The sentence and potential application of the death penalty against Mr. Haddadi represent a
violation of Articles 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and 37(a)
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Human Rights Committee has further
stipulated that the death penalty cannot be imposed if it cannot be proven, beyond reasonable
doubt, that the accused was older than 18 years old at the time of the offence.17 Additionally,
despite the Government’s disagreement with this fact, the prohibition of imposing the death
penalty on children is widely considered to be jus cogens under international law. 18 While
Mr. Haddadi was not executed on 9 December 2009, the Supreme Court upheld for a second
time the death sentence against Mr. Haddadi, who may now be executed at any moment.
There is no available information that might indicate that the State took necessary -any- steps
to commute Mr. Haddadi’s death sentence. 19
Recommendation Status:
This recommendation has NOT been implemented.
17
UN Human Rights Committee (HRC), General comment no. 36, Article 6 (Right to Life), 3 September
2019, CCPR/C/GC/35, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5e5e75e04.html
18
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, January 2019,
https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F40%2F67&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop
19
See more : Abdorrahman Boroumand Center https://www.iranrights.org/newsletter/issue/79
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