Watchdog

Pakistan has executed a man who was 15 when he was sentenced to death for murder, despite an outcry from human rights groups and the United Nations.

Aftab Bahadur Masih was sentenced to death for killing three people in 1992, but rights group Reprieve said two witnesses who implicated Bahadur had since recanted, saying they were tortured.

Bahadur's lawyers said he was also tortured into confessing. Testimony obtained by torture is inadmissible.

At the time of the murders, the death penalty was legal for 15-year-olds, but the minimum age was raised to 18 in 2000.

A jail official in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore said Bahadur was "crying and saying he was innocent" before the early morning hanging on June 10. Badahur wrote about his innocence in essays from jail before his death.

"Pakistan proceeded with Mr. Bahadur's execution despite his having been sentenced to death when he was a child -- in violation of both international and Pakistani law," Reprieve said.

Pakistan also executed two other accused murderers on June 8.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Geo.TV

Amnesty International says the Azerbaijan government has barred it from visiting the capital, Baku, where the group planned to protest human rights violations ahead of the European Games.

Amnesty said it was forced to cancel its plans after the government said its delegates would not be welcome until after the games, which run from June 12-28.

The group intended to hold a briefing called Azerbaijan: The Repression Games to highlight Azerbaijan's crackdown on journalists, opposition members, and activists.

"Far from advancing the goals of press freedom and human dignity enshrined in the Olympic Charter, the legacy of these games will be to further encourage repressive authorities around the world to view major international sporting events as a ticket to international prestige and respectability," said Amnesty's Deputy Director Denis KrivoshAeev.

The move came as British political activist Emma Hughes was detained on arrival in Azerbaijan and told she was on a "red list" of people who cannot enter the country.

Based on reporting by AFP and Amnesty International