UN Experts Call for Halt to Execution of Sajjad Sanjari

A number of human rights officials from the United Nations on Tuesday, January 17, issued a statement urging the Iranian government to halt the execution of a teenager accused of murder, which is set to be carried out soon. The statement, signed by Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Agnes Callamard, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Benyam Dawit Mezmur, Chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, states: "We are deeply concerned that the life of a juvenile offender is at risk and he could be executed at any moment." In this context, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also called on the Iranian authorities on Tuesday to stop the execution of Sajjad Sanjari, a teenager accused of murder. According to Voice of America, Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated that Iran is among the countries that still execute juvenile offenders. The spokesperson added that the use of the death penalty against offenders under 18 years of age violates international human rights laws. Rupert Colville emphasized that reports indicate that last year Iran executed at least five juveniles and that, according to existing reports, 78 others are awaiting execution. These are individuals who were under 18 at the time of their offenses, although the actual number may be much higher. According to the UN press release, Sajjad Sanjari, who was accused of murdering a man with a knife in 2012, was 15 years old at the time of the crime. In February 2014, based on the new Islamic Penal Code regarding the trial of juveniles enacted in 2013, his request for a retrial was accepted. However, in June 2015, the criminal court of Kermanshah province ruled that he was sufficiently mature at the time of the offense to understand the nature of his crime. Consequently, the court upheld his death sentence and did not accept the defendant's argument that he killed in self-defense after the victim attempted to assault him. The statement continues that despite the prohibition of executing juvenile offenders under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Iran is a signatory to, the death penalty for juvenile offenders continues in Iran. UN experts in another part of their statement say: "The Iranian government must immediately stop the execution of this juvenile offender and abolish the death penalty for this individual in compliance with international standards that prohibit such sentences." Following revisions and changes to the regulations regarding the trial and punishment of juvenile offenders, which were implemented with the approval of the new Islamic Penal Code in 2013, several of these individuals have been retried, and the appellate court has ruled that these individuals were mentally mature at the time of their offenses and therefore deserving of the death penalty. According to received reports, under the new Islamic Penal Code, 15 other juvenile offenders have also been sentenced to death in their first trials. In January 2016, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child once again urged the Iranian government to stop executing juvenile offenders who were under 18 at the time of their offenses. Nevertheless, in 2016, at least five juvenile offenders were executed, and at least 78 other juvenile offenders are awaiting execution. UN experts further state in their statement: "According to international law, the imposition of the death penalty in countries that have not yet abolished it is only permissible in very exceptional circumstances and for serious crimes such as murder and intentional killing. Drug-related offenses do not fall under these exceptional cases." "Additionally, according to information we have received, in the trials of many offenders sentenced to death, international standards and guarantees regarding fair trials have been violated. Any instance of sentencing and executing the death penalty that violates governments' international obligations is illegal and constitutes extrajudicial executions." According to reports and information collected over the past two years, more than 1,000 people have been executed in Iran for drug-related offenses, and currently, 5,000 others are awaiting execution for the same reason.