LONDON, July 27  –  The use of the death penalty against child offenders – youngsters under 18 at the time of the crime – is prohibited under international law, yet a handful of countries still persist with child executions, says Amnesty International.

And while the world focuses on Iran following last week’s execution of two gay teens, it should not be forgotten that the United States executes more people convicted of crime committed when they were under 18 years old than any other country – almost half (45 per cent of the world total), until the US Supreme Court ruled such execution unconstitutional earlier this year.

Between January 1990 and this year, Amnesty International documented 42 executions of child offenders in eight countries – the Democratic Republic of Congo (one execution), Nigeria (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Yemen (1), China (2), Pakistan (3), Iran (14) and the USA (19).

The International Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by resolution 44/25 on November 20, 1989 at the Forty-fourth session of the General Assembly of the United Nations clearly states:

Article 37.  “States Parties shall ensure that: (a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Neither capital punishment nor life imprisonment without possibility of release shall be imposed for offences committed by persons below eighteen years of age; …”

USA.  Signed the Convention on February 16, 1995 but not yet ratified (Somalia is the only other country not to ratify). Supreme Court ruled child executions unconstitutional March 1, 2005.
Exectuted since 1990: Dalton Prejean (1990), Johnny Garrett (1992), Curtis Harris (1993), Frederick Lashley (1993), Christopher Burger (1993), Ruben Cantu (1993), Joseph John Cannon (1998), Robert Anthony Carter (1998), Dwayne Allen Wright (1998), Sean Sellers (1999), Steve Roach (2000), Chris Thomas (2000), Glen McGinnis (2000), Gary Graham (2004), Gerald Mitchell (2001), Napolean Beazley (2002), T.J. Jones (2002), Toronto Patterson (2002) and Scott Allen Hain (2003).  Joseph Cannon, Robert Carter and Glenn McGinnis were all executed in Texas when George W. Bush was Governor.