Under Article 37(a) of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, child executions are a clear violation of international law.
” [No] capital punishment… shall be imposed for offenses committed by persons below eighteen years of age”
” Makwan Mouloudzadeh faces death for crimes supposedly committed as a 13-year-old, which even his accusers admit never occurred. Ayatollah Shahrudi, the head of the Judiciary, needs to act now to ensure that his death sentence is revoked and Mouloudzadeh gets a new trial. ” -Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch
Mouloudzadeh, was accused of raping 3 boys, who at the time where also 13 years old, however he continuously claimed innocence. Mouloudzadeh also claimed he was coursed into his confession and that all the accusations against him where false, however the judge over the proceedings would not hear his statement. Sadly Mouloudzadeh is not alone in his fight against execution, as Iran is the worlds leader in death penalties for children.
According to Iranian law under Article 1210(1) of Iran's Civil Code the age of criminal responsibility is 15 lunar years for boys, and nine lunar years for girls. According to Article 49 of Iran's Penal Code: “Children, if committing an offense, are
exempted from criminal responsibility.” However in the case of Mouloudzadeh both international and Iranian law have been broke, with little regard.
“Iran stands virtually alone as a country in which child offenders – persons under 18 at the time of the crime of which they were convicted – are put to death,” said Malcolm Smart, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme for Amnesty International. “It is high time that the Iranian authorities put an end to this shameful practice – for once and for all – and bring themselves in line with the rest of the international community, which has long recognized the obscenity of executing those who commit crimes while children.”
The international community must continue to put pressure on Iran, to end these blatant human rights abuses and violations against children.
You can find out more about child executions in Iran at Stop Child Executions, where you can also see a list of those who are awaiting execution.
