Iran executes man convicted of murder as a juvenile

Iran has executed a man who was convicted of murder 12 years ago when he was 16, drawing condemnation from the UN rights office, which said the execution was prohibited under international law.

He had spent 12 years on death row.

“This is the fourth confirmed execution of a child offender in Iran in 2020,” the UN human rights office said in a statement.

“The execution of child offenders is categorically prohibited under international law and Iran is under the obligation to abide by this prohibition.”

The statement said the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet strongly condemned the killing.

“We are also dismayed that this execution took place despite interventions … with the Government of Iran on this issue,” the statement said.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International called on Iranian authorities to “immediately halt” the execution, calling Rezaiee’s trial “grossly unfair”.

Diana Eltahawy, deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said on the group’s website that Rezaiee was arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of a man in a group fight.

She alleged in the report that he had been convicted based on forced confessions.

Persons convicted of crimes as juveniles have been executed regularly since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979.

Under Iran’s laws, the age for adulthood is determined by puberty, 15 for boys and nine for girls, but a judge is expected to determine the maturity of the defendant in capital punishment cases.

When there is a discrepancy between domestic law and international legal obligations, Iranian authorities have turned to domestic law.