UN Experts Call for Halt to Execution of Prisoners in Iran
United Nations experts have called for a halt to the execution of two young people facing capital punishment in Iran.
These experts have urged Iranian authorities to stop the execution of Mohammad Kolheri, who was convicted of murdering his teacher at the age of fifteen.
United Nations human rights officials say they have received reports indicating that Mohammad Kolheri’s execution is set to be carried out after the end of Ramadan, and citing international laws that prohibit capital punishment for those under eighteen years of age, they have called on Iran to immediately commute Mohammad Kolheri’s death sentence.
United Nations human rights experts emphasized in a statement that based on international covenants on civil and political rights and children’s rights, the execution of Mohammad Kolheri would be unlawful.
In the UN statement, it was noted that Iran’s Supreme Court, after pressure from a government official and a parliament member, changed Mohammad Kolheri’s sentence from imprisonment and a fine to capital punishment.
UN experts have simultaneously called for a halt to the execution of Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death.
This request comes as it is reported that this prisoner’s execution is also set to be carried out now that Ramadan has ended.
On Monday, the 28th of Khordad, these experts, in addition to calling for a halt to Ramin Hossein Panahi’s execution, demanded that the sentence be commuted.
Last month, in a report published by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, it was stated that Hossein Panahi had been subjected to “torture and ill-treatment” during his detention.
Previously, more than 2,000 political, social, and civil activists had signed a letter calling for an immediate halt and commutation of Ramin Hossein Panahi’s death sentence.
The letter also cited Hossein Panahi’s lawyer as saying that the death sentence was issued through pressure from the intelligence and IRGC, and that according to Iran’s domestic and criminal laws, Ramin Hossein Panahi deserves not only exemption from execution but also from imprisonment.
Before this, seven political prisoners held in Gohardasht Prison in Karaj had issued an open letter calling on all human rights organizations to spare no effort in commuting Ramin Hossein Panahi’s death sentence.
Amnesty International had previously emphasized that Hossein Panahi was sentenced to death in an unjust trial.
Ramin Hossein Panahi, who was arrested in June of last year on charges of membership in the Kurdistan Komelah Party, has reportedly been severely tortured during his detention, according to human rights organizations.
Source: Voice of America
