Iran urged to halt planned execution of three juvenile offenders
Updated: Wednesday, November 04, 2009
17:10GMT—12:10PM/EST
Washington, 4 November (WashingtonTV)—Human Rights Watch on Wednesday called on Iran to immediately halt the planned execution of three juvenile offenders.
The three prisoners were accused in separate cases of committing homosexual acts when they were under the age of 18.
“Killing people for what they did as children is wrong and repellent, and killing them for alleged homosexual conduct is just wrong and repellent,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the group’s Middle East and North Africa program.
“The Iranian government has flouted its most basic human rights obligations in allowing these cruel sentences,” she added.
No date has yet been set for the executions, but the lawyer representing two of the men fears it could happen any day.
Mehdi P., from Tabriz, and Mohsen G., from Shiraz, have denied the charges, and no witnesses testified against them. Nemat Safavi, from Ardebil, was arrested at the age of 16 in 2006, and tried by a court in Ardebil.
Sexual activity between males is punishable by death under Iran’s Islamic law.
Iran leads the world in executing juvenile offenders, says Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
At least three juvenile offenders have been executed in Iran so far this year, and at least seven were in 2008.
Iran has ratified two international treaties which prohibit the execution of persons who had allegedly committed a crime while underthe age of 18.
In 2008, Iran’s deputy attorney general said that the Judiciary would ban the death penalty for juvenile offenders charged with non-murder-related offenses, pending parliamentary approval.
“These three death sentences violate promises the Iranian government has repeatedly made, to the international community and to its own people, to stop executing people for crimes they committed as children,” said Whitson.
According to Amnesty International, some 140 juvenile offenders are known to be on death row in Iran.
The execution of another juvenile offender, Safar Agnooti, who was charged with murder, was scheduled for 21 October, but postponed at the last minute for a month, said Human Rights Watch.
Sources: Human Rights Watch website, Amnesty International website
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