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Communist Vietnam's secret death penalty conveyor belt: How country trails only China and Iran for 'astonishing' number of executions

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Prisoners are dragged from their cells at 4am without warning to be given a lethal injection Vietnam's use of the death penalty has been thrust into the spotlight after a real estate tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to be executed in one of the biggest corruption cases in the country's history. Truong My Lan, a businesswoman who chaired a sprawling company that developed luxury apartments, hotels, offices and shopping malls, was arrested in 2022.

USA: FBI Releases Report Including State Murder Rates for 2012

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The U.S. Department of Justice recently released its annual FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2012.

The national murder rate remained approximately the same in 2012 as in 2011.

The Northeast, the region with the fewest executions, had the lowest murder rate of any region, and its murder rate decreased 3.4% from the previous year.

The South, which carries out the most executions of any region, again had the highest murder rate in 2012.

The murder rate in the West remained about the same, while the rate in the Midwest increased slightly.

6 of the 9 states with the lowest murder rates are states without the death penalty.

The average murder rate of death penalty states was 4.7, while the average murder rate of states without the death penalty was 3.7 (not weighted by population).

Source: Death Penalty Information Center, October 28, 2013
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