Three juvenile offenders in Iran face imminent execution
Washington, 14 August (IranVNC)—Three juvenile offenders in Iran are facing imminent execution, the Human Rights Activists in Iran website reports today. All three of the young men are being held in Rajai Prison in the northern city of Karaj.
By: IranVNC
Published: Thursday, August 14, 2008
12:08GMT—8:08AM/EST
EXECUTIONS – JUVENILE – IRAN
Washington, 14 August (IranVNC)—Three juvenile offenders in Iran are facing imminent execution, the Human Rights Activists in Iran website reports today. All three of the young men are being held in Rajai Prison in the northern city of Karaj.
Reza Haji-Zadeh, 18, was accused of murdering a fellow classmate when he was 13-years-old. Haji-Zadeh has been detained for five years now, and as he has not received the forgiveness of the victim’s family, his execution is looming.
Iran’s Islamic Penal Code allows the surviving relatives of a victim to spare a murderer’s life in exchange for the payment of diyeh [blood money].
Seyed Vahid-Mousavi, 25, was accused of murder at the age of 17. He has been held at Rajai Prison for more than eight years now and faces imminent execution. The victim’s family has not pardoned him.
Benyamin Rasouli, 21, was charged with murder at age 16 and has been detained for the last five years in Karaj. According to the Iran Human Rights Group website, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his sentence on October 2005.
International bodies and human rights groups have called on Iran to abolish the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
On 30 July, nine international human rights groups reiterated this demand, saying the situation of juvenile offenders in that country has reached “crisis levels”.
The groups, which included Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, said Iran had executed eight minors in 2007 and four this year.
As a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is obligated to end such death sentences. According to the statement by the nine human rights groups, there are at least 132 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran.
Although Iran says it does not execute minors, death sentences can be carried out once a convict reaches the age of 18.
Sources: Human Rights Activists in Iran website, Iran Human Rights Group website, Amnesty International
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