Iran has moved a step towards calling itself civilised by declaring a moratorium – to take effect immediately – on killing people who were under 18 when they allegedly committed a crime.The move has been welcomed by gay groups and human-rights campaigners.
You’ll remember how shocking photos (one of them reproduced here) did the rounds of the Net when two lads were hanged, allegedly for being gay, although the authorities claimed they had committed rape.
The online Pink News tells us today:
In December 2007 the UN passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty for all crimes.
The vast majority of executions of juvenile offenders take place in Iran, where judges can impose the death penalty in capital cases if the defendant has attained “majority”, defined in Iranian law as 9 years old for girls and 15 years old for boys.
Iran is reported to have executed at least six juvenile offenders so far in 2008. More than 130 other juvenile offenders are currently sentenced to death.
Gay & Lesbian Humanist’s print edition featured the hangings in 2005, and this blog questioned what the hell the UK Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, was playing at back in June, when she said gays in Iran were safe if they acted discreetly.
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