UN rights monitor denounces executions of minors in Iran

10 March 2016, 7:29 pm

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A UN rapporteur on human rights in Iran denounces executions of minors there and says tough anti-drugs laws could be behind a “surge” in overall executions in recent years.

Ahmed Shaheed, in a 21-page report, cites Iran Human Rights Documentation Center figures showing 966 people were executed last year, up from 697 in 2013 and 91 in 2005. His report says more than 500 last year were related to drug law violations.

In this Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015 photo, drug addicts sleep in their chairs at drop in center and shelter, south of Tehran, Iran. (AP/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Shaheed says executions of juvenile offenders were “strictly and unequivocally prohibited” under international law. He says at least 73 had been executed in Iran between 2005 and 2015, the highest number of any country in that span.

Shaheed has not been allowed to visit Iran as part of his mandate, now in its fifth year.

— AP