IRAN: AFGHAN JUVENILE EXECUTED FOR DRUG-RELATED CHARGES

May 6, 2014: According to reports by sources in Afghanistan a juvenile offender has recently been executed in Iran. The Dari section of Radio Liberty (Radio Azadi), reported that a 15 year old Afghan boy identified as Jannat Mir was among the six Afghan citizens who were executed in the Dastgerd prison of Isfahan in April. Iran Human Rights (IHR) recently reported about the execution of six Afghan citizens on April 18. 
According to Radio Azadi, Jannat Mir and the five others executed in Isfahan were all convicted of drug-related charges. In an interview with Radio Azadi, Jannat Mir’s brother “Nazok Mir” said that “Jannat Mir was a 9th grade school boy who left Afghanistan to Iran two years ago. He was arrested by the Iranian authorities and sentenced to death for drug-trafficking. He didn’t have access to lawyer and the Iranian authorities didn’t allow the family to take the body back to Afghanistan. So they had to bury Jannat Mir in Isfahan”. It is not clear whether Jannat Mir was 15 at the time of his arrest or the execution.
At least 7 juvenile executions have been reported in 2014 in Iran.
What separates this case from the other juvenile executions is that this is the first known case in several years where a juvenile is executed on drug charges. (Sources: Iran Human Rights, 6/5/2014)