Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The Commission on Human Rights,Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other human rights instruments,

Reaffirming that all States Members of the United Nations have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to fulfil the obligations they have undertaken under the various international instruments in this field,

Mindful that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to the International Covenants on Human Rights,

Recalling previous resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights on the subject, the most recent of which are Assembly resolution 53/158 of 9 December 1998 and Commission resolution 1998/80 of 22 April 1998,

1. Welcomes:

(a) The report of the Special Representative of the Commission (E/CN.4/1999/32) which notes that the Government's plans for a tolerant, diverse and law-abiding society continue to unfold and that their full implementation could have a major impact on human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran;

(b) The stated commitment made by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to promote respect for the rule of law, including the elimination of arbitrary arrest and detention and to reform the legal and penitentiary system and bring it into line with international human rights standards in this field;

(c) The more open debate in the Islamic Republic of Iran on issues of governance and human rights, as well as governmental efforts to make progress in the area of freedom of expression, while remaining concerned at instances of arbitrary closure of publications and cases of harassment and intimidation of journalists;

(d) The efforts undertaken by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to investigate the recent wave of disappearances, suspicious deaths and killings of intellectuals and political activists, and urges the Government to bring the alleged perpetrators to justice;

(e) The holding, on 26 February 1999, of the first local elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which reflect an effort by the Government to make local governance more transparent and more responsible;

(f) The assurances given by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran that it has no intention of taking any action whatsoever to threaten the life of Mr. Salman Rushdie and those associated with his work or of encouraging or assisting anyone to do so, and that it dissociates itself from any reward offered in this regard and does not support it;

(g) The invitation extended by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances to visit Iran, which will hopefully take place in the near future;

2. Notes with interest:

(a) Positive statements by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran about the need to review laws and attitudes which discriminate against women, and the gradual increase of the presence of women in public life in Iran;

(b) The reported elimination of discrimination against Baha'i youth in enrolment in the pre-university year at the high-school level, while remaining concerned that their entry to universities continues to be refused;

(c) The increasing focus of the Islamic Human Rights Commission on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and expresses its hope that the Commission will come into line with the 1993 Principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights;

(d) The beginnings of a public discussion in Iran on the appropriateness of the death penalty for drug-related offences;

3. Expresses its concern:

(a) At the fact that no invitation has yet been extended by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Special Representative to visit the country, and calls upon the Government to extend an invitation to him and resume its full cooperation with the Special Representative in the discharge of his mandate;

(b) At the continuing violations of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as reported by the Special Representative, in particular the high number of executions, cases of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including sentences of stoning and public executions, the failure to meet international standards in the administration of justice and the absence of due process of law, and also at the apparent absence of respect for internationally recognized legal safeguards and the use of national security laws to deny the rights of the individual;

(c) At the continued discrimination against religious minorities, in particular the unabated and, in some instances, worsened pattern of persecution against the Baha'is, including death sentences, executions, arrests and the closure of the Baha'i Institute of Higher Education;

(d) At the continued lack of full and equal enjoyment by women of their human rights as reported by the Special Representative;

(e) At continuing threats by the 15 Khordad Foundation to the life of Mr. Salman Rushdie including the increase in the bounty announced by the Foundation after the assurances given by the Government of Iran in New York in September 1998;

4. Calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran:

(a) To continue its positive efforts to consolidate respect for the rule of law, and to abide by its freely undertaken obligations under the International Covenants on Human Rights and under other international instruments on human rights;

(b) To ensure that capital punishment will not be imposed for other than the most serious crimes, not for apostasy or otherwise in disregard of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and United Nations safeguards, and to provide the Special Representative with relevant statistics on this matter;

(c) To implement fully the conclusions and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance relating to the Baha'is and other minority religious groups until they are completely emancipated;

(d) To take all necessary steps to end the use of torture and the practice of amputation, stoning and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment;

(e) To take further measures to eliminate the continued discrimination in law and in practice against women;

(f) To make full use of technical cooperation programmes in the field of human rights, and welcomes in this context the willingness of the Government to introduce international human rights standards into the curricula of universities;

5. Decides:

(a) To extend the mandate of the Special Representative, as contained in Commission resolution 1984/54 of 14 March 1984, for a further year, and requests the Special Representative to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session and to report to the Commission at its fifty-sixth session, and also to keep a gender perspective in mind when seeking and analysing information;

(b) To request the Secretary-General to continue to give all necessary assistance to the Special Representative to enable him to discharge his mandate fully;

(c) To continue its examination of the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the situation of the Baha'is and other minority groups, at its fifty-sixth session under the same agenda item.

51^st meeting
23 April 1999[Adopted by a roll-call vote of 23 votes to 16, with 14 abstentions. See chap. IX.]