View this profile on Instagram

Impact Iran (@impactiran) • Instagram photos and videos

26/06/2014 High Commissioner for Human Rights

Execution of juvenile offenders breaches international law – Pillay

Navi Pillay, UN Photo (c) Jean-Marc Ferré

GENEVA (26 June 2014) – UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed concern Thursday about the large number of executions in Iran since the beginning of this year, calling on the authorities to halt, in particular, the imminent execution of a juvenile offender.

“The imminent execution of Razieh Ebrahimi has once again brought into stark focus the unacceptable use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders in Iran,” Pillay said. Ebrahimi was convicted of killing her husband when she was 17 years old. She was married to him at the age of 14, gave birth to a child when she was 15, and says she was subjected to domestic violence.

“Regardless of the circumstances of the crime, the execution of juvenile offenders is clearly prohibited by international human rights law,” Pillay added. “Judgements imposing the death penalty on people under the age of 18 and the implementation of such judgements are manifestly incompatible with Iran’s international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”

“I urge the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of Razieh and all other juvenile offenders,” Pillay said.

Another juvenile offender, 17-year-old Jannat Mir, an Afghan boy, was hanged in April in Isfahan prison, in central Iran, for drug-related offences. He reportedly had no access to a lawyer or consular services, raising concerns about whether fair trial standards were observed in his case and those of five other Afghans executed along with him for similar offences.

Pillay expressed alarm at the large number of juvenile offenders who reportedly remain on death row in Iran. According to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office from reliable sources, some 160 people are reportedly on death row for crimes they committed when they were under the age of 18.

The High Commissioner also condemned the execution of a number of political prisoners – at least six since the beginning of this year. Four others — Hamed Ahmadi, Kamal Malaee, Jahangir Dehghani and Jamshed Dehghani — all members of the Kurdish community, are at imminent risk of execution. They were convicted in 2010 on charges of Moharebeh (enmity against God) and Mofsid fil Arz, (corruption on earth) after trials that fell short of the international fair trial standards.

More than 250 people are believed to have been executed in Iran so far this year, with some sources suggesting a considerably higher figure. Most of the executions were carried out for drug-related offences, which do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” for which the death penalty may be applied in international law. At least 500 people are known to have been executed in 2013, including 57 in public.

Pillay urged Iran to immediately impose a moratorium on all executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty.

UPCOMING EVENTS

(all times in EST)

07 12 23
  • International Civil Aviation Day

    07 12 23

09 12 23
  • International Anti-Corruption Day

    09 12 23

  • International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime

    09 12 23

10 12 23
  • Human Rights Day

    10 12 23

  • Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony

    10 12 23
    Oslo City Hall Rådhusplassen 1, 0037 Oslo, Norway

11 12 23
  • International Mountain Day

    11 12 23

12 12 23
  • International Day of Neutrality

    12 12 23

13 12 23
  • Sakharov Prize 2023

    13 12 23
    Paul-Henri Spaak Building Rue Wiertz / Wiertzstraat 60 B-1047 Brussels Belgium

18 12 23
  • Arabic Language Day

    18 12 23

  • International Migrants Day

    18 12 23

20 12 23
  • International Human Solidarity Day

    20 12 23

27 01 24
  • International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

    27 01 24

04 02 24
  • World Cancer Day

    04 02 24

06 02 24
  • International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation

    06 02 24

11 02 24
  • International Day of Women and Girls in Science

    11 02 24

13 02 24
  • World Radio Day

    13 02 24

20 02 24
  • World Day of Social Justice

    20 02 24

21 02 24
  • International Mother Language Day

    21 02 24

01 03 24
  • Zero Discrimination Day

    01 03 24

03 03 24
  • World Wildlife Day

    03 03 24

08 03 24
  • International Women's Day

    08 03 24

20 03 24
  • French Language Day

    20 03 24

  • International Day of Happiness

    20 03 24

21 03 24
  • International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

    21 03 24

  • International Day of Forests

    21 03 24

  • International Day of Nowruz

    21 03 24

  • World Down Syndrome Day

    21 03 24

  • World Poetry Day

    21 03 24

22 03 24
  • World Water Day

    22 03 24

23 03 24
  • World Meteorological Day

    23 03 24

24 03 24
  • International Day for the Right to the Truth concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims

    24 03 24

  • World Tuberculosis Day

    24 03 24

25 03 24
  • International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade

    25 03 24

  • International Day of Solidarity with Detained and Missing Staff Members

    25 03 24

02 04 24
  • World Autism Awareness Day

    02 04 24

04 04 24
  • International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action

    04 04 24

06 04 24
  • International Day of Sport for Development and Peace

    06 04 24