A/RES/71/204 GA

United Nations A/RES/71/204 General Assembly Distr.: General 1 February 2017 Seventy-first session Agenda item 68 (c) 16-22577 (E) *1622577* Please recycle Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2016 [on the report of the Third Committee (A/71/484/Add.3)] 71/204. Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran The General Assembly, Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,1 the International Covenants on Human Rights2 and other international human rights instruments, Recalling its previous resolutions on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the most recent of which is resolution 70/173 of 17 December 2015, 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General of 6 September 2016,3 submitted pursuant to resolution 70/173, and the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran of 30 September 2016,4 submitted pursuant to Council resolution 31/19 of 23 March 2016;5 2. Continues to welcome the pledges made by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran with regard to some important human rights issues, particularly on eliminating discrimination against women and members of ethnic minorities and on greater space for freedom of expression and opinion; 3. Acknowledges legislative and administrative changes in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which, if properly implemented, would address some human rights concerns, including portions of the new Code of Criminal Procedure; 4. Welcomes the engagement of the Islamic Republic of Iran with human rights treaty bodies, including through the submission of periodic reports, and notes in particular the engagement of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its participation in the universal periodic review; _______________ 1 Resolution 217 A (III). 2 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex. 3 A/71/374. 4 A/71/418. 5 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-first Session, Supplement No. 53 (A/71/53), chap. IV, sect. A. A/RES/71/204 Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 2/5 5. Also welcomes the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran to host large numbers of Afghan refugees, granting them access to basic services, in particular access to health care and education for children; 6. Further welcomes the decision of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to postpone the annual civil service entry exam because of concerns that it discriminates against women; 7. Welcomes the increasing contact with and dialogue between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the invitations extended to other special procedures mandate holders; 8. Also welcomes the recently expressed readiness of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and other Iranian officials to engage in bilateral dialogues on human rights; 9. Expresses serious concern at the alarmingly high frequency of the imposition and carrying-out of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic of Iran, in violation of its international obligations, including executions undertaken for crimes that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, on the basis of forced confessions or against minors and persons who at the time of their offence were under the age of 18, in violation of both the Convention on the Rights of the Child 6 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2 expresses concern at the continuing disregard for internationally recognized safeguards, including executions undertaken without notification to the prisoner’s family members or legal counsel, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to abolish, in law and in practice, public executions, which are contrary to the 2008 directive seeking to end this practice issued by the former head of the judiciary; 10. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure, in law and in practice, that no one is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which may include sexual violence, and punishments that are grossly disproportionate to the nature of the offence, in conformity with amendments to the Penal Code, the constitutional guarantees of the Islamic Republic of Iran and international obligations; 11. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to cease enforced disappearances and the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary detention, and to uphold, in law and in practice, procedural guarantees to ensure fair trial standards, including timely access to legal representation of one’s choice from the time of arrest through all stages of trial and all appeals, the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and consideration of bail and other reasonable terms for release from custody pending trial; 12. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the poor conditions of prisons, to eliminate the denial of access to adequate medical treatment and the consequent risk of death faced by prisoners and to put an end to the continued and sustained house arrest of leading opposition figures from the 2009 presidential elections despite serious concerns about their health, as well as the pressure exerted upon their relatives and dependants, including through arrest; _______________ 6 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531. Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran A/RES/71/204 3/5 13. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the judicial and security branches, to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling environment in which an independent, diverse and pluralistic civil society can operate free from hindrance and insecurity, urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to end widespread and serious restrictions, in law and in practice, on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly, both online and offline, including by ending the harassment, intimidation and persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, women’s and minority rights activists, labour leaders, students’ rights activists, academics, film-makers, journalists, bloggers, social media users, media workers, religious leaders, artists, lawyers and persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities and their families, and further calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to release persons arbitrarily detained for the legitimate exercise of these rights, to consider rescinding unduly harsh sentences, including the death penalty and long-term internal exile, for exercising such fundamental freedoms and to end reprisals against individuals, including for cooperating with the United Nations human rights mechanisms; 14. Strongly urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against women and girls, including with respect to the right to freedom of movement, the right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the right to work, to take measures to ensure protection for women and girls against violence and their equal protection and access to justice, to address the concerning incidence of child, early and forced marriage, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, to promote, support and enable women’s participation in leadership and decision-making processes and, while recognizing the high enrolment of women in all levels of education in the Islamic Republic of Iran, to lift restrictions on women’s equal access to all aspects of education and women’s equal participation in the labour market and in all aspects of economic, cultural, social and political life; 15. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, including but not limited to Arabs, Azeris, Balochis and Kurds, and their defenders; 16. Expresses serious concern about ongoing severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, restrictions on the establishment of places of worship, attacks against places of worship and burial and other human rights violations, including but not limited to harassment, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention, denial of access to education and incitement to hatred that leads to violence against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities, including Christians, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni Muslims, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians and members of the Baha’i faith and their defenders in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious group, including the seven Baha’i leaders declared by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the Human Rights Council to have been arbitrarily detained since 2008, and to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination, including economic restrictions, such as the closure or confiscation of businesses and properties, the cancellation of licences and denial of employment in certain public and private sectors, including government or military positions and elected office, and other human rights violations against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities; A/RES/71/204 Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 4/5 17. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to launch a comprehensive accountability process in response to all cases of serious human rights violations, including those involving the Iranian judiciary and security agencies, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to end impunity for such violations; 18. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure credible, transparent and inclusive presidential elections in 2017 and to allow all candidates to stand in a manner consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in order to guarantee the free expression of the will of the Iranian people, and to that end calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to allow independent national and international observation; 19. Further calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement its obligations under those human rights treaties to which it is already a party, to withdraw any reservations that are imprecise or could be considered incompatible with the object and purpose of the treaty, to consider acting upon the concluding observations concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted by the bodies of the international human rights treaties to which it is a party and to consider ratifying or acceding to the international human rights treaties to which it is not already a party; 20. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to deepen its engagement with international human rights mechanisms by: (a) Cooperating fully with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including by accepting the repeated requests made by the Special Rapporteur to visit the country in order to carry out the mandate; (b) Increasing cooperation with other special mechanisms, including by facilitating long-standing requests for access to the country from thematic special procedures mandate holders, whose access to its territory has been restricted or denied, despite the standing invitation issued by the Islamic Republic of Iran, without imposing undue conditions upon those visits; (c) Implementing all accepted universal periodic review recommendations from its first cycle, in 2010, and its second cycle, in 2014, with the full and genuine participation of independent civil society and other stakeholders in the implementation process; (d) Building upon the engagement of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the universal periodic review process by continuing to explore cooperation on human rights and justice reform with the United Nations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights; (e) Following through on its commitment to establish an independent national human rights institution, made in the context of both its first and its second universal periodic reviews by the Human Rights Council, with due regard for the recommendation of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; 21. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue to translate the pledges made by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran with respect to human rights concerns into concrete action that results in demonstrable improvements as soon as possible and to ensure that its national laws are consistent with its obligations under international human rights law and that they are implemented in accordance with its international obligations; Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran A/RES/71/204 5/5 22. Further calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the substantive concerns highlighted in the reports of the Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the specific calls to action found in previous resolutions of the General Assembly, and to respect fully its human rights obligations in law and in practice; 23. Strongly encourages the relevant thematic special procedures mandate holders to pay particular attention to, with a view to investigating and reporting on, the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran; 24. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its seventy-second session on the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution, including options and recommendations to improve its implementation, and to submit an interim report to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session; 25. Decides to continue its examination of the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran at its seventy-second session under the item entitled “Promotion and protection of human rights”. 65th plenary meeting 19 December 2016

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