Thank you Mr. President
Excellency, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
I thank you for this opportunity to address the Human Rights Council for the first time since I took up my functions as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in November 2016.
In ensuring continuity of the work of my predecessor, Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, the report, which I am presenting to the Council today covers the last six months of 2016. It is based on information, which I received from Iranians living both inside and outside of Iran as well as communications, which were sent to the Government on alleged human rights violations and the responses that I received from them. I also held consultations with civil society organisations and various stakeholders.
Some promising developments have taken place in the country, which need to be acknowledged. Among them is the signature by President Hassan Rouhani of the Citizens’ Rights Charter in December. The Government has increased its cooperation with the mandate as is also reflected by the higher number of communications, which received a response. I hope that this is a positive signal and that there will be deeper engagement between the mandate and the Government. So far, I have not been granted access to the country.
Mr. President,
There are challenges, which need to be addressed in a more positive and constructive way.
At least 530 executions took place in 2016. 156 have been registered since January. So far, the promise to amending the Anti Narcotic Law has not materialized. The majority of these executions continue to be for drug related offences, which are not the most serious crimes under international law.
It is urgent to accelerate the adoption process of the “Juveniles and Children’s Criminal Procedure Bill” which the Government introduced in August with the view to abolishing the death penalty for children and to institute a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. Despite the 2013 amendments to the Islamic Penal Code, courts continue to sentence children to death and to execute them once they reach 18 years. Five young men convicted as children were hanged in 2016; two since the beginning of the year. Dozens remain on death row with many having languished for years under a death sentence.
The use of torture and ill treatment, in many forms, including blinding and flogging, remains legally condoned. I call on the authorities to put an end to any punishment, which constitutes torture and ill treatment. I urge the Government to release the prominent Kurdish filmmaker, Mr. Keywan Karimi who is currently jailed in relation to his artistic activities and awaiting to receive 223 lashes on the charge of “illicit relations falling short of adultery”.
As did my predecessor, I received a large amount of documented cases of persons allegedly subjected to torture and ill treatment with the view to extracting confessions from them. My report describes many instances where prisoners were subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, sometimes during years of detention, as in the case of Mohammed Ali Taheri. Deprival of family visits and medical care were also widely reported. In the case of Ms. Akbari Monfared, who is currently serving a 15 years prison sentence, this denial took place after she published a letter demanding justice for her brothers and sisters who were reportedly executed in 1988.
Mr. President,
Independence of lawyers and the legal profession is essential for the promotion and protection of human rights and a fair administration of justice. Regrettably, this independence has yet to be achieved in the Islamic Republic of Iran and I am concerned by recent developments in this field, notably by a Bill, introduced in July, which, if adopted, could further undermine the independence of the Iranian Bar Association. A high number of lawyers who represented prisoners of conscience, political detainees or “national security” prisoners continue to be detained. Among them is Mr. Soltani a prominent human rights lawyer who received the International Bar Association Human Rights Institute’s Award in 2012.
The judiciary in the Islamic Republic of Iran is neither independent nor free from influence from the executive. An independent judiciary is the primary guarantee for the respect of the rule of law.
Broad and vague definition of certain offences, disrespect for the right of any accused to be promptly informed about charges against him or her, preventing the accused from freely choosing their legal representation are all contributing factors to violations of the right to fair trial and due process of law.
Over the past two years, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) ruled that the detention of seven individuals was arbitrary. All expect one remain in detention as of today. I am concerned by the fragile psychological and health condition of Mrs. Nazanin Rattcliffe a British-Iranian charity wor
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