E. The Special Rapporteur also reiterates her call to end the practice of public executions Article 499 of the revised Code of Criminal Procedure (2015) prohibits the issuance of punishments, including execution, flogging and stoning, in public, but allows the judge or the prosecutor to order otherwise if deemed preventive.24 The preventive effect of public executions is considered and accepted as common knowledge among judges who support such practice.25 In 2008, then-Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi, issued a directive entitled the Public Prohibition of Execution,26 effectively banning public executions. However, directives and circulars are not considered as law. Public executions are still practiced in the Islamic Republic of Iran and every year a number of public executions are recorded. In 2019, 13 individuals were reportedly executed in public spaces in Iran.27 According to the latest regulations issued by the current Head of the Judiciary in 2019, the presence of persons under 18 years of age at public executions is prohibited, unless the judge decides otherwise.28 The Human Rights Committee has opined that public executions are contrary to Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights29 and therefore inevitably render the execution arbitrary in nature, thus a violation of Article 6.30 The Islamic Republic of Iran has not prohibited the sentencing of children to death and has not engaged in a comprehensive process to commute all death sentences issued to persons currently on death row in respect of crimes committed by child offenders. The Islamic Republic of Iran has not established a moratorium on the death penalty and has not ended the practice of public executions. Although the Government amended its Anti-narcotic Law, the legislation does not fully comply with human rights international standards. Recommendation Status: This recommendation has NOT been implemented. 24 The Code of Criminal Procedure (adopted in 2013): < https://shenasname.ir/laws/2327-keifari > <https://p.dw.com/p/12Y5C > 26 Hamshahri Newspaper: < https://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news/43036/ > 27 ECPM & Iran Human Rights, Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran, 2019, https://www.ecpm.org/wpcontent/uploads/Rapport-iran-2020-gb-070420-WEB.pdf 28 Note 2 of Article 43 of the regulation on the Execution of Hudud and Qisas Sentences (Adopted on June 17, 2019): < http://rrk.ir/Laws/ShowLaw.aspx?Code=18022 > 29 Human Rights Committee, CCPR/CO/72/PRK, para. 13, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/CO/72/PRK&Lang=En 30 Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, para. 40, https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/1_Global/CCPR_C_GC_36_8785_E.pdf 25 5