The UN High Commisioner on Human Rights, Navi Pillay, criticised Iran, yesterday, for their execution of juveniles.Her comments come after Behnoud Shojaie, a 17 year old Iranian, was executed on Sunday after being found guilty of murder. Expressing her dismay, Pillay said that Iran must "end execution of juvenile offenders once and for all."
Both the High Commissioner and UN Special Rapportuers had raised Behnoud Shojaie's case with Iranian authorities, reminding them of their international obligations not to execute minors. Iran is signed up to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which prohibit the death penalty for convicted youth offenders.
Pillay stressed that "Under international law, the death penalty can only be applied when very strict conditions are met, for example only in respect of the most serious crimes and only after scrupulously fair trials," She added that the UN human rights body believes the imposition of a death penalty where the crime did not result in loss of life goes against the ICCPR.
The High Commisioner also said she had "major concerns about the way the recent trials of opposition activists were conducted, and I hope these judgments will be reviewed carefully by the higher courts,"
Joe Stork of New York-bases rights Watchdog, Human Rights Watch, said that "The Iranian Judiciary's enthusiasm to execute juvenile offenders despite its international obligations and objections in Iran itself to such brutal acts is shocking...This is a callous affront to basic human dignity."
According to 2008 figures from Amnesty International, Iran has executed at least 37 juvenile offenders since 1990. Amnesty says that Iran was the only country to execute a juvenile in 2008 and carried out at least six executions.
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