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UN rights chief condemns hanging of young Iranian |
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Friday, 07 December 2007 |
 GENEVA (AFP) — The top United Nations human rights official on Friday voiced her "grave concern" at the execution of a young Iranian man convicted of rape amid reports a judge had ordered a stay of execution.
Makwan Moloudzadeh, 20, was hanged on December 5 in a prison in Kermanshah Province for the alleged rape of three boys seven years ago, when he was 13.
A local Iranian newspaper cited his lawyer as saying the execution was carried out in defiance of an order by the judiciary chief to stay the verdict, as well as claims his alleged victims had withdrawn their allegations.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said in a statement that Iran is a signatory to international conventions which forbid the execution of people who were under the age of 18 years at the time of the commission of the crimes.
Arbour urged Iran to "respect its international legal obligations and the strong international consensus against the execution of minors."
The latest execution brings to at least 280 the number of people hanged in Iran this year, according to an AFP count compiled from local press reports. Many are hanged in public.
Iran executed at least 177 people in 2006, according to Amnesty International. The Islamic republic is the most prolific applier of the death penalty in the world after China. |
