Iran stops youth hangings

Human rights campaigners have welcomed an announcement by Iran that appears to end the execution of juveniles. Iran is believed to be the country that executes the largest number of juvenile offenders defined as those aged under 18 in the world.

          At least 6 youths have been executed in Iran this year alone. The development came in the form of a directive announced by Iran’s deputy prosecutor general, Hossein Zebhi,broadcast by the state news agency.

          He said that judges had been instructed to no longer impose the death penalty on juveniles. But it is not clear yet precisely what legal force it has or whether a new law must go through parliament.

          A lawyer who represents 25 juveniles under the threat of execution said he had heard no word yet of the new directive. Some of his clients have been of death row for years, as negotiations continue over whether victims’ families will accept blood money cash to avoid execution. Iran is one of the last remaining countries in the world that imposes the death penalty on juveniles aged under 18 at the time of crime.

          Rights activists hail ban on juvenile executions.