WASHINGTON, June 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Iran’s judicial and
political authorities should order an immediate moratorium to prevent
further executions of child offenders and amend the laws so no children who
commit crimes can be sentenced to death, Amnesty International urged today
in a new report, “Iran: The Last Executioner of Children.” The organization
states that at least 71 child offenders are awaiting execution in Iran,
where more child offenders have been executed than in any other country
since 1990.
    “It is absolutely shameful that Iran continues this hideous practice,”
sad Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA executive director. “The Iranian
government must end this immoral system. Executing those who commit crimes
while they’re only children is not only against international standards, it
is absolutely repulsive and unconscionable.”
    Amnesty International lists the names of the 71 child offenders known
to be facing the death penalty, but notes that the total number may be much
higher as many death penalty cases in Iran are believed to go unreported.
Of the 24 child offenders recorded as having been executed since 1990, 11
were still under the age of 18 at the time of their execution while the
others were either kept on death row until they had reached 18 or were
convicted and sentenced after reaching that age.
    “Though Iranian officials deny reports that they execute minors,
Amnesty International has recorded two executions this year,” said Elise
Auerbach, Amnesty International USA Iran country specialist. “In April,
Mohammad Mousavi, aged 19, was executed for a crime committed when he was
16. Sa’id Qanbar Zahi was only 17 when he was hanged on May 27, 2007 at
Zahedan prison. Zahi was sentenced to death with six other members of
Iran’s Baluchi minority two months earlier.”
    The execution of Atefeh Rajabi Sahaaleh, sentenced for “crimes against
chastity” and hanged at the age of 16 in August 2004, is one of seven cases
highlighted by the report. A day after her execution, a judiciary official
told a newspaper that she was 22-years-old. Rajabi’s case highlights the
failure of the Iranian judicial system to protect children and provides
further evidence that some child offenders are executed in Iran even before
they reach the age of 18. The report also lists the cases of 17 other
people who were executed for crimes committed when they were under the age
of 18.
    Although executions of child offenders are few compared to the total
number of executions in Iran, they highlight the government’s disregard for
its commitments and obligations under international law, which prohibits in
all circumstances the use of the death penalty against child offenders.
Apart from Iran, the only countries in which executions of child offenders
have been recorded since 2003 are China, Sudan and Pakistan, though the
Chinese and Pakistani authorities insisted that those executed were aged 18
or over at the time of the crime. In each year the number of child
offenders executed in Iran exceeded the total number of all other
executions of child offenders.
    Some members of the Iranian government and the judiciary are also
believed to favor at least reducing, if not abolishing, the death penalty
for child offenders, but progress is painfully slow. For example, a draft
law proposed by the judiciary in 2001 could pave the way for the abolition
of the death sentence for minors or at least result in a reduction in the
number of offenses for which child offenders could be sentenced to death,
but the draft law is still under consideration by the political and
judicial authorities.
    Amid the horror of child executions and the wider problem of the death
penalty in Iran, there are some positive signs, particularly the emergence
of a growing movement favoring the abolition of the death penalty for child
offenders. This is being led by a courageous band of human rights defenders
and activists within Iran, and it has already achieved some notable
successes.
    “Amnesty International applauds the brave Iranians who take enormous
risks to end one of the most horrendous systems practiced by any nation,”
said Cox.
    For a copy of the new report, Iran: The Last Executioner of Children,
please contact the AIUSA press office at 202.544.0200 x 302.

SOURCE Amnesty International USA

FOR COPY OF REPORT CLICK:  www.stopchildexecutions.com/Iran180607.pdf