Iran | Executions in Gorgan, Sanandaj, Kahnuj, Ilam

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 22, 2023: State media have reported the execution of an unidentified man for murder in Gorgan.

According to Iran Online, a man was executed in Gorgan. The report which was published on 20 June, does not specify the date or exact location of the execution. The man only named as Hamed, is alleged to have committed murder on Hashem Abad Street on 28 May 2021.

According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.

Those charged with the umbrella term of “intentional murder” are sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) regardless of intent or circumstances due to a lack of grading in law. Once a defendant has been convicted, the victim’s family are required to choose between death as retribution, diya (blood money) or forgiveness.

Man Executed in Sanandaj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 21, 2023: Hemen Mostafayi, a Kurdish man sentenced to death for the murder of an IRGC officer, has been executed in Sanandaj Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a Kurdish man executed in Sanandaj Central Prison on 21 June. His identity has been established as 33-year-old Hemen Mostafayi from Marivan. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source previously told Iran Human Rights: “Hemen was arrested for the murder of an IRGC officer in February/March 2013 and sentenced to death. He accepted the charges after being subjected to months of hard torture and interrogations.”

Hemen was previously transferred for execution on 31 December 2020 which was postponed due to civil society backlash and the victim’s family agreeing. Iran Human Rights reported his transfer yesterday

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

According to the 2022 Annual Report on the Death Penalty, at least 582 people were executed in Iran. Of those, 288 were executed for murder charges.

Man Executed in Kahnuj

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 20, 2023: Danesh Salari, a Baluch man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Kahnuj Prison.

According to Hal Vash, a Baluch man was executed in Kahnuj Prison on 19 June. His identity has been reported as 24-year-old Danesh Salari from Koulgan village in Roudbar.

He was arrested for murder around three years ago in Kahnuj and sentenced to qisas for murder by the city’s Criminal Court.

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Four Men Executed for Drug Charges in Kerman

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 20, 2023: Four men including three Baluch minorities, were executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison.

According to Hal Vash, four men including three Baluch men were executed in Kerman Central Prison on 18 June. The three Baluch men’s identities have been reported as” Gholam Mir from Zabol and a Zahedan native, Mohammad Sepahi from Saravan and 35-year-old Fazl Ahmad Ghafran (AKA Yousef Rakhshani).

Mohammad Sepahi had three children and Fazl Ahmad Ghafran was a father of two.

The report does not specify the name or charges against the fourth man.

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

Ethnic minorities, the Baluch in particular, are grossly overrepresented in execution numbers in Iran. In 2022, at least 174 Baluch minorities including 3 women, were executed in 22 prisons across Iran, making up 30% of overall executions. This is while they represent just 2-6% of Iran’s population.

Baluch minorities also represented almost half of drug-related executions in 2022. 47.3% of the 256 people executed for drug-related charges were Baluch.

Man Executed for Murder in Ilam

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); June 20, 2023: Aref Havas has been executed for murder in Ilam Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Ilam Central Prison on 20 June. His identity has been established as Aref Havasi from the Malekshahi tribe in Ilam. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

An informed source told Iran Human Rights: “Aref Havasi was arrested two years ago for a murder committed during a group fight in Chardaval and sentenced to death.”

At the time of writing, his execution has not been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, June 20-22, 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

Florida executes Michael Tanzi

Florida on Tuesday executed a death row inmate described by one local detective as a "fledgling serial killer" for the murder of a beloved Miami Herald employee. Florida executed Michael Tanzi on Tuesday, 25 years after the murder of beloved Miami Herald employee Janet Acosta, who was attacked in broad daylight on her lunch break in 2000. Michael Tanzi, 48, was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Raiford and pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. ET.

South Carolina | Man who ambushed off-duty cop to face firing squad in second execution of its kind

Mikal Mahdi, 48, who was found guilty of killing an off-duty police officer and a convenience store worker, is the second inmate scheduled to executed by South Carolina's new firing squad A murderer who ambushed and shot an off duty police officer eight times before burning his body in a killing spree is set to become the second person to die by firing squad. South Carolina's highest court has rejected the last major appeal from Mikal Mahdi, 41, who is to be put to death with three bullets to the heart at 6pm on April 11 at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. Mahdi's lawyers said his original lawyers put on a shallow case trying to spare his life that didn't call on relatives, teachers or people who knew him and ignored the impact of weeks spent in solitary confinement in prison as a teen.

Afghanistan | Four men publicly executed by Taliban with relatives of victims shooting them 'six or seven times' at sport stadium

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USA | Why the firing squad may be making a comeback

South Carolina plans to execute Mikal Mahdi on Friday for the murder of a police officer, draping a hood over his head and firing three bullets into his heart. The choice to die by firing squad – rather than lethal injection or the electric chair – was Mahdi’s own, his attorney said last month: “Faced with barbaric and inhumane choices, Mikal Mahdi has chosen the lesser of three evils.” If it proceeds, Mahdi’s execution would be the latest in a recent string of events that have put the spotlight on the firing squad as a handful of US death penalty states explore alternatives to lethal injection, by far the nation’s dominant execution method.

Lethal Injection, Electric Chair, or Firing Squad? An Inhumane Decision for Death Row Prisoners

South Carolina resumed executions with the firing squad killing of Brad Sigmon last month. Mikal Madhi’s execution date is days away. The curtain shrieked as it was yanked open to reveal a 67-year-old man tied to a chair. His arms were pulled uncomfortably behind his back. The red bull’s-eye target on his chest rose and fell as he desperately attempted to still his breathing. The man, Brad Sigmon, smiled at his attorney, Bo King, seated in the front row before guards placed a black bag over his head. King said Sigmon appeared to be trying his best to put on a brave face for those who had come to bear witness.

I spent 16 years in solitary in South Carolina. This is what it did to me. | Opinion

South Carolinian Randy Poindexter writes about the effects 16 years of solitary confinement had on him ahead of South Carolina’s planned execution of Mikal Mahdi , who spent months in solitary as a young man. For 16 years, I lived in a concrete cell. Twenty-three hours a day, every day, for more than 3,000 days, South Carolina kept me in solitary confinement. I was a young man before I was sent to solitary — angry, untreated and unwell. I made mistakes. But I wasn’t sentenced to madness. That’s what solitary did to me. My mental health worsened with each passing day. At first, paranoia and depression set in. Then, hallucinations and self-mutilation. I talked to people who weren’t there. I cut myself to feel something besides despair. I could do nothing as four of my friends and fellow prisoners took their own lives rather than endure another day of torturous isolation.

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Execution date set for prisoner transferred to Oklahoma to face death penalty

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Arizona | The cruelty of isolation: There’s nothing ‘humane’ about how we treat the condemned

On March 19, I served as a witness to the execution of a man named Aaron Gunches, Arizona’s first since 2022. During his time on death row, he begged for death and was ultimately granted what is likely more appropriately described as an emotionless state-assisted suicide. This experience has profoundly impacted me, leading to deep reflection on the nature of death, humanity, and the role we play in our final moments. When someone is in the end stages of life, we talk about hospice care, comfort, care, easing suffering and humane death. We strive for a “good death” — a peaceful transition. I’ve seen good ones, and I’ve seen bad, unplanned ones.

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