Iran tops world list in executing juvenile offenders-IranVNC- Iran VNC - Iran Visual News Corps - IranVNC.com

Описание: Only five countries in the world have executed juvenile offenders since 2005 and Iran tops that list. According to Human Rights Watch, out of 32 juvenile executions since then, Iran is responsible for 26.

In its latest report, The Last Holdouts, the organization singles out Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen for their execution of juveniles, who had either committed a crime or were sentenced while under the age of 18. (GFX: Death penalty offenses in Iran include: cursing the prophet, certain drug offenses, murder, adultery, incest, rape, drinking alcohol, sodomy, and lesbianism.)

Among such juvenile convicts in Iran is 18-year-old Behnam Zare. At 15, he swung a knife during an argument with a man, who later died from his wound. Ever since, Zare had been held in Adelabad prison in Irans southwestern city of Shiraz.

The website, Human Rights Activists in Iran voiced his final pleas for his life:

Behnam Zare: I am a murderer, I regret. It was an accident. Human rights defenders! Save my life. I want to live. I want to be free... Any minute I could be executed. I want to live. Save me
But there was no savior for Zare. On the morning of August 26, he was executed. (GFX: Behnam Zare is the sixth juvenile offender executed so far in 2008 in Iran.)

This comes on the heels of 9 regional and international human rights organizations a month ago strongly condemning Irans juvenile executions. (GFX: Irans actions are in violation of the Int.l Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Iran is a signatory.) But just a week before Zares execution, 18-year-old Reza Hejazi also was sentenced to death for a crime he committed at 15.

Zahir Janmohamed, Advocacy Director, Amnesty International USA: They see it when somebody reaches the age of Islamic maturity: 9-12 for women and 12-15 for males. At that age theyre treated by the state as adults.

Following the same Sharia law, Saudi Arabia executed at least two juvenile offenders in 2007. Judges, quote, have discretion to impose the death sentence on children from puberty or 15 years whichever comes first.

The Sudanese Child Law is similar to the Saudi law. However, it is the rising number of unregistered births that makes it difficult to prove the age of juvenile offenders at the time of the crime. Such is the situation in Sudan, where at least 4 juvenile executions have taken place since January 2005. Similarly, Pakistan executed one in 2006, while Yemen, reportedly executed one in 2007.

That earns Iran the top spot for having the highest juvenile executions overall, and for being the only executioner of juvenile offenders this year.

Janmohamed: Weve often criticized Iran for its execution for minors and unfortunately, there hasnt been much progress.

As of September 2008, more than 130 such minors are awaiting their death sentence in Iran. But human rights groups say that number could be much higher.

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