Human Rights Watch & CRIN (Children Rights Information Network)
We invite you to join a global initiative to end-once and for all-the practice of executing people for crimes committed as children. Today, although every country in the world is party to treaties prohibiting the death penalty for juvenile offenders, there are still five states-Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen-that continue to execute child offenders. Over the past three years, these five states* have executed 32 juvenile offenders, and have over 100 juvenile offenders still on death row.
A change in practice by these five states would result in universal adherence to the ban on juvenile executions. We invite NGOs -local, national, regional and international-to sign the petition calling for strong action by this year’s UN General Assembly to make the ban on juvenile executions a reality. Together, CRIN and Human Rights Watch will present these signatures to UN member states in mid-October, in advance of their debate on the rights of the child, to demonstrate the conviction of NGOs around the world that no one should ever be executed again for a crime committed as a child. We hope to have NGO signatures from as many parts of the world as possible, and invite you to circulate the petition to your partners.
*Between January 1, 2005 and September 2, 2008, the following states are known to have executed 32 juvenile offenders: Iran (26), Saudi Arabia (2), Sudan (2), Pakistan (1), Yemen (1).
Sign the petition here:
The deadline for sign-ons is October 15.
For more information, please contact Clarisa Bencomo, Human Rights Watch, bencomc@hrw.org
SCE: Above petition was also endorsed by SCE on Septmeber 5, 2008: http://www.crin.org/petitions/signatures.asp?petID=1012&offset=40