Today, reports emerged that two minors, 17-year old cousins Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat, were flogged and secretly executed in Iran on April 25. The two teenagers were arrested when they were 15 and convicted on rape charges.
In response, Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council issued the following statement:
Back to top“The Iranian government has once again demonstrated its disregard for international human rights commitments in executing these two minors following an unfair, questionable trial. We condemn the Iranian government for this heinous act and express our deepest sympathies to Mehdi Sohrabifar and Amin Sedaghat’s families. No sound justice system would deny anyone, let alone two children, access to their lawyers during investigations or keep their families in the dark as to the carrying out of their sentencing.
Even as Iran has made progress on reducing executions by amending its drug laws, the Iranian government still leads the world as the top executioner of minors—in contravention of its international human rights obligations and conventions to which it is party. The Iranian authorities must reverse this deplorable practice of juvenile executions and immediately pursue amendments to its penal codes to prevent the executions of minors who committed offenses before the age of 18. NIAC also reiterates its call that Iran fully comply with all of its rights obligations, including releasing all political prisoners that remain unjustly imprisoned.