NEW YORK, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Iranian authorities must order a stay of execution for a man accused of committing murder when he was a juvenile, Amnesty International said.
Iranian authorities were scheduled Monday to execute Abbas Hosseini, an Afghan national convicted of murder when he was 17 years old.
"It is sickening that Iran continues to flout international law by arranging to kill an individual accused of committing a crime as a child," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, deputy director of Amnesty International's Middle East program.
Amnesty says Hosseini was sentenced to death in June 2004 for murdering a man who attempted to rape him the previous year.
The family of the victim also refused to issue a pardon to Hosseini in exchange for financial compensation.
The international rights group says at least 41 juveniles were executed in Iran since 1990 with more than 140 remaining on death row.
Amnesty says it "deplores" capital punishment for juveniles, accusing Iran of violating its international obligations in the Hosseini case.
"We appeal to the head of the judiciary to issue an immediate order to stay the execution and ensure that Abbas Hosseini's death sentence is overturned," said Sahraoui.
