Iran Juvenile Executions - UNHCR Geneva Press Briefing (Excerpt)

Raw Excerpts from Geneva Press Briefing. Full:
Noting a surge in the number of juvenile offenders being executed in Iran, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein on Friday urged Iran to abide by international law and immediately halt all executions of people sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were under eighteen.
Rupert Colville, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner, told reporters in Geneva today (16 Feb) “already during the first month of January 2018, three people, two male and one female have been executed for crimes they committed when they were 15 or 16 years old ”. The figures for last month were compared to a total of five such executions over the whole of 2017.
Colville said “the execution of juvenile offenders is unequivocally prohibited under international law regardless of the circumstance and the crimes committed,”adding that Iran is expected to abide by its obligations under the conventions it has ratified - namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Iran is the country in the world with the greatest number of executions of juvenile offenders.
Colville said “unfortunately, Iran violates this absolute prohibition under international human rights law far more than any other state. In fact, no other state comes even remotely close to the number of juveniles that have been executed in Iran over the last couple of decade.”
In addition to the three recent executions, a fourth juvenile offender --said to be on the point of being executed on Wednesday -- reportedly received a temporary reprieve of two months. A number of other juvenile offenders are also believed to be in danger of imminent execution in Iran, with a total of some 80 such individuals reported to be currently on death row, after being sentenced to death for crimes they committed when they were under18 years of age.
Reading a statement attributable to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Colville said that the “High Commissioner also notes that Iran ascribes criminal responsibility to girls as young as 9 years old, whereas boys are not considered criminally responsible until they reach the age of 15. He described the discrepancy between the two genders as wholly unjustifiable on every level and the application of the death penalty to any person -- female or male -- under 18, as illegal and unacceptable.”
The statement detailed its concern for the victims of the latest round of executions, including that of child bride Mahboubeh Mofidi.
Colville said “Mahboubeh Mofidi, was 16 years old when, with the help of her brother-in-law, she allegedly killed her husband, who had married her when she was just 13 years old. She was 20 at the time of her execution on 30 January.”
With an estimated 80 people juvenile offenders on currently on death row in Iran, the High Commissioner for Human Rights has joined previous calls urging Iran to stop all violations of international law relating to the death penalty -- in particular the absolute prohibition of the application of the death penalty for juvenile offenders.