On the Execution of Children
Today, after reading a post by my friend Lady Sun, I emailed the following letter to the Supreme Ayatollah of Iran urging him to end his country's policy of allowing the execution of criminal offenders who are under the age of 18. I sent a similar but shorter letter to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (his web site email allowed only short messages).
I am against capital punishment in general, as I believe that it does not deter crime, but more importantly, a significant percentage of convicts on death row in the U.S. have been proven innocent by new evidence. There is no excuse for a just society to execute an innocent person! Further, I find it morally offensive to execute a child, a retarded person, or a mentally ill person, as they are not fully capable of understanding or taking responsibility for whatever crimes that they have committed. Here is a link to the specific information that Lady Sun posted if you would like to read it.
To: His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Your Excellency,
I understand that Iran has signed international treaties that expressly prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed by those under the age of 18. I learned this from reading the following from Amnesty International:
"As a state party to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18. Despite this, since 1990 Iran has executed at least 18 people for crimes committed when they were children.
In January 2005 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Iran to suspend the practice immediately. Nevertheless at least eight child offenders were executed that year, including two who were still under 18 at the time of their execution."
I am against the practice of capital punishment, and especially so when child offenders are the subjects. I respectfully urge you to please enforce the rules that Iran has pledged to uphold. I think this would be a very positive gesture that would show the world community that Iran is serious about respecting the human rights of its citizens.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns.
Sincerely,
I am against capital punishment in general, as I believe that it does not deter crime, but more importantly, a significant percentage of convicts on death row in the U.S. have been proven innocent by new evidence. There is no excuse for a just society to execute an innocent person! Further, I find it morally offensive to execute a child, a retarded person, or a mentally ill person, as they are not fully capable of understanding or taking responsibility for whatever crimes that they have committed. Here is a link to the specific information that Lady Sun posted if you would like to read it.
To: His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader, Shoahada Street
Qom, Islamic Republic of Iran
Your Excellency,
I understand that Iran has signed international treaties that expressly prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed by those under the age of 18. I learned this from reading the following from Amnesty International:
"As a state party to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Iran has undertaken not to execute anyone for an offence committed when they were under the age of 18. Despite this, since 1990 Iran has executed at least 18 people for crimes committed when they were children.
In January 2005 the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child urged Iran to suspend the practice immediately. Nevertheless at least eight child offenders were executed that year, including two who were still under 18 at the time of their execution."
I am against the practice of capital punishment, and especially so when child offenders are the subjects. I respectfully urge you to please enforce the rules that Iran has pledged to uphold. I think this would be a very positive gesture that would show the world community that Iran is serious about respecting the human rights of its citizens.
Thank you for your attention to my concerns.
Sincerely,
4 Comments:
this is a loophole. In Islamic rules the penalty to such offence is death & as an Islamic Regieme things first go according to religous rules. :-S I don know if it right or wrong but I know I hate executions.
But David the stupid people of our time in general n specially men enjoy death. Look how horror movies, CNN war reports,... have their own fans!! unfortunately we are living in a world that speaks of peace but loves brutality :-S
Mel, what can I say, I am an equal opportunity pisser offer. ;) Well, at least I am polite about it. I doubt they will care as well, but at least I tried to reach them.
Omid, what I don't understand is how the Islamic Regime can sign an international treaty to prohibit the execution of children with one hand, and death warrants for children with the other. Doesn't their religion teach them anything about hypocrisy?
I think that our time is not so different from any other time. Remember the Roman Coliseum? Even the Roman women enjoyed those games of death! I have to admit that when I watch movies, I get a certain real pleasure from seeing the evil villain killed by the hero. In real life, though, it is much harder to tell the villains from the saints!
Their religion teach them many things but they don't care. They want to spread the waves of panic all over the country so as no one dares to move or say anything. That's their real objective. They don't care about Islam or any International treaty. And their Islam, they interpret it like they wish.
no great fan of lawyers or of the internet name is Des if it matters not intending to stay on line for much longer. It does seem odd that a state can sign a treaty one of the articles is that you will not allow capital punishment or detention outwith possibility of parole for anyone under the age of 18 another is that they will accept monitoring by a UN committee and then they ignore it. Britain had to change it's enrollment age for the army wasn't that long ago, we used to have a tradition of drummer boys now i think they have raised the age to 16 for entry to the army. And when I was young you could be detained at her majesty's pleasure that's gone too. It is about moral authority and the sending of letters. It should be felt as a personal shame that your country which the rest of the world assumed freely signed up to the Haigue and Geneva conventions on POWs should so disgracefully put them aside in Gitmo. I wouldn't misunderestimate the power of shame. I recall the way Thatcher got Saddam Hussein to hand over the human hostages in Gulf War I was by calling him a coward hiding behind the skirts of women and children people said at the time that she did not understand Arab culture because she compared him unfavourably to ibn Yakub Salah el Din technically a Kurd but I think a Texan would probably have reacted the same way if a woman pointed out the same thing. I always understood that it was only the emissaries of evil who had impeccable manners. No matter. I put a lot of currency in Shame and Superstition. Don't give up.
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