Skip to main content

To execute a juvenile offender, flies in the face of international law!

Today Amnesty International has issued a media advisory on juvenile offender Salar Shadizadi who is at imminent risk of execution.

Salar Shadizadi, who is now 24, is due to be hanged on Saturday 1 August, after he was convicted of murdering a friend in 2007. He was 15 years old at the time of the offence.

“To execute Salar Shadizadi, who was a child at the time of his arrest, flies in the face of international law. The Iranian authorities must immediately halt any plans to carry out the execution and ensure that Salar Shadizadi’s death sentence is commuted without delay," said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

“The Iranian authorities’ pledges to respect children’s rights ring disturbingly hollow when they plan the execution of a juvenile offender just months before Iran’s review session at the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child.”

At least 72 juvenile offenders are believed to have been executed in Iran between 2005 and 2014 and at least 160 juvenile offenders are believed to be on death row. International law strictly prohibits the use of death penalty for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is scheduled to review Iran’s children’s rights record in January 2016.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International exposed the shocking surge in executions in Iran during 2015. The reasons behind this year’s spike are unclear but the majority of those put to death in 2015 were convicted on drug charges.

Take a quick action for Salar on Twitter: 

For further information on Salar Shadizadi case please click here.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The most powerful tool against repression: educating people about their rights

Former Amnesty prisoner of conscience Fred Bauma about human rights and democracy Fred Bauma about the human rights situation in the DRC (c) Amnesty International UK I could not have dreamt of anything more exciting than meeting former Amnesty prisoner of conscience Fred Bauma . Together with thousands of activists, I had been campaigning for him and his colleague Yves Makwambala for the past few years. So, I was floating on air when I heard about Fred and Yves’ release on bail in August 2016. I felt extremely honoured to be able to organise an event where Fred could meet the Amnesty UK activists who had been standing in solidarity with him. Struggle for change in the Congo On 11 March, just a few days before the anniversary of his detention in 2015, Amnesty UK hosted a speaker event with Fred Bauma. During the evening, the young Congolese activist talked about his experiences and the human rights situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Fred explained ...
Read more

Hidden from critical view: the disappeared of Cameroon

As the number of military personnel deployed to fight Boko Haram in the Far North Region of Cameroon has increased, the number of people detained without trial on suspicion of supporting the armed group has gone up, as well. Families and communities torn apart Since 2014, Cameroon’s security forces have arrested hundreds of people without charge during security operations. One man from the village of Double told us how security forces raided the village in search of suspected Boko Haram fighters: “Early in the morning, we heard gunshots and thought it was Boko Haram. We were scared and fled to the bush; then people called us to say it wasn’t Boko Haram, but the security forces, so we came back thinking we were safe. However, to our great surprise, those forces made us suffer even more than Boko Haram.” During this operation carried out in Double and in the neighbouring community, Magdeme, nine people were killed and more than 200 boys and men arbitrar...
Read more

Educating the Western youth

In a rare occasion to reach out to the West without pure condemnation, Iran’s Supreme Leader sent an important message to the American and European youth . The aim of the letter was to stress that the Islam they know is based on a forged concept and doesn’t reflect the reality. Therefore, Ayatollah Khamenei encouraged the younger generation in the West to do research and get firsthand information on the religion. www.wsj.com In his letter, Mr Khamenei asks youngsters whether they “ have directly read the Qur’an of the Muslims .” He goes on by questioning: “Have you ever received the message of Islam from any sources other than the media?” Moreover, the Iranian leader calls on the youth to ask themselves “why the old policy of spreading ‘phobia’ and hatred has targeted Islam and Muslims with an unprecedented intensity. [..] What concepts and values in Islam disturb the programs of the super powers and what interests are safeguarded in the shadow of distorting the image of Islam...
Read more