Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
A/HRC/28/70 para 89
Full recommendation:
Authorities should immediately rescind the death sentences against all political prisoners and
prisoners of conscience, including those of Soheil Arabi and others, whose alleged actions
do not constitute a serious crime under international law. The Government should also
note that international law and consensus define juvenile execution as the execution of
individuals who were under the age of 18 at the time of the commission of the relevant crime,
not at the time of implementation of the sentence. He reiterates his call on the Government
to officially ban this practice and to align its practices with its obligations under international
law. He repeats his call to enforce a complete moratorium on the death penalty in the
meantime. These actions could drastically reduce executions for non-capital offences
and better ensure protections for the right to life.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
A. Rescind the death penalty against Soheil Arabi
Soheil Arabi is a blogger and journalist who was sentenced to death for blasphemy by Branch 76
off the Criminal Court of Tehran in 2014 under charges of “insulting the Prophet of Islam” due
to his Facebook posts.2 He was later charged with "insulting the supreme leader" and
"propaganda against the regime" and sentenced to three years of imprisonment for his work as a
human rights defender behind bars. In 2015, his death sentence was commuted by Branch 34 of
the Supreme Court and he was resentenced to seven and a half years in prison, two years of Shi’a
studies and hand copying thirteen Shi’a textbooks. This sentence was reduced to six and a half
years in prison in November 2015. As of January 2021, Soheil Arabi remains in prison.3
B. Ban the practice of juvenile executions
International law and human rights treaties define the age of criminal responsibility at 18 years
and above, and those below that age are considered to be juveniles.4 However, the laws in Iran,
and in particular the Islamic Penal Code, allow death sentences for criminals under the age of 18
to be issued. Article 146 of the Islamic Penal Code of 2013 establishes that people which are not
considered mature are not responsible for any crimes, while Article 147 says that the age of
1
CCPR.6.1.S.1; CCPR.6.2.S.1; CCPR.6.3.P.1; CCPR.6.1.O.1; CRC.6.1.S.2; CRC.6.2.P.1; CCPR.6.5.O.1
https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/continued-detention-iranian-blogger-soheil-arabi-and-judicial-harassment-hismother
3
: https://iranhr.net/en/articles/4576/
4
https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
2
1