Iran: Amnesty International dismay at execution of child offender

The organisation urged Iran's judicial authorities to halt further executions of child offenders.

This is reportedly the eighth execution of a child offender in Iran since 1990.

Amnesty International is concerned that this execution was carried out following approval by parliament in December 2003 of a bill concerning the establishment of special courts for minors, which brought Iran's law in line with international law by removing provisions for the execution of child offenders.

Amnesty International stated that the execution of Mohammad Mohammadzadeh makes ratification of the bill by the Guardian Council, the highest legislative body, and its implementation an urgent necessity to prevent further executions of child offenders.

Last week Amnesty International released a new report, Stop child executions: ending the death penalty for child offenders. The report revealed that since 1990 the organisation has recorded 34 executions of child offenders in the world, over half of which (19) took place in the United States. The remainder was documented in China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

More about our campaign against the death penalty...