MAN FACES DEATH FOR TEEN GAY SEX

According to Amnesty International, an Iranian man found guilty of having sex when he was 13 years old, with another 13 year old boy, is facing imminent death.

Makwan Moloudzadeh, an Iranian Kurd, has reportedly been convicted of lavat-e iqabi (anal sex) for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old boy in 1999. Moloudzadeh was himself also aged 13 at the time of the alleged offence.

The death sentence has been passed to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences and he is due to be executed in public, near his home.

Moloudzadeh was arrested on 1 October 2006 in Paveh, in the western province of Kermanshah. Following interrogations in Paveh during which he was reportedly ill-treated, he was tried by Branch 1 of the Kermanshah Criminal Court and on 7 June 2007 he was sentenced to death.

The witnesses and the two people who had pressed charges against him withdrew their claims after the trial. Under Iranian law, children (boys of up to 14.7 years) are to be flogged for lavat (“homosexual acts”).

However, the judge relied on ‘elm-e qazi, the “knowledge of the judge” to determine that penetration had taken place and that Makwan Moloudzadeh could be sentenced to death. Makwan Moloudzadeh lodged an appeal on 5 July, which the Supreme Court rejected on 1 August. Several witnesses have withdrawn their testimonies and signed notarised written statements to that effect.

Prior to his trial and conviction, on or around 7 October 2006 Makwan Moloudzadeh was reportedly paraded through the streets of Paveh riding on a donkey, with his head shaved. People in the street shouted abuse and threw things at him.

Article 1210(1) of Iran’s Civil Code sets the ages of 15 lunar years as the age of criminal responsibility for boys, and nine lunar years for girls. Makwan Moloudzadeh was reportedly born on 31 March 1986 and, at the age of 13, was a minor under Iranian law at the time of the alleged offence.

According to Article 49 of Iran’s Penal Code, “Children, if committing an offence, are exempted from criminal responsibility. Their correction is the responsibility of their guardians or, if the court decides, by a centre for correction of minors.”

Furthermore, in this case the judge used the customary practice of “judge’s knowledge” to override Article 113 of Iran’s Penal Code which states, “If a minor has anal sex with another minor, each will receive up to 74 lashes unless one of them was forced to do so [in which case he will not be punished].”

International law strictly prohibits the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. As a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Iran has undertaken not to execute child offenders.

However, according to Amnesty, since 1990, Iran has executed at least 24 child offenders, with a further two reportedly put to death on 17 October 2007. At least 78 child offenders are on death row in Iran.