Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions A/HRC/14/24/Add.1
para 426
Full recommendation:
In view of the urgency of this matter and of the irreversibility of the punishment of the death
penalty, it is imperative that your Excellency’s Government should take all steps necessary to
prevent the execution of Mr Behnood Shoojaee and Mr Safar Angooti. I therefore again urge
your Excellency’s Government to suspend the executions reportedly already scheduled and
expeditiously lift or commute the death sentences imposed against Mr Safar Angooti and Mr.
Behnood Shoojaee, as well as all other persons awaiting execution for offences committed before
they reached age 18.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
A. Suspend the executions reportedly already scheduled and expeditiously lift or
commute the death sentences imposed against Mr. Safar Angooti and Mr. Behnood
Shoojaee
Safar Angooti was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to death on charges of murder for a crime he
was accused of committing when he was 17 years old. The most recent readily available report
on Mr. Angooti’s case is from 21 October 2009 when his execution was postponed for a month. 2
There is no readily available information that might suggest Mr. Angooti’s sentence has been
lifted or commuted. Behnood Shoojaee was executed on 11th October 2009 on charges of
murder for a crime he was accused of committing when he was 17 years old.3
B. Suspend the executions reportedly already scheduled and expeditiously lift or
commute the death of all other persons awaiting execution for offences committed
before they reached age 18.
The Islamic Penal Code (2013) 4 establishes the age of criminal responsibility at 9 lunar years for
girls and 15 lunar years for boys.5 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
1
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 Iran Human Rights, https://iranhr.net/en/articles/496/
3
Iran Human Rights: https://iranhr.net/en/articles/489/
4
Article 146 and 147, Islamic Penal Code (2013), English translation, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center,
https://iranhrdc.org/english-translation-of-books-i-ii-of-the-new-islamic-penal-code/
5 Article 1210, note 1
1