UN monitor denounces Iranian execution of minors

Описание: (10 Mar 2016) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY

AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
Geneva - 10 March 2016
1. Arrival of Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran:
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran:
"I would first like to address the continuing execution(s) of juvenile offenders or individuals who commit offences before they reach the age of 18. This practice is strictly and unequivocally prohibited under international law. Yet, Iran has reportedly executed at least 73 juvenile offenders, more than any other country, between 2005 and 2015. The number of juvenile offenders executed in 2014-2015 is reportedly 16 and higher than at any time than during the past five years. The majority of these executions were never officially reported by the (Iranian) government."
3. News conference
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran:
"I continue to receive frequent and alarming reports about the use of prolonged solitary and incommunicado confinement, torture and ill-treatment, lack of access to lawyers and the use of confessions obtained under torture as evidence in trials, practices that clearly violate Iran's own laws. Unfortunately, these abuses continue to take place with impunity, even after the amended criminal code came into effect in the summer last year. As a result, hundreds of Iranians including journalists and social media activists, human rights defenders, and opposition figures currently languish in Iran's prisons and detention facilities."
5. Reporters
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmed Shaheed, Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran:
"Zero. I have not been to Iran on the mandate. I have been requesting annually, almost twice a year, but I haven't been able to do so. But, of course, Iran's response in the public domain is that they don't consider an item for mandate as a valid response to Iran's situation and therefore they don't want to engage with me on that basis. But they do engage with me in Geneva and New York."
7. Shaheed shaking hands with reporter
STORYLINE
A UN rapporteur on human rights in Iran has denounced the executions of minors there and says tough anti-drugs laws could be behind a "surge" in executions overall in recent years.
Shaheed said executions of juvenile offenders were "strictly and unequivocally prohibited" under international law.
He said at least 73 had been executed in Iran between 2005 and 2015, the highest number of any country in that span.
Ahmed Shaheed, in a 21-page report released on Thursday, cited Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre figures showing 966 people were executed last year, up from 697 in 2013 and 91 in 2005.
His report said more than 500 last year were related to drug law violations.
Shaheed has not been allowed to visit Iran as part of his mandate, now in its fifth year.
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