Human Rights Watch calls on Iran to stop executing child offenders

Human Rights Watch is calling on Iran to stop executing child offenders after three people were put to death in January for crimes they committed as minors.

“Iran should immediately and unconditionally end the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by children under age 18, and move toward a complete ban on capital punishment,” the New York-based rights group says in a statement.

It detailed the executions of the three detainees — Amirhossein Pourjafar, Ali Kazemi and Mahboubeh Mofidi — last month.

The group says that Iran is “one of only four countries known to have executed child offenders since 2013,” including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Amnesty International says at least 87 people were executed in Iran from 2005 to the start of this year for crimes committed when they were minors.

— AFP