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U.S. Presidential Election 2024: Death penalty absent from campaign, but not from minds

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Kamala Harris, once openly opposed to the death penalty despite political costs, now avoids the topic as a candidate. Meanwhile, Donald Trump advocates tougher criminal policies, though presidential authority in this area is limited. A few blocks from downtown Richmond, Virginia, the intersection of Spring Street and Belvidere Street now presents a completely different view. Where once stood a grim, old brick building, there is now a modern building with a glass facade reflecting the sun shining on Virginia’s capital. Trees along the wide Belvidere Street give the neighborhood a promenade-like feel, with the James River flowing nearby along the memorial for American war dead.

Iran | Two Executed for Drug Charges in Birjand

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 11, 2023: Mohsen and Saeed Sanjarani, two Baluch men sentenced to death in a joint drug case, have been executed in Birjand Central Prison.

According to Hal Vash, two Baluch men were executed in Birjand Central Prison in South Khorsasan on 10 September. Their identities have been reported as 23-year-old Saeed Sanjarani and 38-year-old Mohsen Sanjarani who were sentenced to death in the same drug-related case.

Both Saeed and Mohsen had two children and were from Zahedan. They were arrested in Birijand around three years ago and sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Court.

At the time of writing, neither of their executions have 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.

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.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 11, 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: Birjand, South Khorasan Province, Iran
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