Media Release
Switzerland is opposed to the execution of minors in Iran. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) has asked the Iranian authorities to repeal a death sentence due to be carried out tomorrow, Wednesday.
In the case in question the person sentenced to death for murder in connection with a robbery in 2004 is a young man who at the time was aged 15. The exact circumstances relating to the deed are still not clear today, especially in view of the fact that the youth has since recanted on his confession, obtained while in custody. The execution of the death sentence has been postponed several times in recent years in Iran. The young man is due to be executed tomorrow, Wednesday July 7.
Switzerland immediately lodged an appeal through its Embassy in Teheran as well as its Special Envoy for Human Rights Questions in Berne.
The application of the death penalty against juvenile offenders is a priority topic in the on-going human rights dialogue between Switzerland and Iran. These and other human rights violations automatically give rise to diplomatic interventions. The FDFA condemns the many executions of juvenile offenders that have taken place in recent years, as well as the general application of the death penalty in Iran. Switzerland calls on the Iranian authorities to abolish the death penalty or at least to introduce a moratorium.
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
06.07.2010
