July 17, 2007 

WITHIN TWO HOURS OF THIS PRESS RELEASE A TEENAGER IS SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED.

Nazanin Afshin-Jam has just received word and is desperately working to save the Child offender, Sina Paymard who will be executed by hanging in Iran within the next couple of hours

Nazanin Afshin-Jam, human rights activist with the Stop Child Executions Campaign, singer/songwriter, and former Miss Canada is trying to appeal world leaders and the international community to grant a stay of execution for this boy.

According to Nasrin Sotoudeh, Sina Paymards lawyer, he has been taken from Reja’i Shahr prison to Evin prison to be executed. His execution order has been apparently signed by Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi. She said that the execution could be carried out within hours.. Sina Paymard’s family have managed to raise 70 million of the 150 million “diyeh” (blood money), which his victim’s family will not accept.

Nazanin Afshin-Jam has asked help from the Human Rights desk at the United Nations, the Foreign Affairs Minister of Canada Peter Mackay and the International Committee against Execution and is working alongside Amnesty International to see through that Iran abides by International Human Rights Law and does not carry out the execution.

Nazanin  encourages individuals to go to www.stopchildexecutions.com to learn how to immediately help Sina Paymard who is in this imminent situation, as well as helping the 71 other minors who are currently on death row in Iran.

Iran is the only country in the world that continues to officially execute minors despite being state party the International Covenent on Civil and Political Rights and the Charter of the Rights of the Child.

Here is the statement written by the European Union regarding Sina Paymard

 Statement on the death sentence of Sina Paymard
 Date: 2007-07-17
 
 The EU is deeply concerned by the news of the imminent execution of Sina
 Paymard, who was convicted and sentenced to death by a judge of the Teheran
 court for a crime perpetrated while he was a minor. The execution is
 scheduled for tonight.
 The EU appeals to the Iranian authorities not to execute Sina Paymard. The
 Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to the International Covenant on Civil
 and Political Rights and of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
 
 Both these international binding texts clearly prohibit the execution of
 minors or people who have been convicted of crimes committed while they were
 minors. Moreover, according to the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of
 Iran, in its article 9, the international legal texts mentioned above should
 prevail, as they are as valid as the Civil Code.
 
Nazanin
info@nazanin.ca