Norway condemns the execution of minor in Iran

“It is deeply regrettable that Iran, despite strong international reactions, today executed the juvenile offender Alireza Mollasoltani in a public ceremony,” commented Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has today held a meeting with representatives of the Iranian Embassy in Oslo, and expressed Norway’s condemnation of Iran’s failure to comply with its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibit the execution of minors and persons who were below 18 years of age when the crime was committed.

Every year, Iran is one of the countries in the world that carries out most executions. Norway has raised this issue with the Iranian authorities on a number of occasions, and urged them to reconsider the question of the death penalty.

“President Ahmadinejad himself has said that Iran does not execute minors, and it gives cause for great concern that the Iranian authorities now seem to be deviating from this policy,” Mr Støre said.

Norway is engaged in efforts to abolish capital punishment, both in multilateral forums and through active cooperation with human rights organisations and likeminded countries. The issue of the death penality is raised at regular intervals with countries where it is used. We focus special attention on individual cases where we know that there are plans to carry out the death penality in a particularly inhumane way or to execute minors, pregnant women or persons who cannot be deemed criminally responsible. In such cases Norway considers use of the death penalty to be a violation of international law. Norway also urges countries that have not yet done so to ratify international agreements that prohibit the use of the death penalty.