x(Geneva,
June 6, 2008) – The Iranian government
should cooperate with United Nations human
rights bodies in order to address the
ongoing abuses in the country, a group of
international human rights organizations
said today.
Cooperation with the
United Nations on human
rights is crucial to
help the Iranian
government to improve
respect for
international human
rights standards binding
upon the Islamic
Republic.
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel
Peace Prize winner
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The Iranian government’s
refusal to implement recommendations issued
by various UN human rights agencies are of
grave concern to Nobel Peace Prize winner
Shirin Ebadi, Human Rights Watch, the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH),
and the International Campaign for Human
Rights in Iran. Iran’s abuses range from
executing people by stoning, putting to
death children, and banning rights activists
from traveling abroad. On June 9, 2008, the
groups will urge Iran to take action at a
panel discussion titled, “Challenges Facing
Human Rights Defenders in Iran” to be held
at the Human Rights Council’s headquarters
in Geneva.x
“Cooperation with the United Nations on
human rights is crucial to help the Iranian
government to improve respect for
international human rights standards binding
upon the Islamic Republic,” Ebadi said.x
In December 2007, the UN General Assembly
passed a resolution expressing serious
concerns about the state of human rights in
Iran, and called on the secretary-general to
prepare a report on the topic. The human
rights organizations urged UN human rights
officers in charge of preparing the report
to seek access to Iran for the purpose of
research and objective documentation of
human rights violations, and urged the
Iranian authorities to grant such access.
x
Since Iran issued a standing invitation to
all UN human rights agencies in 2002, there
have been six visits to the country by UN
special human rights institutions. However,
the recommendations made by the various UN
entities have not been implemented.
Recommendations issued by the UN treaty
bodies have also been completely ignored.
Iran’s reports to the UN Human Rights
Committee and the UN Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights are long overdue.
Iran is one of the few countries (including
North Korea, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Syria,
and Cuba) that continue to deny access to
independent international human rights
organizations. x
Iran leads the world in executing juvenile
offenders – people under 18 at the time of
the offense – in violation of its
obligations under the Convention on the
Rights of the Child. In 2007, Iran executed
six juvenile offenders, and at least 107
others are currently on death row. x
The organizations also highlighted concerns
for the health and safety of imprisoned
human rights defenders Emad Baghi and
Mohammad-Sadiq Kaboudvand. Both men suffered
heart attacks during recent weeks and
require urgent medical care.
x
The Iranian government routinely denies
human rights defenders the possibility to
travel abroad. In the latest case,
authorities issued a travel ban for
Abdolfattah Soltani, a lawyer representing
many prisoners held for their peaceful
opinions, from traveling abroad. More
generally, Iranian human rights defenders
are facing severe repression for their
legitimate activities.
x
Iran continues to carry out executions by
stoning, and at least 10 women and two men
presently await the punishment. The
government also continues to implement cruel
and inhumane punishments such as cross
amputations of an arm and a leg (five such
cases were carried out in Sistan and
Balushistan in January 2008) and floggings.
The authorities routinely prosecute women’s
rights activists, student activists, and
labor activists for their peaceful actions.
One student detainee, Ebrahim Lotfollahi,
detained on January 6, 2008 by security
agents in Sanandaj, died in detention under
suspicious circumstances. The authorities
buried him without allowing his family
access to his body
In February 2008, the judiciary sentenced
social activists Farzad Kamangar and Yaghoub
Mehrnehad to death after secret trials that
failed to meet international fair-trial
standards. Most detainees are denied access
to lawyers during lengthy pretrial
detentions that the authorities justify as “investigations.”
x
The judiciary has also targeted members of
the Baha’i religious minority. Human Rights
Watch, FIDH, and the International Campaign
for Human Rights in Iran have jointly
expressed their serious concerns for seven
leading members of the Baha’i community
detained without charge since May 14.
Only a few months remain before the UN
secretary-general will submit his report on
the state of human rights in Iran to the
Third Committee of the General Assembly.
Iran should seize this opportunity to
implement the recommendations issued by
various UN human rights groups before the
report is submitted.x.
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