AFP , Strasbourg, June 19, 2008 – The European Parliament on Thursday called on Iran to end the execution of minors, citing the hanging of a 17-year-old earlier this month in defiance of Iran’s declared international commitments.

The parliament “condemns in the strongest possible terms the execution of Mohammad Hassanzadeh, who was under the age of 18 when he was executed” on June 10 in western Sanandaj prison.

The resolution urged the Iranian authorities to respect its international commitments.
It noted that Iran was as a signatory to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, since 1976; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, since 1994.

Both documents prohibit the execution of minors or people who have been convicted of crimes committed when they were minors.

Lawmakers called on the Iranian authorities to halt the planned executions of Behnoud Shojaee, Mohammad Fedaei, Saeed Jazee, Behnam Zaare and all other juvenile offenders sentenced to death.

They also urged Iran to decriminalise homsexuality, which is punishable by death.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour launched a similar appeal last week.

Hassanzadeh’s execution came even though Iran’s judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi had advised the local court to “settle the issue through reconciliation” with the victim’s family.
Under Islamic sharia law, the family can spare a murderer from execution by accepting blood money for the victim’s life and leaving the convict to serve a prison sentence. But an unnamed local judicial official said efforts to reach agreement were unsuccessful.