UN experts: Revoke the death sentence of child criminal Hossein Shahbazi
A number of UN special rapporteurs have called on Iranian authorities to halt the execution of child offenders. Javed Rahman, the special rapporteur on Iran, has called for the cancellation of the execution of Hossein Shahbazi, who was 17 years old at the time of the crime.
Javed Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, along with a number of other UN rapporteurs, announced in Geneva on Thursday, January 13, that the death sentence against Hossein Shahbazi should be overturned based on international human rights standards, because he was 17 years old and a minor at the time of the crime.
According to the Catholic News Agency (KNA), these reporters have called on Iranian judicial authorities to halt the executions of child criminals.
In November 2021, Arman Abdul-Aali was sentenced to death. He was charged with murdering his girlfriend when she was 17. The sentence was carried out after the victim's family refused to forgive him and despite efforts to prevent it.
UN rapporteurs say that 85 child criminals are currently on death row in Iran.
A month ago, the Iranian Human Rights Organization, citing an informed source, said that the Islamic Republic’s judicial authorities had informed the family of Hossein Shahbazi that the child criminal’s death sentence had been postponed for 10 days. The source added that the lawyer for the case had filed a request under Article 477 and was seeking to have the death sentence overturned.
Amnesty International has previously warned of the imminent execution of Hossein Shahbazi, who was only 17 years old when he committed the murder. It was reported that the child offender had been transferred to solitary confinement and his family had been summoned for a final visit.
Source: DW
