ABC blog

We welcome reports that Iran has suspended the execution of a juvenile in the wake of recent appeals by the High Commissioner, the Secretary General and Special Rapporteurs. We also welcome reports that this week Iran commuted the death sentences against six juvenile offenders.

Our Office nevertheless remains concerned regarding another juvenile, Hamid Ahmadi, who  was 17 years old when he was sentenced to death for the fatal stabbing in 2008 of a young man during a fight. The court relied on confessions allegedly obtained under torture while Mr Ahmadi was at a police station and denied access to a lawyer and his family, in violation of international guarantees of fair trial and due process.

Mr. Ahmadi’s execution had been set for this Saturday 11 February but we now have reports that it has been delayed for 10 days.  This is the latest occasion that Mr Ahmadi’s sentence has been postponed. A group of Special Rapporteurs and the Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child earlier this month appealed to Iran to halt his execution, then scheduled for 4 February.

We renew our call for Iran to halt the application of the death penalty to people who committed crimes when they were children. The High Commissioner will be contacting the Iranian authorities regarding Mr Ahmadi, who reportedly remains in solitary confinement.

We also once again urge Iran to immediately institute a moratorium on the death penalty, amid serious concerns about the high number of executions since the beginning of the year.