Juvenile Offenders sentenced to death in Yemen

Amnesty International has received information that thePresident of Yemen has signed the death sentences of two alleged juvenileoffenders, one of whom was scheduled for execution on 19 December. The death penalty should not be imposed on anyone – and especially not anyone who was only a child at the time of the offence they have been accused of.  It is established and accepted international law that juvenile offenders should not be sentenced to death, and this is reflected in Yemen's Penal Code, but not always in the court's practice. Please read the details below and take action…

Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdulla was sentenced to death after beingconvicted of murder. The court considered he was over 18 at the time of thealleged offence but it is unclear how that was determined. AmnestyInternational received information that his birth certificate states he wasborn in 1988 and his alleged crime took place in 2004, making him 16 or 17 atthe time.

Muhammed Taher Thabet Samoum was alleged to have committedmurder in May 2002 and maintains that he is around 24 years old, making himaround 15 at the time of the offence. He does not have a birth certificate andit is unclear how the court determined his age when deciding to impose the death penalty.

Fuad Ahmed Ali Abdullah has been scheduled for execution and Muhammed Taher Thabet is also at imminent risk of execution. We must take action to prevent their executions now.

Yemen is a state party to the Convention on the Rights ofthe Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both ofwhich expressly prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders (those convictedof crimes committed when they were under 18). The application of the deathpenalty on juvenile offenders is also expressly prohibited in Article 31 ofYemen’s Penal Code.

Please write to the authorities, calling on them to halt theexecutions and act in accordance with their obligations under internationallaw – take action.