Iran’s parliamentary bill for revision of children laws does not seem to be among top priorities of Mullahs of the Iran’s 
parliament. The bill which was initially introduced 3.5 years ago was recently reviewed by the Parliament’s special committees but has been stalled again. Although the bill is an improvement to the existing laws however it still contains many serious flaws.
Despite the official claim that the bill is intended to stop child executions in Iran but a detail review of its contents show that even if the bill pass in its present format, the Iranian children will still be executed.
According to Nasrin Sotoudeh, attorney and children rights activist based on item 31 of the bill for children between the ages of 15 and 18 , the prescribed punishment for serious crimes is 2 to 8 years of imprisonment in the center for rehabilitation and training instead of life imprisonment and execution. Although this item seem to be compliant with present social and legal demands however other portion of the bill (#33) states: ” For those crime where the punishment is Ghisas (Islamic sharia retribution right of victim’s family to demand execution) , only IF the maturity of child is not doubted ,s/he will be punished based on item 31 of the new law .” It further describes that “children courts can refer the child for medical evaluation or by any other source as determined by the the court to determine his/her maturity.” In other words if the child is determined to be mentally mature s/he still would be executed..
This clause clearly violates Iran’s international obligation not to execute children under 18 years of age and still leaves the decision of execution for those between the ages of 15 and 18 to the courts. It is important to note that majority of 71 Iranian children who are currently facing execution were alleged of crimes in the same age group and most of their crimes fall under the Ghisas category (e.g: Reza Alinejad, Delara Darabi, Sina Paymard , Nazanin Fatehi, etc)
Another lawyer, Rosa Gherachlou in an interview with Etemaad newspaper said: ” There is no direct reference in this bill or any other laws to a specific age qualified for such punishment. The determination is referred to the medical review and ONLY IF child’s maturity is not determined s/he will not be subjected to extreme punishments” . She added: “Accordingly the determination of a child status is still based on puberty as prescribed in Sharia laws despite the fact that Iran is a member of Children Rights Convention which in its declares a child as a person under the age of 18”
Aleshagh, one of Iran’s superior court Judges states: ” Lawmakers consider the age of 18 as legal age for financial matters however when it comes to penal laws they take puberty as the legal age.”
The contradictions are even more obvious for girls. A 9 year old girl is considered mature and can be married or if she commits a murder she will be sentenced to death but the same so called mature girl does not have the right to file a legal claim or to hold a property. In the case of Ghisas it is also obvious that a child under the age of 18 is incapable of offering blood money and therefore the parents will be financially responsible for the payment ! Such contradictions has been mentioned to the legal committee of the Iranian parliament and it is hoped that the proposed bill to be revised to comply with international children rights standards, not to mention that the bill has to pass through the council of Gurdians who would potentially reject the bill as un-Islamic.
Ali Najafi Tavana , a university law professor in Iran asks “Why is it that while some judges who sentence children to death they postpone the execution to the age of 18? Isn’t this by itself a proof of judge’s knowledge that his verdict is not logical?”
Reference: one million signature Campaign, Iran (Persian: http://scenews.blog.com/1957189/)
parliament. The bill which was initially introduced 3.5 years ago was recently reviewed by the Parliament’s special committees but has been stalled again. Although the bill is an improvement to the existing laws however it still contains many serious flaws.Despite the official claim that the bill is intended to stop child executions in Iran but a detail review of its contents show that even if the bill pass in its present format, the Iranian children will still be executed.
According to Nasrin Sotoudeh, attorney and children rights activist based on item 31 of the bill for children between the ages of 15 and 18 , the prescribed punishment for serious crimes is 2 to 8 years of imprisonment in the center for rehabilitation and training instead of life imprisonment and execution. Although this item seem to be compliant with present social and legal demands however other portion of the bill (#33) states: ” For those crime where the punishment is Ghisas (Islamic sharia retribution right of victim’s family to demand execution) , only IF the maturity of child is not doubted ,s/he will be punished based on item 31 of the new law .” It further describes that “children courts can refer the child for medical evaluation or by any other source as determined by the the court to determine his/her maturity.” In other words if the child is determined to be mentally mature s/he still would be executed..
This clause clearly violates Iran’s international obligation not to execute children under 18 years of age and still leaves the decision of execution for those between the ages of 15 and 18 to the courts. It is important to note that majority of 71 Iranian children who are currently facing execution were alleged of crimes in the same age group and most of their crimes fall under the Ghisas category (e.g: Reza Alinejad, Delara Darabi, Sina Paymard , Nazanin Fatehi, etc)
Another lawyer, Rosa Gherachlou in an interview with Etemaad newspaper said: ” There is no direct reference in this bill or any other laws to a specific age qualified for such punishment. The determination is referred to the medical review and ONLY IF child’s maturity is not determined s/he will not be subjected to extreme punishments” . She added: “Accordingly the determination of a child status is still based on puberty as prescribed in Sharia laws despite the fact that Iran is a member of Children Rights Convention which in its declares a child as a person under the age of 18”
Aleshagh, one of Iran’s superior court Judges states: ” Lawmakers consider the age of 18 as legal age for financial matters however when it comes to penal laws they take puberty as the legal age.”
The contradictions are even more obvious for girls. A 9 year old girl is considered mature and can be married or if she commits a murder she will be sentenced to death but the same so called mature girl does not have the right to file a legal claim or to hold a property. In the case of Ghisas it is also obvious that a child under the age of 18 is incapable of offering blood money and therefore the parents will be financially responsible for the payment ! Such contradictions has been mentioned to the legal committee of the Iranian parliament and it is hoped that the proposed bill to be revised to comply with international children rights standards, not to mention that the bill has to pass through the council of Gurdians who would potentially reject the bill as un-Islamic.
Ali Najafi Tavana , a university law professor in Iran asks “Why is it that while some judges who sentence children to death they postpone the execution to the age of 18? Isn’t this by itself a proof of judge’s knowledge that his verdict is not logical?”
Reference: one million signature Campaign, Iran (Persian: http://scenews.blog.com/1957189/)