A/HRC/40/24 that drug-related offences do not meet the threshold of “most serious crimes” and the death penalty should not be applied to them. 7 5. In previous reports, the Secretary-General welcomed the amendment to the drug trafficking law, 8 and notes that from January to November 2018, 8 executions for drugrelated offences were reported, compared with 221 for the same period in 2017. In October 2018, the Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Judiciary Commission stated that the death sentences of 15,000 individuals had been commuted.9 However it remains difficult to verify this information, and concerns also persist with the review of cases as regards the availability of legal assistance to those eligible for review and the lack of opportunity to appeal the outcome.10 Execution of child offenders 6. The Secretary-General continues to be alarmed by the sentencing of children to death in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and regrets that the execution of child offenders continues despite repeated calls by United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms for the abolition of this practice. The Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which both prohibit the execution of juvenile offenders without exception. The Penal Code retains the death penalty for boys of at least 15 lunar years and girls of at least 9 lunar years for qisas (retribution in kind) or hudud crimes, such as homicide and adultery, in contravention of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to information received by OHCHR, at least 85 individuals, who were under 18 years old at the time of the offence allegedly committed, were on death row as at 1 December 2018. The Secretary-General reiterates his numerous calls for the Government, in line with its international legal obligations, to immediately commute the death sentences of all persons convicted of crimes allegedly committed when they were under 18 years of age. 11 OHCHR and the Secretary-General stand ready to support the Government in any efforts it may undertake in this regard. 7. OHCHR has observed a pattern of the authorities delaying the implementation of death sentences on children until they reach the age of 18. In some cases, the executions of a number of child offenders have been repeatedly postponed and rescheduled. The reported lack of information on the timing of executions imposes continuous anticipation of imminent death, resulting in acute mental distress for child offenders and their families. 12 8. In 2018, at least six child offenders – Mahboubeh Mofidi, Amir Pourjafar, Ali Kazemi, Abolfazi Sharahi, Zeinab Sekaanvand Lokran and Omid Rostami – were aged between 14 and 17 at the time of their alleged commission of a crime. In October 2018, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement 13 highlighting serious due process concerns about the conviction of Ms. Lokran for the murder of her husband. These six alleged child offenders were executed for murder under qisas. In such cases, the next of kin of the victim has the right to forgive the defendant, accept a payment (diya) as compensation, or request the death penalty. The Government stated that it generally sought, through the Reconciliation Commission and the provision of cash assistance, to “encourage reconciliation by helping the convict to pay diya”. 14 The Secretary-General stresses that pardon or commutation procedures must offer certain essential guarantees, notes that the payment of diya might discriminate against those who 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 CCPR/C/PAK/CO/1, para. 17; CCPR/C/THA/CO/2, para. 17; CCPR/C/KWT/CO/3, para. 22; A/71/372, para. 48; and Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 36. See the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, available from www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session37/Pages/ ListReports.aspx; and A/73/299, para. 17. See http://kerman.farsnews.com/news/13970725000810. See https://iranhr.net/en/articles/3325/. See A/73/299. CCPR/C/77/D/886/1999, para. 10.2; and CCPR/C/77/D/887/1999, para. 9.2. See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23689&LangID=E. See https://lib.ohchr.org/HRBodies/UPR/Documents/Session20/IR/Iran2ndCycle.pdf, p. 110. 3