Child executions violate international law – in many languages
… Stop Child Executions Campaign is created to raise awareness about this issue, and more importantly to put an end to one of the most heinous manifestations of the death penalty — its use against children. It is only through pressure on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, both internally in Iran and internationally that we can make a difference. Over the years we have witnessed child offenders being saved and even released from prison through international pressure as seen in the cases of Nazanin Fatehi and Afsaneh Norouzi … (full text to: No capital punishment… shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age – Article 37(a) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child / Homepage).
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Death penalty in Iran: Iran has one of the highest numbers of executions in the world. In 2004, Iran executed at least 159 people, which placed them second only to China.
Amnesty International recorded 69 executions between July 2005 and the end of January 2006. According to Iranian media, there were 10 executions, and 21 new death sentences were given out, between Jan. 20 and Feb. 20, 2006. According to stop fundamentalism, Iran executed at least 181 people in 2006. There is no reason to believe that the number of executions will fall in the near future.
The usual method of execution is hanging, but Iranian law also opens for stoning as punishment for adultery and incest. In 2002 the head of the judiciary announced a moratorium on stoning. Iranian judges have later imposed sentences of stoning, but these are usually overturned higher up in the court system. However, Amnesty International has reported that in May 2006, a man and a woman was executed by stoning in a cemetery in Mashhad, by members of the Revolutionary Guard and Bassij Forces.
Since 1990, Iran is one of eight countries that are known to have executed prisoners who were under 18 years when the crime was committed. Over the last 17 years, Iran has executed at least 24 child offenders, eight of them in 2005, and four in 2006. (Full list by Amnesty International).
This is in direct violation of Iran’s obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
By signing them, Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offense committed when they were under the age of 18. These treaties also prohibit the use of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments.
The list of crimes that can lead to death penalty is long. Capital offenses in Iran include murder, rape, armed robbery, apostasy, blasphemy, serious drug trafficking, repeated sodomy, adultery or prostitution, treason and espionage.
Sources: … (full text).