Amnesty: Dozens of juvenile offenders face death in Iran

[webfact]

Amnesty: Dozens of juvenile offenders face death in Iran
By ADAM SCHRECK

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dozens of people who were arrested in Iran for crimes committed before they turned 18 remain at risk of the death penalty despite recent reforms, with many having already spent years on death row, according to a report by Amnesty International released on Tuesday.

The London-based group also found that Iran has executed at least 73 juvenile offenders between 2005 and 2015, including at least four last year.

Amnesty's 110-page report intensifies pressure on Iran at a time when Tehran is working to rebuild relations with the West following last year's landmark nuclear deal. The agreement came into force this month after Iran took steps to curb its nuclear program, leading to the lifting of crippling international sanctions.

On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Rome at the start of the first European trip by an Iranian president in almost two decades. The visit, which will also include stops at the Vatican and France, is expected to lead to a raft of business and trade deals.

Iran is one of the world's largest users of the death penalty, ranking second behind China in 2014, according to the most recent figures from Amnesty. Most executions overall in Iran are carried out for drug smuggling. The country straddles a major narcotics trafficking route linking opium-producing fields in Afghanistan to Europe.

Amnesty's researchers were able to identify the names and locations of 49 juvenile offenders who face the death penalty, though the group notes that actual numbers could be higher. A 2014 U.N. report put the number of juvenile offenders at risk of execution at more than 160.

The majority of the 73 juvenile offenders Amnesty identified who were put to death over the past decade were convicted of murder. Others were executed for crimes such as rape, drug-related crimes and national security offenses such as "enmity against God."

The group noted that reforms introduced in 2013 give judges more discretion to take into account juvenile offenders' mental maturity and potentially impose less harsh punishments, and that the Supreme Court has since said juvenile offenders facing execution could have their cases retried. Additional reforms introduced last year require that cases involving juveniles must be heard in special juvenile courts.

Still, Amnesty urged Iran to do more.

"Despite some juvenile justice reforms, Iran continues to lag behind the rest of the world, maintaining laws that permit girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 to be sentenced to death," Amnesty said.

Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

In late October, the United Nations' special investigator on the human rights situation in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, warned that executions in Iran have risen at an "exponential rate" since 2005 and could top 1,000 in 2015. He said Iran puts more people to death per capita than any other country, adding that the majority of executions do not conform to international laws banning the death penalty for juveniles and non-violent offenders.

The head of Iran's Human Rights Council, Mohammad Javad Larijani, subsequently dismissed the U.N. report as "a collection of baseless accusations."
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Read the Amnesty report here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/3112/2016/en/


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-26 AP

[JetsetBkk]

The majority of the 73 juvenile offenders Amnesty identified who were put to death over the past decade were convicted of murder.

Maybe "juvenile" should be redefined as 12 years old or younger. Then Amnesty can stop worrying.

[NeverSure]

"...laws that permit girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 to be sentenced to death," Amnesty said."

Barbarians.

[ezzra]

This is what a twisted and blind worship of a religion, Islam, dose to otherwise, rational people....

as much as you can call the Iranian rational people....

[lvr181]

This is what a twisted and blind worship of a religion, Islam, dose to otherwise, rational people....

as much as you can call the Iranian rational people....

Maybe it is the religious leaders and Government people that are not rational? The rest are told what to do?

[Jingthing]

There are some nations in the world with criminal "justice" systems that their citizens should be very ashamed of. These include Iran and the United States. Iranians have the "excuse" that they live under a regime where the religious leaders have final say on everything.

[Dumbastheycome]

" He said Iran puts more people to death per capita than any other country"...

"Iran is one of the world's largest users of the death penalty, ranking second behind China in 2014,"

Which to believe?

And if you were to learn of the number forced lobotomies of family members and /or the legalized wrongful detainment in private pshyciatric facilities by virtue of financial control or gain by individuals in the self proclaimed number one nation of the world you would need question any moral outrage about the death penalty in another place.

And by the way.....has "an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth" been written out of the bible?

[elgordo38]

"...laws that permit girls as young as nine and boys as young as 15 to be sentenced to death," Amnesty said."

Barbarians.

We trade with them anyways they barely pass the smell test. Greed knows no limits Barbarians, Cannibals Warlords, Dictators its open house. We will trade you weapons for whatever you have to sell.