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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 | Man to be Executed in a Fortnight Due to Inability to Pay €1 million Blood Money

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Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO); September 18, 2024: Abbas Karimi, a man who has been on death row for murder for nine years, is scheduled to be hanged on 3 October in Isfahan Central Prison as his family have been unable to come up with the €1.06 million blood money demanded by the victim’s family.

Iran Human Rights once again draws the attention of the international community and human rights organisations to the necessity of abolishing qisas (retribution-in-kind) laws, which not only place the responsibility for choosing the inhumane capital punishment on ordinary citizens (the victim’s next of kin) but are also extremely discriminatory. The lack of a maximum cap on blood money exacerbates the discriminatory nature of this punishment.

IHRNGO Director, Mahmoood Amiry-Moghaddam said: "The death penalty in any form and for any accusation is an inhumane punishment and must be abolished. In murder cases, introducing imprisonment as the punishment and establishing a uniform rate for blood money can be positive steps towards abolishing this punishment."

According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, Abbas Karimi, a 36-year-old man who was arrested nine years ago and sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, is scheduled to be executed on 3 October in Isfahan (Dastgerd) Central Prison. 

Informed sources told IHRNGO: “Abbas Karimi was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution on 19 May this year but the victim’s family gave him an extension to come up with their requested 70 billion toman diya (€1,060,000). Unfortunately, they’ve chosen this very high amount as diya and the Karimi family were unable to come up with that amount.”

“Abbas Karimi is scheduled to be executed on 3rd October and the arrangements are in the final stages. Abbas has two children, 8-year-old Aylin and 10-year-old Ali who will suffer immensely if he’s executed.”

Qisas, blood money


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. 

Crucially, while an indicative amount is set by the Judiciary every year (currently 1.2 billion tomans, approx. €17,000), there is no legal limit to how much can be demanded by families of the victims. 

IHRNGO has recorded many cases where defendants are executed because they cannot afford to pay the blood money. 

The last recorded case was Hossein Habibi who was executed in Urmia Central Prison on 31 January 2024 because he could not afford the 5 billion tomans diya demanded by the victim’s next of kin.

Source: Iran Human Rights, Staff, September 19, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________








"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: Isfahan, Isfahan Province, Iran
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