UN RIGHTS OFFICE CONCERN AT RISING IRAN EXECUTIONS

September 2, 2008: The U.N. human rights office voiced concern at a recent rise in executions in Iran and implored the Islamic Republic to stay death sentences handed down for all convicts accused of committing crimes as minors.
Two men, named as Mohammad Fadaaee and Amir Amrollahi, face imminent risk of execution on murder charges, but carrying out the death penalty would violate international law ratified by Tehran, as they were juveniles as the time, it said.
"We urge the government of Iran to stay the executions of both of them in strict compliance of its international human rights obligations and not to impose the death penalty on juvenile offenders in the future," United Nations human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told a news briefing.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner of Human Rights was "also concerned over reports of a recent increase in the number of executions in Iran in general," he said.
Iran is believed to have already executed 220 people so far this year, including six juvenile offenders, Colville said.
The U.N. rights office was concerned that two Iranian men, Reza Hejazi and Behnam Zarei, were hanged last month for murders committed at age 15 and 16, according to Colville.
"These executions appear to be in clear violation of international law, which contains an absolute prohibition of the death penalty for juvenile offenders," he said.
Iran has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which ban the death penalty for crimes committed by people under age 18.
Iran rejects accusations it is violating human rights and accuses the West of double standards and hypocrisy. (Sources: Reuters, 02/09/2008)