UN Human Rights Experts Call on Iran to Stop Execution of Hossein Shahbazi
United Nations human rights experts called on the Islamic Republic of Iran on Thursday, June 24, to refrain from executing Hossein Shahbazi, whose execution is scheduled to take place in four days.
In this request, reflected on the website of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, it was emphasized that Mr. Shahbazi was a child at the time of committing the alleged crime and was subjected to torture to obtain a confession.
UN human rights experts have expressed “deep concern” about Shahbazi’s situation, particularly given that according to these experts, Iran’s judiciary may execute Shahbazi even sooner than previously announced.
Hossein Shahbazi was detained three years ago when he was 17 years old. UN human rights experts say that executing individuals who were under 18 years old at the time of committing the crime is in violation of international human rights law.
Previously, Amnesty International had expressed concern about the imminent danger of execution for Hossein Shahbazi.
According to Amnesty International’s statement, Hossein Shahbazi was arrested on December 30, 2018, and while being held and interrogated at the Shiraz Intelligence Detention Center, he was deprived of access to a lawyer and his family for 11 days. The statement further notes that Mr. Shahbazi was ultimately “sentenced to death on January 13, 2020, following a severely unfair trial by Branch 3 of the Criminal Court of Fars Province, and this sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court on June 18, 2020.”
Voice of America, in multiple reports citing human rights organizations and Amnesty International, has stated that at least 90 child offenders in Iran face the risk of execution, and Amnesty International has repeatedly called on Iranian authorities to completely abolish the death penalty for crimes committed by individuals under 18 years old by amending Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code approved in 2013.
Source: Voice of America
