vrijdag 17 september 2010

Death row is full of iranian children

Miss world runner up Nazanin Asfin-Jam has been working five years for her youthful compatriots. "In no country in the world so many minors wait for the death penalty as in iran. We know the names of 160 children, but perhaps there are many more. Urgent is the situation for twelve children whose death sentence could be carried out anytime", she says by phone from Vancouver, Canada. The iranian born indicates the fate of the 18-year-old Ebrahim Hamidi. He was sentenced to death because of sodomy on his 16th. His confession came after torture. The victim later withdrew the accusation, but the judge does not differ.

Sharia

Death penalty for minors only exist in nigeria, saudi arabia, yemen, sudan and iran. Homosexual acts, drug trafficking and murder are prosecuted. Minors also are sentenced because they convert to a different religion than the Shiite faith. In these countries the sharia rules and girls are seen as adults starting at nine years old, boys from their fifteenth year. At that age they are not allowed to vote or drive a car, but the Koran teaches them all of their islamic duties like praying. The severe penalties for infringements, often hanging or stoning, are usually executed when the convicts have become eighteen years old.

The hope of Nazanin Asfin-Jam is aimed at the european union

Today the violation of human rights in Iran is at issue in the fifteenth session of the Human rights council of the united nations in Geneva. Lack of press freedom and torture of detainees are discussed. The emphasis is on the number of death sentences in iran, proportionately the highest in the world. According to Amnesty international, last year in iran 388 people died by execution. 122 of these were due to the unrest following the re-election of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Moreover, leader in numbers of death sentences is china with thousands of executions.

Definitely 160 children are waiting in iran for their execution. Twelve may be slain at any moment.

Nazanin doesn't expect many improvements in the short term. "Iran uses the same rhetoric as earlyer. The country denies and used the meeting as a platform to put the blame on israel and the united states. My hopes are pinned on the european union. Iran is high on the UN agenda because of its nuclear program but also the human rights issue should put iran high on the UN agenda."

Labels: International