UN rights chief 'appalled' after Iran executes two underage offenders
(dpa)
Geneva - Iran has violated the global ban on child executions by putting two 17-year-old convicts to death, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said Friday.
"I am appalled," the UN high commissioner for human rights said in a statement in Geneva.
"The prohibition of executions of child offenders is absolute," she said, referring to two relevant treaties that Tehran is bound to - the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The boys were found guilty of rape and robbery, following their arrests at the age of 15. One of them had attended a school for children with special needs.
Their trials apparently lacked basic procedural standards, Bachelet charged, pointing to reports of a lack of access to lawyers, flogging and forced confessions.
Bachelet last month denounced Saudi Arabia for its mass execution of 37 men that included at least three who were minors at the time of their sentencing.
"The prohibition of executions of child offenders is absolute," she said, referring to two relevant treaties that Tehran is bound to - the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The boys were found guilty of rape and robbery, following their arrests at the age of 15. One of them had attended a school for children with special needs.
Their trials apparently lacked basic procedural standards, Bachelet charged, pointing to reports of a lack of access to lawyers, flogging and forced confessions.
Bachelet last month denounced Saudi Arabia for its mass execution of 37 men that included at least three who were minors at the time of their sentencing.