Amnesty International is urgently calling on the Iranian authorities to halt the imminent execution of Mohammad Reza Haddadi, who could face death by hanging as soon as tomorrow (Wednesday 7 July) for a murder he allegedly committed when he was 15 years old.

Mohammad Reza Haddadi’s family were told by judicial officials on Sunday (4 July) that they should arrange a last visit to their son before he is executed in the early hours of tomorrow at Adelabad prison in the city of Shiraz.

Mohammad Reza Haddadi was sentenced to death in 2004 for the murder of Mohammad Bagher, who was killed while driving between Shiraz and Kazeroun, a town south of Shiraz. He confessed to the killing initially but during the trial he retracted this confession and said he’d made it because his two co-accused said they would give his family money if he did so. He then denied that he had taken any part in the murder and his co-defendants are said to have since supported his claims of innocence and withdrawn their testimony implicating him in the murder.

Despite this, his death sentence was confirmed by Iran's Supreme Court in July 2005. Since then, his execution has been scheduled several times - for October 2008, when it was stayed on the order of the Head of the Judiciary, and then for 27 May and 16 July 2009.

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Director Malcolm Smart said:

“Mohammad Reza Haddadi must not be executed for a murder that he is alleged to have committed when only 15 years old.

“This constant and repeated threat of imminent execution hanging over Mohammad Reza Haddadi, and the fear and anguish that this is causing him and his family is no less than a form of torture. The threat of execution must be lifted now, once and for all.

“The Iranian authorities must immediately cease executing convicted juvenile offenders, in breach of international law.”

Convicted juvenile offenders have previously been executed without prior warning to their lawyers, although Iranian law requires that their lawyers receive 48 hours' notice. The death penalty is used for a wide range of offences in Iran, and is still applicable to those who are convicted of committing a capital offence while under the age of 18.

Note to editors
Since 1990 Iran has executed at least 46 people convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18 years old. Eight of these executions were in 2008 and five in 2009.

Delara Darabi was executed on 1 May 2009 despite her having been given a two-month stay of execution by the Head of the Judiciary. Neither her parents nor her lawyers were notified before her execution despite the legal requirement on the authorities to inform her lawyer 48 hours in advance.   

Behnoud Shojaee was executed on 11 October 2009, for allegedly killing another youth when only 17 years old. His execution had previously been postponed six times.

On 17 December 2009, Mosleh Zamani was executed. He was sentenced to death in 2006 for allegedly raping his girlfriend, a woman several years older than him, with whom he was allegedly having a relationship, when he was 17. His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in July 2007. He may not have had adequate legal representation.

At least 135 juvenile offenders remain on death row in Iran.   

The execution of juvenile offenders is prohibited under international law, including Article 6(5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a state party.

In Iran a person convicted of murder has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the ICCPR. The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the killer and receive financial compensation (diyeh).