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Iran hangs youths in public
24/08/2005 10:06 - (SA)
Tehran - Four young Iranian men convicted of robbery, kidnapping and rape - at least one of whom was under the age of 18 - have been hanged publicly in the southern port of Bandar Abbas, the Kayhan newspaper said on Wednesday.
The revolutionary and public prosecutor from the city, who was not named, told the hardline paper the convicts were aged between 17 and 23 - but the report did not specify how many of them were under 18 at the time of the crimes or execution.
Two of the young men, only identified as AP and BK, had been convicted of raping a mother after burgling her house. They had also been sentenced to 74 lashes and a 10-year jail term to be served if they had have been spared execution.
The other executed men, identified only as HK and HJ, had been convicted of kidnapping and raping three children under the age of 10. They were also sentenced to ten years in jail.
Bid to stop executing youth
The European Union and international human rights advocates have been pressuring Iran to stop executing those under 18, and in December the United Nations general assembly adopted a non-binding resolution denouncing the practice of executing minors in Iran.
Iran's ultra-conservative judiciary has responded to critics by saying minors are not executed in the Islamic republic.
It has also proposed a law that would prohibit the death penalty or flagellation for those who were minors at the time they were accused of committing crimes.
According to Iranian law, a boy can be executed from the age of 15, and a girl from the age of nine.
The hangings brought to at least 55 the number of executions carried out in Iran so far this year, according to a tally based on press and witness reports.
In 2004, at least 159 people were executed in the Islamic republic - the highest rate in the world after China - according to Amnesty International.
At least one was a minor, the rights group said.
- AFP
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