The UN Human Rights Office issued a statement on Tuesday decrying Iran’s execution of 17-year-old Hamidreza Azari and 22-year-old Milad Zohrevand on November 24. The office has called for a death penalty moratorium in Iran and an end to the use of criminal procedures to repress political activists and others exercising their rights to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
Iranian authorities executed Azari on allegations that he committed murder in April when he was only 16 years old, leading to his execution at the age of 17. His execution was met with criticism by the UN Human Rights Office due to Iran’s obligations towards the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. These international treaties state that neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment should be levied for crimes committed by individuals under eighteen years of age. This contrasts with the Islamic Penal Code of Iran, in which girls aged over 9 lunar years and boys over 15 lunar years can be sentenced to death if they are convicted of “crimes against God” or “retribution crimes”.
The office also expressed its concern about the execution of Zohrevand, who was the eighth individual executed in connection with the September 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. These were instigated by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police for breaking the country’s mandatory hijab law. The UN Human Rights Office expressed worries over the absence of due process in Zohrevand’s trial and the subsequent arrests of his parents following his execution.
Following the UN Human Rights Office’s strong advocacy for the universal abolition of the death penalty, around 170 countries have either abolished it or established a moratorium on its use thus far. Amnesty International statistics reveal Iran as the second-highest executing nation worldwide in 2022.
The UN Human Rights Office has urged Iran to “immediately halt the application of the death penalty and establish a moratorium on its use.”
For more details, read the full report here.