14 In 2019, Iran was the country with the second-highest number of reported executions, behind China.15 16 17 OHCHR continues to receive reports indicating that death sentences are passed following proceedings that do not respect due process and fair trial standards.18 19 Similarly, the NGOs Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, Impact Iran, Human Rights Activists in Iran, and Iran Human Rights documented numerous violations of fair trial in the Islamic Republic of Iran as provided under Article 14 of the ICCPR. These include violations of the right to legal counsel and to choose a lawyer as well as the right to appeal, arbitrary arrests, the use of forced confessions as evidence, lack of independence of the judiciary.20 The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has not declared a moratorium on the use of the death penalty for acts not considered to be criminal offences or crimes that do not warrant use of the death penalty under international law, such as drug-related crimes. B. The Special Rapporteur appeals to the Government to abandon piecemeal reforms and to immediately and unconditionally prohibit the execution of offenders who are juveniles, defined as individuals under 18 years of age, at the time they committed the capital offence The Islamic Penal Code (2013)21 establishes the age of criminal responsibility at 9 lunar years for girls and 15 lunar years for boys.22 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. In these cases, 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” that is 9 and 15 lunar years for girls and boys respectively. 14 https://iranhr.net/media/files/Rapport_iran_2021-gb-290321-BD.pdf https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/04/death-penalty-in-2019-facts-and-figures/ 16 See more: Abdorrahman Boroumand Center https://www.iranrights.org/projects/omidmap 17 See more: Human Rights Activists in Iran https://www.en-hrana.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Annual-Report-ofExecutions-2019.pdf 18 See the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session37/Pages/ ListReports.aspx; and A/73/299 19 Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 28 January 2020, A/HRC/43/61, https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile?FinalSymbol=A%2FHRC%2F43%2F61&Language=E&DeviceType=Desktop 20 Abdorrahman Boroumand Center (ABC), Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC), Impact Iran, Human Rights Activists in Iran, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313 &Lang=en 21 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/ 22 Article 1210, note 1 15 3