We hope this latest news of Iran's desire to end the death penalty for minors is sincere and abide by their word . We are pleased that Iran is taking the right step forward but we are being cautious as we have seen announcements before where the Islamic Republic of Iran's officials have reneged on their statements . We at Stop Child Executions are hopeful that this is a battle that can be won. Our voices together really do make a difference and are being heard and addressed worldwide!
For a full report by Stop Child Executions please read below.
Thank you for being a part of the solution,
Nazanin Afshin-Jam President and Co-Founder Stop Child Executions www.stopchildexecutions.comIran's Judiciary announces a STOP to CHILD EXECUTIONS
Stop Child Executions organization welcomes with joy Iran’s announcement to abolish juvenile executions.
According to Iran's Assistant Attorney General for Judicial Affairs, Hossein Zabhi, a memorandum has been sent to all bodies of the Judiciary in Iran to stop child executions and instructed Judges to issue a maximum sentence of life imprisonment with possibility of parole after 15 years in lieu of execution.
Over the last few years, Stop Child Executions has continuously put pressure on Iran to abide by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Charter of the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which it is state party and put a permanent end to executions of children who have committed an offence before the age of 18.
In September 2008, Stop Child Executions organized “Ahmadinejad’s Wall of Shame" rally outside of the United Nations in New York. A list of recommendations was issued urging Iran's Supreme Leader, Head of Judiciary and the Parliament to immediately stop child executions and implement the changes into law in Iran’s Parliament.
Stop Child Executions was also among 300 other NGO’s from 82 countries who called on the UN General Assembly in its recent annual debate on the Rights of the Child to take urgent action to end the death penalty for minors.
SCE would like to congratulate and thank all its supporters who have signed the petition including human rights defenders, lawyers, government officials, and journalists around the world who have been fighting along with them to end child executions in Iran.
While Iran is the worst offender of child executions with over 140 minors on death row and six executions of children this year alone, Stop Child Executions calls on other countries including Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Sudan and Pakistan to follow Iran’s lead in calling for an end to child executions.
All the volunteers at Stop Child Executions wish this overdue decision would have been implemented long before and give their condolences to the families of the 26 minors who have been executed in vain since 2005 and others prior to this date.
Stop Child Executions hopes Iran will abide by their announcement and looks forward to seeing the implementations of its other recommendations to Iran into law.
Link to recommendations:
POWERPOINT DOWNLOAD:www.stopchildexecutions.com/solutionPP.ppt
POWERPOINT ONLINE : www.stopchildexecutions.com/solutionsPP.htm
HTML: http://www.stopchildexecutions.com/scesolutions.aspx
For more information visit Stop Child Executions organization at