Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions A/HRC/14/24/Add.1
para 420
Full recommendation:
I respectfully urge your Excellency’s Government to take all measures necessary to comply with
the commitments it has undertaken under international law. These measures were, in my view,
accurately reflected in the recommendations issued by the United Nations Committee on the
Rights of the Child, which called on the Islamic Republic of Iran in January 2005 (See
CRC/C/15/Add. 254, 28 January 2005, at par. 30).
CRC/C/15/Add. 254, 28 January 2005, at par. 30: The Committee urges the State party to take
the necessary steps to immediately suspend the execution of all death penalties imposed on
persons for having committed a crime before the age of 18, to take the appropriate legal
measures to convert them into penalties in conformity with the provisions of the Convention and
to abolish the death penalty as a sentence imposed on persons for having committed crimes
before the age of 18, as required by article 37 of the Convention.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
The Islamic Penal Code (2013)2 establishes the age of criminal responsibility at 9 lunar years for
girls and 15 lunar years for boys.3 However, the age of responsibility for ta’zir crimes (crimes for
which fixed penalties are not provided in Islamic law giving the judge discretion as to the
sentence imposed) is 18 years for all children. For these crimes, convicted children are sentenced
to correctional measures. In contrast, criminal responsibility for crimes punishable by hudud
(punishments fixed by God) or qisas (punishment or retribution in kind), which carry mandatory
punishments such as death, is maintained at the age of “maturity”, which is 9 lunar years for girls
and 15 lunar years for boys. 6 convicted juvenile offenders were reportedly executed in 2018,
and 4 were executed in 2019.4 5
In qisas cases, the execution of the sentence is solely based on the request of the victim or the
victim’s guardian.6 The accused is unable to request their own pardon or commutation, but there
are a number institutions that can intervene to mediate cases of children sentenced with qisas,
notably in order to commute qisas into diya sentences (blood money). These institutions include
CCPR.6.5.S.1; CRC.37.1.S.2
CCPR.6.5.P.1
CCPR.6.5.O.1; CCPR.6.5.O.2
2
Article 146 and 147, Islamic Penal Code (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
1
https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
Article 1210, note 1
ECPM, Iran Human Rights, https://www.ecpm.org/wp-content/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420-WEB.pdf
5
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4727
6
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2019,
3
4
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F40%2F67&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop
1