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U.S. | I'm a Death Row Pastor. They're Just Ordinary Folks

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In the early 1970s I was a North Carolinian, white boy from the South attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and working in East Harlem as part of a program. In my senior year, I visited men at the Bronx House of Detention. I had never been in a prison or jail, but people in East Harlem were dealing with these places and the police all the time. This experience truly turned my life around.

Iran | At Least 3 Men Executed in Zahedan

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 9, 2023: At least three men including a Baluch minority, were executed for murder charges in Zahedan Central Prison.

According to Hal Vash, at least three men were executed in Zahedan Central Prison on 9 September. One of the men’s identities has been reported as 27-year-old Baluch man named Mohammad Narouyi. 

They were all sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder.

The other two men’s identities have not been reported beyond being Birjand natives. They were arrested in a joint murder case seven years ago.

An informed source said: Mohammad was arrested for murder charges around three years ago and sentenced to qisas. He was transferred from the general ward of Zahedan Central Prison along with the other two men on Tuesday (5 September) to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions. They were executed this morning.

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. 

Furthermore, in the first six months of 2023, 20% of the at least 354 executions were Baluch people.

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.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 9, 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: Zahedan, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran
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