Reza Alinejad
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Reza Alinejad (Arabic: رضا علی نژاد) (born September 21, 1985) is an Iranian juvenille offender at risk of imminent execution for allegedly killing a man in self-defence when he was 17 years old.
Iranian Supreme Court has refused Reza's appeal and has confirmed his death sentence.
Reza's death sentence is subject of strong criticism, because he was 17 at time of the incident. According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, no one can be sentenced to death for a crime committed when he or she was under 18. Iran is a signatory to both treaties.
Reza's case was transferred to Iran's Head of Judiciary Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi for review. Amnesty International and Stop Child Executions Campaign have issued urgent action calls to save Reza from execution.[1][2][3]
Reza's brother, Meghada Alinejad, along with other members of Reza's family, have pleaded for international help.[4]
In December 2007, in a letter to Nazanin Afshin-Jam, Reza's brother, Ali Alinejad sent the copy of the mediation order by Iran's head of judiciary that stated: ""Considering the age of the convicted and the unintentional circumstances that he was faced, the file is ordered to be returned to judiciary court in (city of) Fasa. Through Mediation council or by any other means; more efforts and attempts must be made in order to bring a resolution between parents of the victim and the murder convict. Results are to be reported back." [1]
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[edit] Background information
As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18.
Nevertheless, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 18 people for crimes committed when they were children. In 2005 alone, despite being urged in January by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child to suspend the practice immediately, at least eight child offenders were executed, including two who were still under 18 at the time of their execution. The last recorded execution of a child offender, Rostam Tajik, was on 10 December 2005 - ironically, the day which the UN has marked annually as Human Rights Day (see UA 306/05, MDE 13/075/2005, 06 December 2005, and follow-up).
On 9 December, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston stated : "At a time when virtually every other country in the world has firmly and clearly renounced the execution of people for crimes they committed as children, the Iranian approach is particularly unacceptable … It is all the more surprising because the obligation to refrain from such executions is not only clear and incontrovertible, but the Government of Iran has itself stated that it will cease this practice."
For the last four years, Iran has been considering legislation to prohibit this practice, but despite this, over the past two years the number of child offenders executed has increased. Recent comments by a judiciary spokesperson suggest that the new law would in any case only prohibit the death penalty for certain crimes when committed by children.
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Stop Child Executions Campaign
- Delara Darabi
- Nazanin Fatehi
- Mosleh Zamani
- Atefeh Rajabi
- Human rights in Iran
