Iran, which still hangs people for crimes they committed as minors, executed a 17-year-old who had been found guilty of murder, according to two rights organizations. According to news agency AFP, Hengaw and Iran Human Rights (IHR), two organizations based in Norway, announced that Hamidreza Azari was put to death in prison in the eastern town of Sabzevar in the Razavi Khorasan province.
The only child in his family, Hamidreza Azari began working as a scrap worker at an early age. According to the rights organizations, he was 16 when the crime was committed and 17 when he was put to death. According to reports, Hamidreza Azari received a death sentence after killing a man in a brawl in May of this year. According to rights organizations, Iran’s execution constituted yet another infringement on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to the convention, anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child.
Iran Human Rights stated that “Iran is one of the few countries that executes more juveniles than any other country and sentences child convicts to death.” According to information released by the organization, Iran has executed at least 684 persons this year and at least 68 minors since 2010. “In Iran, a person has to be 18 years old to obtain a driver’s license, but it’s only necessary to be 15 years old to be executed,” stated Mahmood-Amiry Moghaddam, director of IHR.
The group claimed that in a “deliberate attempt to evade accountability for violating international laws,” Iranian media had reported the execution with his age incorrectly stated as 18.
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A man in his early 20s who was the eighth person to be hanged in Iran in connection with months-long nationwide protests that broke out in September 2022 was also executed earlier.
