UN Experts: Iran Must Stop Planning Execution of Teenage Defendant Hamid Ahmadi
According to a report by the Human Rights Organization for Iran (a member of the International Federation of Human Rights Organizations), a group of UN human rights experts including Asma Jahangir (Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran), Agnes Callamard (Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions), Nils Melzer (Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), and Benyamin Dawot Mezmur (Chair of the Committee on the Rights of the Child), called on the Islamic Republic of Iran in Geneva to immediately halt plans for the execution of teenage defendant Hamid Ahmadi scheduled for Saturday, February 4 (Bahman 16). This is the third time Hamid Ahmadi has been scheduled for execution. In the two previous instances, his execution was cancelled at the last moment.
Mr. Ahmadi was sentenced to death in 2009 (1388) at the age of 17 on charges of inflicting fatal knife wounds on a young man during a dispute between five young men in 2008. The court issued the verdict based on his confession, which according to reports he made under torture and mistreatment at a police station while deprived of a lawyer and contact with his family.
The UN human rights experts stated: “Based on our information, in the case of Hamid Ahmadi, the explicit guarantees of fair trial and due process contained in international human rights treaties have not been observed, allegations of torture and forced confession have not been considered, and investigations in this regard have not been conducted.”
The experts emphasized: “All death sentences that contradict the government’s international obligations and particularly convictions issued based on confessions obtained under torture are illegal and constitute arbitrary execution.”
Nevertheless, Iran’s Supreme Court, which in November 2009 (Aban 1388) quashed the death sentence due to doubt regarding the testimony of several key witnesses, ultimately upheld it one year later. Mr. Ahmadi was retried following the approval of provisions on juvenile sentencing in the Islamic Penal Code in 2013 (1392), but in December 2015 (Azar 1394) the criminal court of the province once again sentenced him to death.
The UN experts stated: “It is deeply regrettable that since the beginning of this year executions of juveniles are once again being planned and these executions are even being carried out at an unprecedented rate.”
“On January 17, we intervened regarding the execution of another juvenile. After that, we learned that two other juveniles were executed on January 15 and 18 (Dey 26 and 29). Arman Bahar Esmailei and Hassan Hassanzadeh were under 18 years old at the time of committing the crimes for which they had been sentenced to death.”
These experts emphasized that international standards explicitly prohibit imposing and carrying out death sentences for persons under 18 years of age. “Iran must once and for all comply with its international obligations by ending executions of juvenile defendants.”
They declared: “Plans for the execution of Hamid Ahmadi must be immediately halted and his death sentence must be annulled. Furthermore, executions of juveniles must be suspended without delay.”
Source: LDDHI
