B. Lift or commute the sentences of other persons awaiting execution for offences
committed before they reached age 18
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.5 ICCPR’s article 6(5) states
that the death sentence should not be applied to crimes committed by persons under the age of
eighteen.6 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 maturity for girls is 9 years and for boys 15 years. Article
148 specifies that if an individual commits a crime while being under the age of criminal
responsibility, they will still be subjected to the punishments contained in the law7 . This
includes all crimes that are subject to the death penalty in Iran, including murder, qisas8
(retaliation)4, organized crime, sodomy, adultery and moharebeh (waging war with God)9. This
article seemingly allows for minors to be subjected to such punishments
In the revised Islamic Penal Code of 2013 (IPC), the Islamic Republic took some steps to
limiting the issuance of the death penalty to juvenile offenders. Article 91 of the IPC grants the
courts the ability to ascertain whether a juvenile defendant was “completely mature” and
unaware of the "nature of the crime", at the time it was committed. If the defendant is not
deemed mature by the courts at the time of committing the crime, alternative punishments such
as imprisonment could be applied. The note of this article specifies that, at the discretion of the
judge, the courts can (but are not obligated to) seek a medical expert’s opinion from a "legal
medical organization" in order to decide on the individual’s maturity at the time of committing
the crime.
In practice, these amendments to the Islamic Penal Code have not prevented the issuance of
execution sentences for juveniles. In recent years, there have been many reports that courts have
been selective in applying this article10. In some cases, despite an expert failing to confirm a
juvenile offender’s ‘maturity’ at the time of committing the crime, the presiding judge decided to
issue a death penalty anyway. 11
5
https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
ICCPR: https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx
7
Article 148 of the Islamic Penal Code.
8
Qisas refers to retaliation punishments such as, if a person cuts off someone else’s finger, the victim may inflict the same
punishment onto the perpetrator.
9
Article 279 of the Islamic Penal Code states: “Moharebeh is defined as drawing a weapon on the life, property or chastity of people
or to cause terror as it creates the atmosphere of insecurity.”
10
https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/irans-hypocrisy-exposed-as-scores-of-juvenile-offenders-condemned-to-gallows/
11
Iran Human Rights: https://www.iranhr.net/en/articles/3591/
6
2