Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
A/HRC/40/67 para 75(e)
Full recommendation:
Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the
binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child
offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: (e) When assessing the quality
and veracity of testimony or confession offered by the child, ensure that the judge considers all
circumstances of interrogation, especially the age of the child as well as the length of detention
and interrogation and the presence of legal or other representatives and parents during
questioning.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
Article 37 of the Constitution purports to protect the presumption of innocence.2 3 However,
Article 164 of the Islamic Penal Code defines confessions as self-incriminating statements made
by the accused and Article 171 gives primary weight to confessions.4 Article 360 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure stipulates that convictions can be issued on the basis of voluntary given
confessions alone, regardless of age or length of detention. Reports of child offenders who have
been detained for an extensive amount of time prior trial5 6 7 8 and/or have not had access to legal
aid and/or access to their families are regular in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 9 10 11 12
1
CCPR.6.5.S.1; CRC.6.1.S.2; CRC.37.4.S.1; CCPR.6.5.P.1; CRC.37.4.P.1; CCPR.6.5.O.1; CCPR.6.5.O.2; CRC.37.4.O.2
Article 37, Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran http://www.iranchamber.com/government/laws/constitution_ch03.php
3
Article 4, Code of Criminal Procedure of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2015) original version http://dotic.ir/print/5584
4
Islamic Penal Code (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, https://iranhrdc.org/englishtranslation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
5
Human Rights Watch, https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/13/iran-submission-committee-rights-child
6
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020,
https://undocs.org/A/75/213
7
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, September 2019,
https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/37/24
8
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2019,
https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/40/67
9
See: https://www.en-hrana.org/juvenile-offender-death-row-ardabil-prison;https://www.en-hrana.org/open-letter-kurdishcitizen-fears-for-imprisoned-brothers-life ; https://www.en-hrana.org/mohammad-saber-malek-reisi-teenager-became-adultprison
10
OHCHR News, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23689&LangID=E
11
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/04/iran-two-17yearold-boys-flogged-and-secretlyexecuted-in-abhorrent-violation-of-international-law/
12
Amnesty International, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/12/iran-stop-execution-of-young-man-arrested-at-16and-forced-to-confess/
2
1