IRAN: EU urges Iran to halt executions of minors

Submitted by crinadmin on Wed, 09/09/2009 - 10:41

[STOCKHOLM, 8 September 2009] - The European Union is urging Iran to halt the planned executions of three men who were convicted of crimes they committed as minors.

The Swedish EU presidency says in a statement Tuesday that it is "deeply concerned" by reports of the imminent executions of Behnoud Shojaee, Reza Padashi and Hossein Haghi.

It says the executions would contravene Iran’s commitment to several international conventions, and condemns the "continued widespread occurrence of death sentences and executions" in Iran.

With an estimated 346 executions last year Iran is the world’s second most frequent user of the death penalty overall after China. Amnesty International says Iran executes more juvenile offenders than any other nation.

Further information

Latin American, Caribbean States Blocking UN Effort to End Juvenile Executions (October 2008)
Read about the campaign to end the juvenile death penalty
UN urged to end executions of juvenile offenders (14 October 2008)
The Last Holdouts - Ending the Juvenile Death Penalty in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Pakistan, and Yemen (Human Rights Watch, September 2008)
Human Rights Watch: Enforcing the International Prohibition of the Juvenile Death Penalty (May 2008)
Amnesty International: UN General Assembly 2008: Implementing a moratorium on executions (3 September 2008)

Owner: Associated Press

Country:

Iran, Islamic Republic of

Issues:

Death penalty

Violence:

Death penalty

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