Six prisoners, including a child offender, transferred to solitary confinement for execution in Shiraz Central Prison

The Iran Human Rights Organization reported on Friday, June 1, that six prisoners, including a child offender named 'Aref Rasouli', who is said to have committed 'premeditated murder' at the age of 17, have been transferred to solitary confinement in Shiraz Central Prison (Adelabad) for execution. An informed source told the human rights organization about Aref Rasouli: 'He was born on April 25, 2004, and was 17 years old at the time of the alleged crime.' The Iran Human Rights Organization noted that as of the time of this report, 'no documents confirming Aref Rasouli's status as a child offender have been seen' and added that efforts to determine his exact age at the time of the alleged crime are ongoing. According to this report, five other prisoners; two charged with drug-related offenses and three others charged with 'premeditated murder', who have been sentenced to death or qisas (retribution), were transferred to solitary confinement on Thursday, June 10, for execution, and it is expected that the sentences of these six prisoners will be carried out in the coming days at Shiraz Central Prison (Adelabad). According to the Iran Human Rights Organization, one of the prisoners named Morteza Shir Mohammad, who was sentenced to qisas for 'premeditated murder' two years ago, was transferred to solitary confinement eight days ago after distributing sweets and ice cream following the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, and it seems that the distribution of sweets was a factor in hastening the execution of his sentence. The organization called on the international community and countries that have diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic to use all possible channels to stop these executions, especially the execution of Aref Rasouli. Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, stated: 'The international community's reaction can prevent the execution of Aref Rasouli and other prisoners' and added: 'The execution of child offenders is a gross violation of international laws and conventions that Iran has signed. The international community must not tolerate the continued execution of child offenders.' According to this report, the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the few countries in the world that sentences child offenders to death and executes the death penalty for minors more than any other country. According to statistics from the Iran Human Rights Organization, at least 70 child offenders have been executed in Iran since 2010. The Convention on the Rights of the Child explicitly states that the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole should not be imposed on children. The Islamic Republic signed this convention in 1993 with the reservation that it would not contradict Sharia laws and domestic laws. The execution of prisoners in Iran has sparked protests from activists and human rights organizations both in Iran and around the world. Previously, Amnesty International reported in its annual report on the death penalty worldwide that the sharp increase of 48% in executions in Iran has contributed to a rise in global statistics.