UN on Iran’s Death Penalty

A human rights expert from United Nations has described the Iran’s Death penalty as “an arbitrary deprivation of life”.

Key Points

• UN described that the executions carried out in Iran is often used as a political tool. The death penalty is often imposed on arbitrary and vague grounds.
• UN asked Iran to reform laws and abolish the death penalty.
• As per expert, three criminal charges are used to target peaceful demonstrators and political opponents namely- corruption on earth, armed rebellion, and waging war against God.

What is the issue with Iran’s death penalty?

In the fourth annual report on human rights in Iran, UN expert briefed that, practice in Iran of imposing death penalty to children is “extremely disturbed”. Iran is one of few countries that continues this practice, even though international law prohibits such practices. Apart from that, there are other key human rights concerns in Iran such as- discrimination against religious, ethnic & sexual minorities, dire conditions inside prisons and repression of civic space.

Capital punishment in Iran

Capital punishment, also called as death penalty, is a legal penalty in Iran. Crimes on which capital punishment is imposed include murder, child molestation, rape, drug trafficking, kidnapping, paedophilia, armed robbery, kidnapping, burglary, terrorism, prohibited sexual relations, incestuous relationships, fornication, sodomy, prostitution, sexual misconduct, adultery etc. Laws are established by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in Iran. These laws must be consistent with the Sharia laws.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2021