NCRI – In a statement the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) slapped the inhuman mullahs' regime for violating "international law" by executing juveniles.
The human rights body expressed grave concern over recent execution of minors and the imminent danger of execution facing two other young men.
"Reza Hedjazi is believed to have been executed on August 19 and Behnam Zare a week later on August 26. It says these young people are reported to have been 15 and 16 years old when they committed their crimes," said the UN agency.
U.N. Human Rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, says these executions appear to be in clear violation of international law, which prohibits the death penalty for juvenile offenders.
"Iran's legal obligation not to impose the death penalty for juveniles was assumed voluntarily when it ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed by people below the age of 18," he said.
"Iran is one of very few countries in the world that still execute juveniles. He says most countries have abolished the death penalty for young offenders or have put a moratorium on this practice," Colville said, adding, "UNHCHR is also concerned over reports of a recent increase in the number of executions in Iran in general."
"On the 27th of July, for example, 29 executions are reported to have taken place. A month later, on the 28th of August, another five people, including a woman, were reported to have been executed. In all, more than 220 people, including six juvenile offenders, are believed to have been executed this year in Iran already," Colville added.
