Child Executions in Iran - Silenced Suffering

Natalie & Melissa

Asian Human Rights Issue Project

Background Information

     The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child came into effect, September 2^nd, 1990.  Signed by all but the United States and Somalia, it binds all other 193 members under international law to respect the “civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights” of the child[i].  More specifically, Article 37 of this Convention forbids the death penalty for children under the age of 18 years[ii]. 

Since 2005, five countries bound under this international treaty, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, and Iran have broken it by allowing child execution within their country.  Iran is by far the worst of the latter, having executed 26 juvenile offenders[iii] within the last three years whilst following up on most executions is Saudi Arabia with only two executions.  In Iran this year alone six juveniles have been executed, most recently, Behnam Zare and Seyyed Reza Hejazi were put to death in August[iv].  This has partly to do with the fact the Iranian government allows the sentencing of the death penalty from the age of 9 for girls and the age of 15 for boys[v].  This means that children this age are held for the same liability as a 40 year old adult.  The government also gets around the international law by holding minors on death row for years until they are over the age of 18 and can legally be given the death penalty.  Although Behnam Zare committed an accidental murder at the age of 15 was held in prison for three years until the age of 18.  He was then controversially executed on August 26, 2008[vi]

Children are protected under the Convention on the Rights of the Child as it is said that minors cannot fully “grasp the consequences of all their actions.”[vii]  In addition, many laws in Iran are based on the strict Islamic Shari’a law.  This eventually ends up meaning that offences worthy of the death penalty in Iran include murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking, adultery, treason, espionage, and even homosexuality[viii]. Compared to some Western countries like the United States, some of these offences are not so awful, and it seems extremely harsh to deem them punishable by the death penalty.

Realizing the Issue

     Iran without a doubt stands as the worst offender of child execution worldwide.  In this year alone, Iran has already executed six offenders under the age of 18 years old[ix].  Considering that in the past three years, the next closest offenders of child execution—Saudi Arabia and Yemen—have each executed two minors, the numbers emerging from Iran are staggering.  This is not to mention that Iran currently has over 130 criminals under the age of 18 on death row [iii].  As Iran is one of the many countries that has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child, it seems ridiculous that it has yet to officially ban the juvenile death penalty.

               One of the main problems is that the Iranian government sometimes bends the international rules by holding guilty minors for several years on death row until they are 18, or legally adults.  One such example involves Behnam Zare[x], a young Iranian convicted of an alleged murder at the age of 15.  He’s been on death row for the past three years, held at a central prison, until recently turning 18.  Only now, as Zare is finally a legal adult, has the Iranian government acted on their death sentencing.  This method has left Zare’s family in the dark for three years as they await the fate of their son.  It also displays the lack of a consistent, incorrupt legal system for society to rely on in Iran.

               Several of the crimes committed by minors on death row do not seem to justify the use of the death penalty.  This has much to do with the fact that capital offences in Iran include murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking, adultery, treason, espionage, and homosexuality.  These types of offences correspond to the strict Islamic Shari’ a law followed in Iran.  This is extremely evident in a 2006 case involving two Iranian boys, Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni[xi].  They were wrongly accused of and hung for a charge of committing rape when, in fact, all parties involved knew that the 16 year olds were secretly convicted for consensual homosexual acts.  Although it’s a reach to say homosexuality is accepted worldwide, it is also dishonest to say that it would generally be punished by the death penalty globally, as it is in Iran.  As Nazanin Afshin-Jam[xii], a prominent protester of the juvenile death penalty, argued on September 24^th, in the streets of New York City, “[in the United States] I see women with heads uncovered and people protesting government policies.  In Iran, they would already have been imprisoned, tortured, and executed.”  In this, Afshin-Jam also agrees that many of Iran’s punishments are too severe for the crime committed.  This is evident in the level of many of the crimes punishable by death.

               In Iran, children are considered adults, for girls, at the age of 9 and, for boys, at the age of 15.  However, under the Convention on the Rights of the Child[xiii] a child is every human being below the age of eighteen years.  Also under the Convention, children are not fully developed mentally and psychologically before they are 18 and therefore are not liable for important decisions.  The carrying out of major crimes falls under the category of major decisions.  Therefore, children are not mentally mature enough to control their actions if ever in a criminal situation and should not be tried with the same level of intensity of an adult.  So, because of the confusion between the legal adult age in Iran and the rest of the world, this leads to controversy over the legal age for the death penalty.

Check out our YouTube video for more information:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LBDz1xTCiI

Solution

            As child execution in Iran is a relatively unknown issue globally, we’ve decided to slowly start spreading awareness, first beginning with the students at our school.  Our main project involves placing a mural in the foyer of our high school.  On it will be the pictures of nine juvenile offenders currently on death row in Iran.  Next to each of these pictures will be a photograph of a student from our school.  Using the offenders’ and our students’ likes/dislikes and ages, we will compare the similarities between the two, showing how the teenagers are so alike, and yet, now one is facing the death penalty.  Because this uses actual students at our school, the mural will attract more of the student population, in turn spreading awareness about the issue within our school.

     Along with the mural, we will take 140 photographs of blind-folded students from our school.  These will be placed strategically around the school, numbered from #1-140, and represent the 140 juvenile offenders on death row in Iran.  By making the idea of kids our age being on death more of a reality for our student population, we will hopefully raise awareness on child execution in Iran. 

For more information on how to help:

http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/

The world is only five countries away from eliminating the juvenile death penalty completely.  Stopping child execution in Iran would be the most major, most influential step in this process and would save the 140 juvenile offenders currently on death row.  It only takes 1 to save 140. 

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Bibliography

[i] "Convention on the Rights of the Child." Unite for children. Unicef. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.unicef.org/crc/>.

This is an online copy of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, an international agreement that has been signed by Iran.  This was used in helping to determine the basic global rights of the child and how/if Iran was breaking them.

[ii] "DEATH PENALTY: New Arab Charter Deviates from the Convention on the Rights of the Child." 31 Jan. 2008. The      Children and Armed Conflict Unit. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/000730.html>.

This article analyses the Convention on the Rights of the Child more closely and specifically pin points areas where Iran is disobeying international law.  We used this mostly to help confirm previous informatioin we'd found.  It also explains the laws of the Arab Charter on Human rights and how it conflicts with other international treaties.

[iii] "HRW: 130 Children on Death Row in Iran." The Iranian Threat. 25 Sept. 2008. The Jerusalem Post. 26 Sept. 2008      <http://www.jpost.com/servlet/satellite?pagename=jpost%2fjparticle%2fshowfull&cid=1222017394612>.

This article produced specific numbers on how many children Iran had recently executed in comparison with other countries.  This was useful for our background.

[iv] Dareini, Ali A. "Iraninan Activists Fight Child Executions." San Francisco Chronicle. 17 Sept. 2008. Hearst      Communications Inc. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/17/international

     /i091804d51.dtl&hw=criticizes&sn=020&sc=558>.

This article told the stories of two Iranian minors who had recently been executed in August of 2008.  We were able to use this as a specific example of child execution in Iran.  These two minors can also be used in our awareness project.

[v] "The U.N expresses deep concern about Iran's record on child rights." Gardons les yeux ouverts. 31 Jan. 2005.      FIDH. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article2203>.

This article views several areas where Iran has not followed the Convention on the Rights of the Child including the age of majority, gender discrimination, and finally the use of the death penalty on minors.  It also mentions that many times the minors executed are Afghan refugees whose parents are not registered Iranian citizens.  Several of the points in the argument of the article helped us to argue more logically.

[vi] "Amnesty International issues urgent request to save Behnam Zare." Iranian. 6 Feb. 2008. Iraninan LCC. 21 Sept.      2008 <http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/sce-campaign/amnesty-international-issues-urgent-request-                    save-behnam-zare>.

This article tells the story of Behnam Zare, an offender held on death row for three years until he reached the age of 18 so that he could be executed "legally".  His story was a good example to use for one of our arguments.

[vii] "Convention on the Rights of the Child." Unite for children. Unicef. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.unicef.org/crc/>.

This is an online copy of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, an international agreement that has been signed by Iran.  This was used in helping to determine the basic global rights of the child and how/if Iran was breaking them.

[viii] Esfandiari, Golnaz. "Iran: Child Offenders Face 'Imminent Execution' on Death Row." Radio Free Europe/Radio      Liberty. 15 Jan. 2008. UNHCR Refworld. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.unhcr.org/refworld                  /country,,rferl,,irn,,47ab023328,0.html>.

This article gives further examples of Iranian offenders held on death row after either being held until the age of 18 or executed as minors.  Severeal of these offenders were used in our writing and video.

[ix] "UN Urged to push for ban on execution of children." Law, Politics, World. 12 Sept. 2008. Pink News. 24 Sept.      2008 <http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8980.html>.

This article gives several statistics regarding minors on death row, focusing specifically on those whose crimes involved homosexual acts.  It gives the example of Mahmoud Asgari and Ayaz Marhoni and urges the United Nations to step in.  The article also compares the number of child executions in Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan.

[x] "THE ROW- Minors on Death Row in Iran." Prisoners. Www.stopchildexecutions.com. 24 Sept. 2008      <http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/the_row.aspx>.

These are the pictures, names, and stories of the confirmed 95 Iranian minor offenders on death row.  It was very useful in helping to find specific examples. 

[xi] "THE ROW- Minors on Death Row in Iran." Prisoners. Www.stopchildexecutions.com. 24 Sept. 2008      <http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/the_row.aspx>.

These are the pictures, names, and stories of the confirmed 95 Iranian minor offenders on death row.  It was very useful in helping to find specific examples.

[xii] "Wall of Shame Rally UN." SCE News and Updates. 24 Sept. 2008. Www.stopchildexecutions.com. 24 Sept.      2008 <http://scenews.blog.com/3928373/>.

This is a link to a video of a recent rally held in New York City to fight against the strict regime of Iran.  This provided specific quotes for our writing and footage for our awareness video.

[xiii] Esfandiari, Golnaz. "Iran: Child Offenders Face 'Imminent Execution' on Death Row." Radio Free Europe/Radio      Liberty. 15 Jan. 2008. UNHCR Refworld. 21 Sept. 2008 <http://www.unhcr.org/refworld           /country,,rferl,,irn,,47ab023328,0.html>.

This article gives further examples of Iranian offenders held on death row after either being held until the age of 18 or executed as minors.  Severeal of these offenders were used in our writing and video.

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