In an impassioned appeal Sunday, Pope Francis called for an “international consensus” for the abolition of capital punishment, arguing that the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” has absolute value and includes both the innocent and the guilty. After his weekly
The Islamic Republic of Iran leads the way in invoking capital punishment upon minors, forgoing a past pledge to do away with the death penalty for citizens under eighteen, Amnesty International said in a report released Monday.
Just two months removed from their largest drug bust in Lebanon history, Beirut airport authorities have seized approximately five tons of Captagon amphetamine pills that were destined for Euorpe, according to reports.
A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced reformist writer Zuhair Kutbi to fours years in prison and banned him from travel.
Amnesty International has expressed alarm at reports that the authorities in Saudi Arabia are planning to execute dozens of people in a single day. The newspaper Okaz said 55 people were awaiting execution for “terrorist crimes”, while a now-deleted report
Among the several controversial points in his historic address to the U.S. Congress Thursday, Pope Francis lobbied strongly for the abolition of the death penalty, while remaining mostly silent on the issue of abortion. Pro-abortion Catholic politicians including Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden will undoubtedly capitalize on the Pope’s omission to continue snubbing Church teaching on the sanctity of life.
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr faces death by crucifixion in Saudi Arabia after a court dismissed his final appeal. Human rights groups are condemning the punishment, especially since he was only 17 when authorities arrested him in 2012 on charges of participating “in illegal protests and of firearm offenses.”
More state-sanctioned per capita executions are taking place in Iran than anywhere else in the world.
Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon is asking the pubic to write to Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, who she describes as a “horrible person,” to urge her to grant a stay of execution for Richard Glossip, a man who is scheduled to be executed by the state next month.
The national parliament of Chad has unanimously approved a rigorous anti-terrorism bill that reintroduces the death penalty just six months after its abolition.
Amnesty International’s latest report on Iran states the regime executed 694 people between January 1 and July 15. This means the country averages at least three executions a day.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reported the regime arrested or flogged at least 900 people for not fasting during Ramadan.
The Pakistani government lifted its moratorium on the death penalty permanently in March, which led to more than 150 executions in the last six months. Pakistan now executes more people than Saudi Arabia, but it is important to note why.
Christof Heyns, the United Nations Special Raporteur of Extrajudicial Summary and Arbitrary Executions, recently spoke out against the rise in executions in Saudi Arabia. “It is certainly very disturbing that there is such a fast pace of executions at the moment,” Heyns told AFP. “If it continues at this pace we will have double the number of executions, or more than double the number of executions, that we had last year.”
Saudi Arabia has advertised for eight executioners to deal with a soaring number of capital punishment charges. The advert, which appeared on a civil service jobs portal yesterday, listed the job as “executing a judgment of death”. The successful applicants
Sister Helen Prejean testified that Tsarnaev, who along with his brother Tamerlan murdered three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and the wounded of 264 others, including 17 people who lost legs, was “absolutely sincere” about expressing remorse to her over his actions.
Bangledeshi authorities executed Jamaat-e-Islami party official Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for crimes against humanity during the country’s war of independence forty years ago. He was hanged two years after he was sentenced to death.
In a historic statement, Pope Francis has closed the door to the death penalty, calling it “inadmissible.” In so doing, he has gone beyond any pope before him in condemning capital punishment.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has executed approximately sixty-four of its own citizens in the first few weeks of January, according to recent reports by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center and Iran Focus.
The flogging of liberal blogger Raif Badawi has been postponed on medical grounds, according to latest reports. He had been due to receive the second instalment of 50 lashings in front of a mosque in Jeddeh this afternoon. His punishment,
A Belgian rapist and murderer has been granted the right to be euthanized rather than spend the rest of his life in jail, as he says his incarceration is causing him “psychological suffering”. The death penalty is outlawed under European
