Aziz Mahmoudi was accused of “murdering" Diako Karimi around two years ago, when he was only 23 years old, during an “honour” dispute. 

His execution has yet to be confirmed by official media.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of deaths in some of Iran’s western region prisons following the prisoner unrests after the outbreak of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) in prisons.

According to Iran Human Rights’ annual report, at least 225 of the 280 executed in 2019 were charged with "premeditated murder" in Iran.

As there are no legal distinctions between murder and manslaughter in Iran, the accused will receive the death penalty regardless of the circumstances and the intent.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, June 30, 2020


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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: Sanandaj, Kurdistan Province, Iran
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