Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran* **
IRAN WATCH CANADA: A portion of Doctor Ahmed Shaheed's report on Iran Human Rights situation.....
Human Rights Council
Twenty-fifth
session
Agenda
item 10
Technical
assistance and capacity-building
Summary
In the present report, the third to be submitted to the Human Rights
Council pursuant to Council resolution 16/9, the Special Rapporteur
communicates developments in the situation of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran since his third interim report submitted to
the General Assembly (A/68/503) in October 2013.
In the report, the Special Rapporteur outlines his activities since
the Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the Special
Rapporteur at its twenty-second session. He examines ongoing issues
and presents some of the most recent and pressing developments in the
State’s human rights situation. Although the report is not
exhaustive, it provides a picture of the prevailing situation as
observed in the preponderance of reports submitted to and examined by
the Special Rapporteur. It is envisaged that a number of important
issues not covered in the present report will be addressed by the
Special Rapporteur in his future reports to the General Assembly and
the Human Rights Council.
I. Introduction
1. A number of positive overtures have been made by the new
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, apparently aimed at
advancing President Hassan Rouhani’s campaign pledges to strengthen
human rights protections for civil, political, social, cultural and
economic rights, and at remedying some cases of human rights
violations. This includes the proposal of a new charter for citizens’
rights. Since September 2013, the Government of the Islamic Republic
of Iran has released 80 individuals, some of whom appear to have been
prosecuted for peacefully exercising their fundamental rights to
expression, belief, association or assembly.1
Some detainees were furloughed for a few days; others appear to have
been permanently released, while hundreds of others remain in some
form of confinement, including several individuals whose detention
was identified as arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary
Detention (see annex I).2
2. The Special Rapporteur, while welcoming the above-mentioned
positive steps, stresses that they currently do not address fully the
fundamental human rights concerns raised by the General Assembly, the
Human Rights Council and its special procedures, the treaty bodies,
human rights defenders and international organizations. This includes
the need to address laws and practices that infringe upon the rights
to life, to the freedoms of expression, association, assembly, belief
and religion, to education and to non-discrimination.
3. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the basis of these concerns
is primarily the non-compliance of national laws with the State’s
international obligations and a lack of adherence to the rule of law,
as well as a failure to investigate complaints and to bring human
rights violators to justice. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur
believes that the recent engagement with the international community
presents opportunities for future cooperation, particularly with
regard to capacity-building to advance the State’s international
human rights obligations.
4. Reports of the arbitrary detention of individuals for peacefully
exercising their fundamental rights to expression, association,
assembly, belief and religion remain prevalent. Interpreting article
9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the
Human Rights Committee recognized, in a draft general comment on
liberty and security of person, that “liberty of the person is a
right of profound importance, both for its own sake and because
deprivation of liberty has historically been a principal means by
which other human rights are suppressed.
5. Information in the above-mentioned reports also reveal that
aspects of Iranian laws, policies, attitudes and practices
extensively identified by the United Nations human rights machinery
regretfully continue without redress and persist in undermining the
independence of the State’s judicial organs, and in nullifying
safeguards for fair trials. This is all the more alarming when
considering the frequent use of the death penalty, in particular for
crimes not considered the “most serious offences” under
international law.
6. The present report, far from being exhaustive, analyses the
prospects for reform of the administration of justice, in particular
with regard to progress made in implementing the recommendations made
by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2003,3
during the universal periodic review in 20104
and by the Human Rights Committee in 2011.5
7. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran forwarded a
detailed reply to all sections of the present report,6
in which it revealed its ongoing dissatisfaction with credible
sources of information, contending that the report violated article 6
of the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures Mandate Holders, which
directs them to pursue due diligence in gathering and corroborating
information emanating from credible sources. The Government asserted
that the present report selectively considered comments made by other
United Nations human rights mechanisms, and questioned whether
visiting a few European countries to collect information on the
situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran was “the
correct methodology for the compilation of a report”.
8. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur continues to maintain that
he only presents corroborated information, gathered from credible
sources, that he has sought clarification on a number of issues and
cases through communications with the Government – a majority of
which remain unanswered – and that he has accurately presented
concerns raised by other human rights mechanisms. He also concurs
that the alternatives pursued in the absence of an approved visit to
the country are less than ideal.
9. In its comments, the Government also asserted that individuals
that are guilty of serious crimes – including alleged acts of
violence, the disruption of public order and the promotion of ideas
with the intent of inciting “secessionist” activities – were
inappropriately identified as human rights defenders in the report.
It also maintained that journalists and lawyers are not immune from
prosecution when they violate “the boundaries of a duty entrusted
to him/her by law and engages in acts that run contrary to his/her
standing”. Lastly, the Government continued to maintain that drug
trafficking is a serious crime that warrants capital punishment.
1 David
Keyes, “Iran rejails political prisoner Majid Tavakoli”, Daily
Beast, 7 November 2014, available from
www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/07/iran-rejails-political-priosner-majid-tavakoli.html.
2 On
29 August 2012, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in its
opinion No. 30/2012, found that the detention of Mir Hossein Mossavi
and Mehdi Karoubi was arbitrary (see A/HRC/WGAD/2012/30).
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posted by Mori A. at
11:12 AM
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