Despite some reports of child offenders having their sentences commuted,17 such reports are rare
when compared to the estimated number of child offenders executed annually.18 As of July 2019,
the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Javaid Rehman (“Special Rapporteur”), estimated that 90 individuals sitting on death row were
under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged offences.19
Iran has justified the execution of child offenders because it does not execute any children under
the age of 18 years old. That is, under Islamic Penal Code, if a child commits a crime punishable
by death, the death sentence can be imposed on that individual after a court hearing, but the
execution of the death penalty will be suspended until the offender reaches the age of 18 years
old.
In recent years, there have been numerous reports that Iranian courts have selectively applied
Article 91 of Islamic Penal Code and its guiding notes in sentencing child offenders to the death
penalty.20 In 2016, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed “serious concern” that
decisions to exempt children from death sentences under Article 91 of Islamic Penal Code are
under full judicial discretion.21 The Special Rapporteur described this judicial discretion as
“problematic” because the criteria for assessing children’s mental development is undefined and
subjective.22
Despite forensic reports confirming that the defendant was not “fully mature” at the time of the
crime, some judges reportedly have decided that the defendant was mature and the language of
Article 91 of Islamic Penal Code did not apply to the individual, as they had previously been
charged for criminal activities (e.g. robbery). Some judges allegedly have concluded that the
child offender was ��mature” based on simple factors, including: if the child understood it is
wrong to kill another human being, if the defendant had grown body hair (used as an assessment
for mental development), or contributed a lack of mental health concerns with criminal
responsibility as those with diminished criminal responsibility typically have mental health
issues or are “afflicted with insanity”.23
17
ISNA News, “The death sentence of 6 juvenile offenders was commuted on February 8, 2017” (in Persian):
https://www.isna.ir/news/95112014376/
18
See Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://www.iranrights.org/projects/omidmap
19
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, A/74/188 (18 July 2019) para
10, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N19/222/62/PDF/N1922262.pdf?OpenElement
20
Amnesty International, https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/irans-hypocrisy-exposed-as-scores-of-juvenile-offenderscondemned-to-gallows/
21
CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, paras 35–36
22
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, A/HRC/40/67 (30 January
2019) para 61, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/40/67
23
Amnesty International, https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/irans-hypocrisy-exposed-as-scores-of-juvenile-offenderscondemned-to-gallows/; Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
A/HRC/40/67 (30 January 2019) para 61, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/40/67
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