GENEVA: The UN human rights chief voiced outrage Friday at Iran’s execution of two 17-year-old boys charged with rape and robbery, stressing that executing children is banned under international law.
Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat were executed on April 25, after a trial that the UN rights office said appeared to have “seriously breached fundamental due process guarantees.”
“I am appalled,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement, urging Tehran to immediately halt all executions of people accused of committing crimes while children.
“The prohibition of executions of child offenders is absolute under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and under the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” she said.
Iran is party to both those treaties.
Bachelet said the cases of Sohrabifar and Sedaghat were particularly deplorable since “both boys were reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and a flawed legal process.”
The two boys were 15 years old when they were arrested and accused of rape and robbery in 2017.
The UN rights office said it had received information that they were held in police detention for two months, and were initially deprived of their right to a lawyer and had been beaten.
It also pointed to reports that the boys, who originally denied all charges, had reportedly been coerced into making false confessions, before they were convicted and sentenced to death.
The boys’ families had brought the case to the Supreme Court, which overturned the lower court’s sentence and ordered a retrial.
The lower court again convicted the boys and sentenced them to death.
“Apparently, neither the victims nor their families were aware that the executions were going to take place,” the rights office said.
The two were reportedly flogged before their execution, it said, stressing that flogging amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and possibly torture under international law.
“I once again call on the authorities to halt all executions of juvenile offenders, and to immediately commute all such death sentences,” Bachelet said.
UN rights chief says ‘appalled’ by Iran execution of two minors
UN rights chief says ‘appalled’ by Iran execution of two minors
- Bachelet said the cases of Sohrabifar and Sedaghat were particularly deplorable since “both boys were reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and a flawed legal process”
- The two boys were 15 years old when they were arrested and accused of rape and robbery in 2017
Military coalition in Yemen condemns attack on commander’s convoy
- Al-Maliki also said the coalition is committed to supporting Yemeni security efforts and pursuing those involved in the attack and bringing them to justice
RIYADH: The Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen condemned on Wednesday an attack that targeted the convoy of a senior commander.
The attack in the Jaoula area of Lahj governorate targeted vehicles under the command of Brigadier General Hamdi Shukri, who heads the second division of the Giants Forces.
Coalition spokesman Major General Turki Al-Maliki said there were numerous deaths injuries and called the ambush “a criminal act that is contrary to all human and moral values.”
He said the coalition, which includes Saudi Arabia, will continue coordinating with the relevant authorities to ensure the security of citizens and maintain stability, Saudi Press Agency reported.
He called for people to work with the Yemeni government and military authorities to confront any sabotage attempts or terrorist operations targeting the security and stability of liberated governorates.
Al-Maliki also said the coalition is committed to supporting Yemeni security efforts and pursuing those involved in the attack and bringing them to justice.
