Verklaring Voorzitterschap namens de Europese Unie: de EU is zeer bezorgd over de executie van drie jongeren in Iran (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Zweeds voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2009 i, gepubliceerd op dinsdag 8 september 2009.

The European Union is deeply concerned by reports of the imminent execution of Behnoud Shojaee, who was convicted and sentenced to death for a crime committed when he was a minor. The EU recalls its past communication with the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on this case as well as its Declaration of 23 May 2008.

The EU further expresses its deep concern about reports that Reza Padashi and Hossein Haghi, also sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors, are facing imminent executions.

The EU notes that these executions would be a direct contravention of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s international commitments, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both clearly prohibiting the execution of minors or people who have been convicted of crimes committed when they were minors.

The EU urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to comply with International Law and to halt the executions of Mr Shojaee, Mr Padashi and Mr Haghi, and of all other juvenile offenders, taking into consideration alternative sentences for juvenile offenders and respect for international norms and standards that provide safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty.

The EU condemns the continued widespread occurrence of death sentences and executions in the Islamic Republic of Iran. At the same time the EU reiterates its longstanding opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and recalls that any miscarriage or failure of justice in the application of capital punishment represents the irreparable and irreversible loss of human life. The Presidency continues to call on the Iranian authorities to abolish the death penalty completely and, in the meantime, to establish a moratorium on executions as urged by United Nations General Assembly resolutions 62/149 and 63/168.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

  • * 
    Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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