A/HRC/40/67 extensive evidenced-based research supporting the view that individuals under the age of 18 have a lower level of mental development than adults. Further evidence is available to support this view in Iranian legislation itself, as already noted. 112 The Special Rapporteur also observes that article 91 allows for a child offender to be exempted from the death penalty if there is “uncertainty about their full mental development”. This indicates that if there is any doubt whatsoever then the child cannot be sentenced to death. 4. Inconsistent follow-up 65. In some cases, even when the judge has assessed that there is uncertainty as to the mental development of the child, the assessment has been overturned upon appeal and the child has been subsequently sentenced to death. For example, Mohammad Kalhori was initially assessed as not mentally developed at the time of the crime and was sentenced to imprisonment. However the Supreme Court later overturned his sentence and he was sentenced to death during a retrial.113 5. Inconsistent implementation of retrials 66. Information received by the Special Rapporteur indicates that article 91 has not been effective in sparing children already on death row from execution. One reason for this is that article 91 does not provide for an automatic review of cases. Child offenders on death row or their families must instead submit an application for retrial. As noted, many have lower levels of economic and social standing, education, and support networks, and lower levels of familiarity with their legal rights. In such circumstances, they may not be aware of the possibility of applying for a retrial or may not have the means to do so. In other cases, applications for retrials have been rejected. This trend was highlighted by the predecessor to the current Special Rapporteur, who described how the requests of Zeinab Sekaanvand and three other child offenders had been rejected by the Supreme Court without explanation. 114 67. Even when requests for retrial have been accepted, some child offenders have been resentenced to death. The Committee on the Rights of the Child and the predecessor to the current Special Rapporteur expressed concerns in this respect in 2016 115 and 2017 116 respectively. 6. Assessment of the implementation of article 91 68. The Special Rapporteur has described some fundamental and serious limitations related to the implementation of article 91, while acknowledging that in some cases child offenders have been exempted from the death penalty. The assessment of mental development at the time of the crime is arbitrary and inconsistent, and at the sole discretion of the judge, who can choose whether to seek medical advice or not. The credibility of such assessments is further undermined by the use of inconsistent criteria, particularly when they were conducted years after the crime in question. In some cases the findings of the assessment have been overturned upon appeal in any event. Some requests under article 91 for retrials for child offenders on death row have been rejected. In other cases where retrials have been granted, the child offender has been found to be mentally developed and the death sentence has been upheld. IV. Conclusions and recommendations A. Human rights situation 69. The Special Rapporteur observes that the protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran which began in December 2017 reflect long-standing grievances related to human rights, 112 113 114 115 116 16 See paras. 46–49 above. See www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=23216&LangID=E. A/72/322, para. 67. CRC/C/IRN/CO/3-4, paras. 35–36. A/72/322, para. 68.