UN urges Iran to halt Kurdish juvenile’s execution

A 15-year-old boy in Kermashan Province reportedly stabbed his rapist in self-defense and is in danger of imminent execution.

GENEVA, Switzerland (Kurdistan24) – United Nations experts on Tuesday urged Iran to stop juvenile executions and halt the impending hanging of a young man on death row.

A 15-year-old boy in Kermashan Province reportedly stabbed his rapist in self-defense and is in danger of imminent execution.

Iran’s Supreme Court in August 2016 decided the boy at the time of the murder was mature enough to understand his crime and upheld his death sentence. 

The court also rejected the boy’s argument that he had acted in self-defense following a rape attempt.

Asma Jahangir, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, expressed their regret with Iran’s decision.

“We are deeply concerned the life of a juvenile offender remains in danger and he may be executed at any moment,” the experts said.

Iran remains one of several states which executes juvenile offenders despite its strict prohibition under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a member, according to the UN.

“The Iranian authorities must immediately halt the execution of this juvenile and annul the death sentence against him in compliance with international standards for the imposition of this form of punishment,” the experts stressed.

The UN said Iran executed at least five juvenile offenders in 2016, and over 78 juveniles are currently on death row in Iran.

Additionally, Amnesty International reported it had documented the execution of at least 73 juveniles in Iran from 2005 to 2015, and 160 juvenile offenders were languishing on the country’s death row.

 

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany