On October 19th, finally, Yousef Nouri, the Minister of Education of the Islamic Republic, admitted that a number of students have been arrested during the recent nationwide protests in Iran. Although he did not provide an “exact number” of detained students, he stated: “Their number is not high and they are not that many.” According to the Minister of Education, the detained students are not in prison and are being held in a “psychological center” until their “expert friends” can do their work and they can return to school after being reformed.

Apart from the fact that why the Minister of Education is not aware of the exact number of detained students or is not allowed to disclose it, there are many questions that Yusuf Norouzi, as the responsible person for students, has not answered; questions such as which intelligence and security agency has arrested the students? Which judicial authority has issued the order for the detention of students? Where is the “Psychological Center” that, according to the Minister of Education, students are held instead of prison? And most importantly, have the procedures and rules for dealing with detained students under the age of eighteen been followed or not?

Not answering these questions is while the legal framework for dealing with individuals under the age of 18 in all countries is subject to a special mechanism and is fundamentally different from the relevant laws regarding legal consequences for adults.

Arresting Children; Special Procedures

One of the important issues in the field of children and youth rights, which is directly related to their physical and mental protection, is the issue of children’s rights under the law. Since the interaction with the law and its institutions such as the police and the judicial system inherently causes harm to citizens, especially when they are accused, and in some cases violates their fundamental and human rights, some groups, due to their vulnerability, require more legal protection against the law itself.

Individuals under the age of eighteen are among the groups that, due to their vulnerability, must be subject to a special and different mechanism from other citizens (adults) when dealing with the institution of law and its representatives (police and judicial system). The importance of providing special support for individuals under the age of eighteen is to prevent them from social and psychological harm and to align the institution of law with the needs of children and adolescents.

In this regard, the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (of which the Islamic Republic is also a member) explicitly states in Article 40 the necessary conditions for protecting children and adolescents in dealing with the law. According to this article, the judicial and police process for individuals under the age of eighteen must be completely different and separate from adults; because according to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, the affairs and values of the child must be respected in all stages of their personal and social life, including their encounter with the law and legal institutions.

The presence of a specialized police force for children and adolescents with trained personnel, a separate investigative process, including the prohibition of detaining children as adults, the immediate and continuous presence of legal parents and guardians in all stages of investigation and trial, a complete ban on direct entry of intelligence and security agencies, an independent specialized court with trained staff, specialized judges for children and adolescents, and a different process of trial and punishment are among the principles explicitly mentioned in the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Legal rules for detaining individuals under the age of 18 in Iran.

The necessity of structural differences in dealing with police and judicial crimes of individuals under the age of 18 in Iran’s domestic laws has also been explicitly emphasized and the relevant laws have been made subject to a special mechanism.

In this regard, the Criminal Procedure Law in Iran has dedicated its ninth chapter specifically to the rules for dealing with crimes committed by children and adolescents (individuals under eighteen years old) and has set out three articles outlining the judicial and police requirements for confronting a child or adolescent accused of committing a crime.

According to Article 285 of this law, the handling of crimes committed by children and adolescents is solely under the jurisdiction of specialized courts for children and adolescents. Other courts, especially revolutionary courts and courts for security crimes, do not have the legal authority or power to handle crimes committed by individuals under the age of eighteen.

In this law, the issuance of arrest warrants for children and adolescents, except in obvious crimes, is solely the responsibility of the judicial authority in the juvenile court or special court for children and adolescents, and other judicial authorities do not have the legal authority to issue arrest warrants for individuals under the age of eighteen.

The Criminal Procedure Law also requires the establishment of a special police force for children and adolescents as special officers in dealing with children and adolescents accused of committing a crime. This law clearly recognizes the legal duties of these officers in the areas of detention, transportation, and temporary custody of individuals under the age of eighteen for police investigations. This means that except in cases where the life of a person under the age of eighteen or other citizens or their property is in danger, only this special police force is authorized to detain individuals under the age of eighteen. Other judicial officers, such as agents of the Ministry of Intelligence, Revolutionary Guards, Basij, and even regular police forces, are not authorized to intervene in the detention or other preliminary police actions against children and adolescents, except in cases of immediate danger.

This law also obligates judicial authorities to immediately (within a few hours at most) report the arrest of individuals under the age of eighteen to the specialized court for children and adolescents and obtain instructions from the specialized judicial authority.

Despite this legal statement, published reports from Iran show that at least some detained students have been attacked and arrested by members of the security or intelligence forces of the Revolutionary Guards and Basij, instead of the special police for children and adolescents, solely for gathering inside the school and chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic system or for walking in the streets (which is not a clear crime with a threat to life or property).

Another important point in this law is the prohibition of any investigation and interrogation of individuals under the age of eighteen. According to the second clause of Article 285 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the only judicial authority allowed to conduct any investigation and interrogation of children and adolescents is the Special Court for Children and Adolescents, and judicial officers (including special police for children and adolescents) do not have any legal permission to conduct preliminary investigations and interrogations of individuals under the age of eighteen.

In this regard, reports also mention interrogations of arrested students by intelligence and security agencies. Exclusive reports received by the writer confirm that in certain areas of Tehran, law enforcement officers have handed over detained students to officials of the Ministry of Intelligence after their arrest for chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic system in the schoolyard.

Furthermore, according to the law, interrogating a child by judicial authorities without the presence of their parents (legal guardian) or their defense lawyer is prohibited, and in court, the child’s parents and their lawyer must be present.

Another legal obligation regarding children and adolescents (all individuals under eighteen years old) that recent reports have shown major violations of, is the necessity of keeping detained individuals under eighteen years old in correctional and rehabilitation centers and prohibiting their absolute detention in regular detention centers alongside adult prisoners (over eighteen years old). Exclusive reports received by the writer confirm that a number of detained individuals under eighteen years old in Tehran have been kept in Fatah Detention Center (Tehran Police Command Headquarters) for at least three days and then transferred to Fashafouyeh Prison.

Therefore, it is clear that the failure to comply with the prescribed legal rules, especially regarding the manner of detention, interrogation, and detention of individuals under the age of eighteen, means that the detainees are illegally arrested and their detention is a clear example of arbitrary detention and government abduction; because according to the law, the detention of individuals is only allowed through legal methods and any other action is considered criminal and punishable.

Note:

1- Minister of Education: The number of detained students is not high/ I cannot provide an exact number of detained students,

East Network

October 11th, 2022.