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Activists Call on President Biden to End the Federal Death Penalty Before Leaving Office

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A conversation with Death Penalty Action Co-founder and Executive Director Abe Bonowitz. Now that Joe Biden is a lame duck president, activists are holding him accountable to make good on his promise to end the federal death penalty during his remaining six months as president. Biden’s election campaign in 2020 had pledged to end the federal death penalty and incentivize the remaining 27 states that still allow executions to do the same. While he made history as the first president in the United States to openly oppose the death penalty, there has been no movement to actually end federal executions during his nearly four years in office.

Iran | 3 Men Executed for Drug and Murder Charges in Shiraz

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 18, 2023: Ramezan Yavari and Mozafar Sanjarani who were sentenced to death for drug-related charges and an unidentified man sentenced to death for murder, were executed in Shiraz Central Prison.

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, two men were executed in Shiraz Central Prison (Adel Abad) on 17 September. Their identities have been established as Ramezan Yavari and Mozafar Sanjarani,  both Khorram Bid natives.

Ramezan and Mozafar were both Khorram Bid natives and were arrested three years ago and sentenced to death for drug-related charges in the same case.

Drug-related executions have continuously risen every year for the past three years. At least 206 people were executed for drug-related charges in the first six months of 2023, a 126% rise compared to the same period in 2022 when 91 were executed. 40 people were executed in the same period in 2021.

The number of drug executions dramatically dropped in 2018 following a 2017 Amendment to the Anti-Narcotics Laws. Consequently, drug executions ranged between 24-30 per annum between 2018-2020. The Amendment was reversed in practice in 2021 when executions increased ten-fold to 126 in 2021 and doubled again in 2022 with 256 drug-related executions. On 13 February 2023, IHRNGO reported a 94% rise in the number of drug-related executions in the year following the start of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in September 2022.

Another man was also executed at the prison on 13 September. His identity has not been established at the time of writing. He was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

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.

At the time of writing, none of their executions have been reported by domestic media or officials in Iran.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 19, 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: Shiraz, Fars Province, Iran
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