NCRI – The mullahs' regime announced a new judicial directive that bans the execution of child offenders for drug crimes but keeps capital punishment for those convicted of murder.
Hossein Zabhi, Deputy State Public Prosecutor, said the judges are still required under Iran's Islamic laws to issue death sentences for children convicted of murder if the victims' family refuses financial compensation.
"The new directive bans execution of under age criminals only if they have committed crimes related to narcotics that carry death penalty," Zabhi said. "We can't deny a victim's family of the legal right to ask for Islamic Qasas, or eye for eye retribution."
It has been over a year since the directive was first issued. But Zabhi did not explain why it took so long for the clerical regime to announce it.
Mohammad Mostafaei, an attorney who has been working on a campaign against execution of juveniles welcomed the new directive but said it was not sufficient.
"Human rights activists won't give up the fight until execution of under 18 people is abolished altogether in Iran," he said.
Mostafaei said Iran has signed two global conventions banning capital punishment for crimes committed before the age of 18, but the practice continues.
There has not been a single case of drug related charges among the youths hanged by the regime last year. Thus, it is hard to believe that there will be an opportunity in that the new directive could work in favor of future victims.
The timing of making public a directive issued a long ago with current discussions on human rights violations in Iran at the current session of the United Nations General Assembly and other international condemnations for executing minors is not known.
However, one thing is certain that the international body, as it did in the past years, will take the suppression of the Iranian people under mullahs' regime very seriously. The Third Community of the UN General Assembly has condemned the mullahs' for violation of Human rights in past three decades.
Whether it is also a mere coincidence that the announcement came simultaneously with Tehran's attempts to fill a vacant seat in the UN Security Council with no success is not know.
