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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 | ‌2 Baluch Brothers Executed for Drug Charges

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); February 24, 2023: Alireza and Safar Mohammadpour (Shahuzehi), two Baluch brothers sentenced to death for drug-related charges, were executed in Torbat Jam Prison, Khorasan Razavi province.

According to Hal Vash, two Baluch brothers were executed in Torbat Jam Prison on February 20. 

Their names have been reported as 28-year-old Alireza  Mohammadpour (Shahuzehi) and 31-year-old Safar Mohammadpour (Shahuzehi) from Saleh Abad.

The brothers were arrested for drug-related charges around three year ago.

Informed sources told Hal Vash: “They didn’t find any drugs on these two brothers. Border patrol discovered the drugs at another location and arrested them for it. 

Both brothers repeatedly denied the charges in court and under interrogations and said they knew nothing about the drugs and it had nothing to do with them.”

At the time of writing, their executions have not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

On January 27, Iran Human Rights warned of the high number of drug executions currently being carried out in Iran. Of the 66 executions carried out in January, at least 43 (65%) people were executed for drug-related charges, none of which were officially announced.

Drug executions dramatically dropped between 2018-2020 following the Amendment to the Anti-Drug Laws in 2017. However, this reversed in practice in 2021 when numbers increased by five-fold and have continued to rise throughout 2022 and 2023.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, February xx, 2023


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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: Torbat-e-Jam, Razavi Khorasan Province, Iran
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