Meeting between Javid Rahman and human rights activists; Shahin Milani: Over 20 Iranian children are on the verge of execution
Following a meeting with Javid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, human rights activist Shahin Milani told Voice of America: Currently, more than 20 convicted children are in Iranian prisons under death sentences.
Shahin Milani, director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, said that in a meeting held on the sidelines of the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council, Mr. Javid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur, decided to focus more attention on the issue of laws permitting the execution of minors under 18 years old in Iran. Laws that are a clear violation of international law and this is an issue through which the authorities of the Islamic Republic could be persuaded to stop the execution of convicted children.
On Monday, March 11, the twenty-seventh session of the 40th session of the UN Human Rights Council was held, and Javid Rahman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, referred to the continued execution of individuals who committed crimes in childhood and are held in detention until reaching the legal age, and considered the execution of minors a violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international conventions to which the Islamic Republic is a party.
According to Shahin Milani, currently the trial proceedings and issuance of death sentences for convicted children continues as in previous years, but nevertheless Mr. Javid Rahman is hopeful about the changes made in the Islamic Penal Code passed in 2013; laws that have given judges greater authority to issue alternative punishments, a law that is currently not being utilized and the issuance and execution of death sentences for convicted children continues.
According to this human rights activist, the issue of children’s rights in Iran does not end with the execution of convicted children. The main issue that leads to the issuance of such sentences is the age of religious maturity, which is set at 15 years for boys and 9 years for girls. That is, girls from age 9 and boys from age 15 are considered mature and from a religious perspective have equal mental development to individuals over 18 years old.
In March of the current year, Amnesty International issued a statement calling for an immediate halt to the execution of three convicted children who were under 18 years old at the time of their alleged crimes.
According to this human rights organization, Mohammad Kalhur was convicted of murder of a school teacher at age 15, Barzan Nasrallahzadeh was convicted of moharebeh (enmity against God) at age 17, and Shayan Saeedpour was convicted of murder during a dispute at age 17, all facing execution.
According to Mr. Milani, the use of child soldiers is another issue in which the Islamic Republic acts in violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and sends individuals under 18 years old as soldiers to countries such as Syria.
Source: Voice of America
