34/40 Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran - Report of the Secretary-General

GE.17-05051(E)



Human Rights Council Thirty-fourth session

27 February-24 March 2017

Agenda item 2

Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the

High Commissioner and the Secretary-General

Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran*

Report of the Secretary-General

Summary

The present report is submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution

71/204, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit an interim report

to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session. The report reflects the patterns and

trends in the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and provides

information on the progress made in the implementation of resolution 71/204, including

recommendations to improve implementation. In its resolution, the General Assembly

called upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the substantive

concerns highlighted in the previous reports of the Secretary-General and to respect fully its

human rights obligations, in law and in practice.

* The present report is being submitted late in order to take account of information received from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

United Nations A/HRC/34/40

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted to the Human Rights Council pursuant to General

Assembly resolution 71/204, adopted on 19 December 2016, in which the Assembly

requested the Secretary-General to submit a report to it on the situation of human rights in

the Islamic Republic of Iran at its seventy-second session and an interim report to the

Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session. The present interim report, covering the

period from July to December 2016, provides information on progress made in the

implementation of resolution 71/204, focusing on the concerns identified therein.

2. The Secretary-General draws upon observations made by the United Nations human

rights treaty monitoring bodies, the special procedures of the Human Rights Council and

various United Nations entities. He also refers to information from official State media and

non-governmental organizations.

3. Since the most recent report of the Secretary-General submitted to the General

Assembly (A/71/374), the application of the death penalty, including in relation to juvenile

offenders, has continued at a very high rate. A large number of human rights defenders, in

particular women’s rights activists and journalists, have continued to be arrested, detained

and prosecuted for the peaceful exercise of their profession or of their legitimate rights to

freedoms of expression and association. Members of minority groups have continued to

face persistent discrimination and persecution. Women’s rights remain a priority concern,

particularly underage marriage, the underrepresentation of women in the labour force and in

decision-making positions, and the harassment of women’s rights activists.

4. In December 2016, President Hassan Rouhani signed and declared the Citizen

Rights Charter and indicated that upholding citizens’ rights was a policy of his

Government.1 In his statement, he recognized the obligations of the Government to provide

the conditions for the right to life, human dignity and justice for all Iranians, including

those living outside the country, regardless of ethnicity, religious belief, age or gender. The

Secretary-General welcomes the Citizen Rights Charter and looks forward to the adoption

of measures for the full realization of the rights it upholds.

5. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has continued to engage

constructively with the United Nations treaty bodies and will present its first periodic report

on the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in

March 2017. No improvement was however noticed in relation to cooperation with the

special procedure mandate holders of the Human Rights Council, including the Special

Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, who has yet to

be allowed to visit the country.

II. Overview of the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

A. Death penalty

Use of the death penalty

6. While noting a decrease in the number of executions carried out in 2016 compared

to 2015, the Secretary-General is alarmed at the number of individuals who were executed

and at the death sentences handed down.

7. At least 530 persons, including 9 women, are known to have been executed in 2016.

According to non-governmental sources, that figure might be much higher. As in previous

years, the majority of the executions were related to drug offences.2 According to an official

1 See www.tehrantimes.com/news/409277/Rouhani-declares-Citizen-Rights-Charter.

2 See Asre Iran State-run website, 25 December 2016.

news agency, on 23 November 2016, a member of parliament, Hassan Nourozi, indicated

that about 5,000 prisoners aged between 20 and 30 years old, mostly first-time drug

offenders, were on death row.3

8. Most of the cases involving capital punishment with which special procedure

mandate holders have dealt over the past years reveal that due process guarantees were

often violated in proceedings that fell short of international fair trial standards. United

Nations human rights mechanisms have repeatedly and consistently expressed their great

concern at this persistent trend and have urged the Government to end executions and

institute a moratorium on the death penalty.

9. In his most recent report, the Secretary-General’s predecessor indicated that he was

encouraged by the increased recognition of the ineffectiveness of the death penalty to deter

drug-related offences and the initiative of some parliamentarians to amend the mandatory

death penalty for some of these offences (see A/71/374, para. 10). However, in the absence

of progress towards adoption of such a bill and of a decision to institute a moratorium,

executions of drug offenders continued at a high rate in 2016.

10. While taking note of the decision adopted in November 2016 by the parliament to

speed up deliberations on the proposed amendments to the Penal Code, the Secretary-

General remains concerned about the support reiterated by certain parts of the judiciary for

the continuous enforcement of the death penalty for drug-related offences and about the

numerous arrests of activists against the death penalty in 2016. In November, Atena Daemi,

a campaigner against the death penalty, was reportedly brutally taken away from her

parents’ home to begin serving a seven-year prison sentence she had received in relation to

her activities against the death penalty. In its comments on the present report, the

Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated that in January 2017, her conviction had

been reduced to five years in prison and that she was serving her sentence in Evin prison.

11. Two mass executions were conducted in 2016. On 5 August alone, 20 people

belonging to the Kurdish minority were executed for alleged terrorism-related offences,

although concerns had been expressed by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human

rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and by the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights regarding the fairness of their trials. On 27 August, 12 individuals were

hanged on drug-related charges. In their cases as well, basic international human rights, fair

trial standards and due process guarantees were reportedly disregarded.4

12. Capital punishment for drug-related offences does not comply with the “most

serious crimes” requirement under article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights, which the Human Rights Committee has defined as murder or intentional

killing.5 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, special procedure

mandate holders of the Human Rights Council and the Secretary-General have repeatedly

reminded the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran that executions for drug-related

offences constitute a violation of international law.

13. Several individuals were executed in 2016 after being held on death row for long

periods of time, in some cases for over 15 years. In October, Nemat Rahmani was

reportedly extradited to the Islamic Republic of Iran and executed after serving 15 years in

prison in Azerbaijan. In November, Shabaan Ranjbar and Gholamhossein Beigi were

reportedly hanged after having spent 18 and 20 years in Khomain prison (Markazi

Province) and in Lakan prison (Gilan Province), respectively. A juvenile offender, Amanj

Vaisi, who was sentenced to death when he was 15 years old, has reportedly been held on

death row for 10 years. The Secretary-General recalls that a prolonged period of time spent

on death row causes anxiety and psychological suffering and has therefore been considered

to amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.

14. The Secretary-General remains alarmed at the dehumanizing, cruel, inhuman and

degrading practice of public executions. Despite a 2008 circular banning the practice, the

3 See www.icana.ir/Fa/News/314689.

4 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20425&LangID=E.

5 See www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16581&LangID=E.

Government continues to justify its use, including for the alleged purpose of deterring drug-

related offences (see A/70/352, para. 12). Thirty-three such executions were reportedly

conducted in 2016. As in several past instances, children were present as spectators during

some of those public executions. In July, the public execution of a prisoner in Sonqor

County (Kermanshah Province) took place in front of a crowd of people, including

children. In September, a prisoner was hanged in public at a sports stadium in the city of

Neyriz, with at least one child watching the execution. In January 2016, the Committee on

the Rights of the Child expressed serious concern about the impact on children of the

continued practice of public executions.

15. The Secretary-General remains concerned about a number of cases of the death

penalty that have a political dimension. Several individuals were reportedly executed in

political cases and for non-violent economic crimes during the second half of 2016,

following proceedings that reportedly did not comply with international norms regarding

fair trial and due process provided for in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party. In August for

instance, Mohammad Abdollahi, an alleged Kurdish militant, was executed at Darya, the

central prison in Urmia. Mr. Abdollahi was charged solely on the basis of an accusation that

he was a “supporter of a Kurdish opposition group” and was sentenced to death for

moharebeh (enmity against God), although he reportedly never committed any armed or

violent acts.6 The execution of 20 people belonging to the Kurdish minority could also be

considered an execution with a political dimension.

16. In the light of these concerns, the Secretary-General reiterates his predecessor’s call

to the Iranian authorities to abolish and/or restrict the use of the death penalty in law and in

practice.

Execution of juvenile offenders

17. International human rights instruments ratified by the Islamic Republic of Iran

impose an absolute ban on the execution of persons who were under 18 at the time of their

offence, regardless of the circumstances and nature of the crime committed. Nevertheless,

sentencing of children to death is still allowed under the 2013 Islamic Penal Code and no

progress towards implementing the repeated recommendations of the High Commissioner,

special procedure mandate holders and, most recently, the Committee on the Rights of the

Child has been observed. The minimum age of criminal responsibility remains 9 lunar years

for girls and 15 lunar years for boys, well below juvenile justice standards.7

18. Despite assurances by the Iranian authorities that the judiciary is endeavouring to

prevent juvenile executions (see A/71/374, para. 19), at least five young individuals who

were below the age of 18 at the time of their alleged offence were executed in 2016.

Between 80 and 160 individuals convicted as children were reportedly on death row as of

December 2016. Some of them, such as Alireza Tajiki, have reportedly spent 10 years or

more awaiting execution. According to some non-governmental sources, the figure might

be much higher.

19. In May 2016, Mehdi Rajai was reportedly executed along with 11 other individuals

for a homicide he allegedly committed when he was 16 years old. In July, Hassan Afshar,

aged 19, was hanged in Arak prison (Markazi Province), after his conviction in 2015 for

allegedly raping another teenager. Hassan Afshar was sentenced to death only two months

after his arrest, despite a commitment by the office of the head of the judiciary that his case

would be reviewed. He was refused legal assistance and his family was reportedly not

notified of his execution. In his most recent report, the Secretary-General’s predecessor

emphasized that up to 60 per cent of executions were reportedly taking place without any

prior announcement and, in many cases, without the family being informed (see A/71/374,

para. 14). Same-sex anal conduct being punished with the death penalty, partners are

6 See https://iranhr.net/en/articles/2609/. 7 See general comment No. 10 (2007) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child on children’s rights

in juvenile justice, para. 30.

reportedly often compelled to describe their consensual sexual activity as rape in order to

avoid such a sentence.

20. Judgments imposing the death penalty on individuals under the age of 18 and the

implementation of such judgments are incompatible with the international obligations of the

country under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention

on the Rights of the Child.

21. The Secretary-General recalls that during its first universal periodic review, the

Islamic Republic of Iran accepted a recommendation to consider the abolition of juvenile

executions. The Secretary-General urges the Government to halt the execution of children

in conflict with the law and to undertake a special review of the cases of persons on death

row for crimes committed when they were under the age of 18, with a view to commuting

or quashing their death sentences altogether.

B. Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or

punishment

22. The Secretary-General remains concerned about the persistent practice of torture and

ill-treatment in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The judiciary continues to sentence people,

contrary to international human rights standards, to cruel, inhuman and degrading

treatment, such as amputation of limbs, blinding and flogging in accordance with the

provisions of the Penal Code.

Flogging, blinding and amputation

23. A wide range of acts considered as crimes under the Penal Code are punishable by

flogging, including the consumption of alcohol and drugs, petty drug dealing, theft,

adultery, “flouting” of public morals, illegitimate relationships and mixing of the sexes in

public. Children can also be sentenced to this type of ill-treatment. The Secretary-General

does not share the view of the Government, which argues that Islamic punishments are

effective deterrent penalties and more humane in comparison with long-term imprisonment.

24. Between May and December 2016, 35 students who were holding a graduation party

near the city of Qazvin, a blogger and writer accused of spreading lies and “disturbing

public opinion”, a theatre actor charged with “improper relations with the opposite sex” and

nine goldminers from the company Agh Dare were reportedly subjected to flogging.

25. On 23 November 2016, Keywan Karimi, a prominent Kurdish filmmaker, was orally

summoned to present himself to receive a flogging sentence of 223 lashes. He was

sentenced in October 2015 to six years’ imprisonment on the charge of “insulting Islamic

sanctities” in connection with a music video clip the authorities found on his hard drive,

and to 223 lashes on the charge of “illicit relations falling short of adultery” for shaking

hands and being under one roof with a female friend who had not covered her head and

neck. In their comments on the present report, the Iranian authorities indicated that the

sentence of flogging had been removed from the final verdict on Mr. Karimi.

26. Official Iranian media, including the Iranian Students News Agency, reported that in

November 2016, in a prison near Tehran, authorities blinded a man from Qorveh (Kurdistan

Province). Three cases of forced blinding were reported in 2015. In December 2016, finger

amputation sentences for two men detained in Urmia prison on charges of robbery were

carried out. Seventy other prisoners, who were probably convicted of similar charges, were

allegedly forced to watch the sentence being carried out.8

27. The Secretary-General recalls that sentences of flogging, blinding or amputation

violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment

or punishment, contained notably in the International Covenant on Civil and Political

Rights. The Secretary-General encourages the Government to review its position

8 See www.hra-news.org/2016/hranews/a-9009/.

concerning the recommendations it received during the second cycle of the universal

periodic review in relation to such practices and to outlaw them as a matter of priority.

Access to adequate health care for people in detention

28. Since June 2016, an increasing number of cases of denial of medical care attributed

to the Prosecutor’s Office or the prison administration have been reported. In many cases,

denial, discontinuation and withholding of medication and treatment, as well as denial of

release on medical grounds, were reported as intentional acts to intimidate and punish

political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, or to extract forced confessions or

statements of “repentance” from them. Between July and December 2016, at least 15 such

cases were reported.9

29. In April, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion on the

arbitrary nature of the arrest and detention of Zeinab Jalalian and requested the authorities

to release her immediately. 10 The Working Group observed that she had been denied

transfer to a hospital for urgently needed eye surgery and that the Government had not

refuted allegations that she was repeatedly tortured, deprived of adequate medical treatment

and forced to receive injections. At the end of 2016, Ms. Jalalian was still in detention and

had reportedly not yet received medical care.

30. In July, the Office of the Prosecutor reportedly refused to consider an alternative

sentence for Hossein Ronaghi Maleki, a blogger who had been sentenced to 13 years’

imprisonment for his blog, although the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization had declared

in a written statement that he was not fit to serve time in prison.11

31. In October, Akbari Monfared, who was serving a 15-year prison sentence in relation

to her alleged membership of the banned opposition group known as the People’s

Mojahedin Organization of Iran, was reportedly denied medical treatment after publishing a

letter demanding justice for her brothers and sisters who were reportedly executed in 1988.

32. Several human rights defenders currently in detention, including Narges

Mohammadi, Arash Sadeghi and Ali Shariati, were also denied medical treatment. At the

time of writing of the present report, Mr. Sadeghi and Mr. Shariati were consequently still

at risk of death or irreversible damage to their health. Several journalists have also been

denied medical care, including Issa Sahrkhiz and Afarin Chitsaz.

33. The Secretary-General observes that depriving prisoners of medical care and putting

their life at risk is a well-documented pattern in the Islamic Republic of Iran. He recalls that

access to health care for prisoners is a right enshrined in both international and Iranian law

and that depriving a prisoner of medical care often causes severe pain or suffering. When

health care is denied as a form of punishment, intimidation or to extract a forced

confession, it constitutes torture. The Secretary-General calls on the authorities to

investigate all cases of denial of medical care, to take firm action against the perpetrators

and to provide redress and rehabilitation to the victims.

Torture and ill-treatment upon arrest and in detention facilities

34. Other forms of ill-treatment of prisoners, such as the widespread use of solitary

confinement and incommunicado detention, and the denial of the right to family visits

(including contact with children), continue to be reported. An analysis of the 33

communications sent by special procedure mandate holders to the Government in 2016

shows that half the individuals covered by those communications were subjected to solitary

confinement.

9 See Amnesty International, “Health taken hostage. Cruel denial of medical care in Iran’s prisons”

(2016). www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/4196/2016/en. 10 See opinion No. 1/2016. 11 Article 502 of the Code of Criminal Procedure provides that if there is no prospect of recovery and

the judge overseeing implementation of sentences is satisfied that the convicted person is unfit to

serve the sentence, the judge shall refer the case to the court that originally issued the sentence to

issue an alternative, appropriate sentence.

35. In June 2016, Ms. Mohammadi, a prominent human rights activist who has been

campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty and had been sentenced to 16 years’

imprisonment in May, went on hunger strike for 20 days to regain access to her children. In

December, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian charity worker, whose detention

was considered arbitrary by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in August 2016,12

was reportedly pressured to choose between moving her 2-year-old daughter into prison

with her for up to three days a week or signing a document indicating that she renounced to

her right to be with her daughter.13 She was also reportedly detained in isolation for two

months upon her arrest and on several occasions thereafter.

C. Situation of women

36. The Government has still not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All

Forms of Discrimination against Women. Law and practices discriminating against women

and girls, notably with regard to marriage, divorce, child custody, freedom of movement,

nationality, employment and access to political functions, have remained in force, with no

initiatives to repeal or amend them.

37. A crackdown on women’s rights activists was observed in 2016. Several women

who had been involved in the campaign for increased representation of women in the

parliamentary elections in February 2016 were reportedly summoned for long, intensive

interrogations by the Revolutionary Guard Corps, accused of espionage and threatened with

imprisonment on charges related to national security. 14 Initiatives such as the website

“Feminist school” and the campaign to change the masculine face of parliament, launched

ahead of the parliamentary elections, came to a halt following pressure on women’s rights

defenders.

38. In October 2016, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, a writer and human rights activist, started

serving a six-year prison sentence on charges including “insulting Islamic sanctities” for

writing an unpublished story about stoning. Together with her husband, Arash Sadeghi, she

was initially taken to a secret detention place. She was later transferred to Evin prison under

the control of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, where she was held for 20 days without

access to her family, a lawyer or a court. She was reportedly subjected to long hours of

interrogation while blindfolded and threatened with being sentenced to death. Her husband

was reportedly subjected to torture by his interrogators. Ms. Ebrahimi Iraee was eventually

released on bail in December, after her husband initiated a life-threatening hunger strike in

protest against her imprisonment. In their comments on the present report, the authorities

stated that Ms. Ebrahimi Iraee was on leave from 2 to 6 February 2017, but as she did not

return on time, she was arrested 15 days later and returned to prison.

39. In November, Alieh Matlabzadeh, a photographer and women’s rights activist, was

arrested on her return from a seminar on women’s empowerment in Georgia.15 Twenty

other women’s rights activists, who took part in the same seminar, were reportedly

questioned by the Ministry of Intelligence. A few days later, Ms. Matlabzadeh was

summoned to present herself for interrogation at Evin prison. At the time of writing the

present report, she had been released on bail and no information was available on the

charges brought against her.

40. Bahareh Hedayat, another women’s rights activist, was released in September 2016

after serving a five-year prison term. In an opinion issued in June 2016, the Working Group

12 See opinion No. 28/2016.

13 See www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/iran-british-woman-nazanin-zaghari-ratcliffe-pressured-jail-

or-give-daughter.

14 Amnesty International, “Iran: women’s rights activists treated as ‘enemies of the state’ in renewed

crackdown” 10 August 2016. 15 Ms. Matlabzadeh worked for various publications, including Zanan (Women) magazine before it was

banned. She is a member of the “One million signatures for gender equality” campaign and has

actively protested against acid attacks on women. She also made a documentary entitled Let’s Not

Forget Victims of Violence against Women in Society.

on Arbitrary Detention determined that her detention was arbitrary and indicated that she

had been detained in violation of her rights to freedom of expression and assembly and to a

fair trial.16

41. At the end of 2016, Ali Shariati was on hunger strike in protest against the five-year

sentence he received on the charge of acting against national security after participating in a

protest in 2014 against acid attacks that had occurred in the city of Isfahan and had left at

least seven women permanently disfigured. While Mr. Shariati was still in detention at the

end of 2016, the perpetrators of the attacks had not been apprehended.

42. The Secretary-General welcomes the appointment of a Deputy President for Women

and Family Affairs and the increasing number of women in the parliament. He also

welcomes the information transmitted by the Government that the plan for “comprehensive

population and family excellence”, which posed serious threats to women’s empowerment,

was withdrawn from the parliamentary agenda in October. According to the World

Economic Forum 2016 Global Gender Gap Index, Iran ranks 136th out of 145 countries

with respect to political empowerment. It also ranks 140th in terms of economic

participation and opportunity, with only 17 per cent of women in the labour force. The

Secretary-General welcomes the decision taken by President Rouhani in July 2016 to

suspend the examination for public sector jobs to investigate apparent discrimination

against women.17 However, progress seems unlikely in this field as long as legal provisions

conditioning women’s employment on the consent of their husband are maintained (article

1117 of the Civil Code) and laws giving preference to men in the labour market are not

reformed.18

43. Strict and discriminatory rules on the dress code for women and girls continue to be

enforced and have led to harassment, violence and the imprisonment of women. In May,

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was quoted in State-run media as reiterating the need to be

harsh on the issue of women’s compulsory veiling and indicating that a verbal prohibition

would not suffice. In Tehran alone, 7,000 agents were reportedly deployed to monitor

compliance with the rules on wearing a hijab. Women who appear without an Islamic hijab

risk arrest and imprisonment of between 10 days and 2 months, or a fine of up to 500,000

Rls. A social media campaign launched in July 2016, showing Iranian men protesting

against compulsory veiling and advocating for change, received considerable support.

However, it did not lead to any initiative at the official level for the revocation of the

compulsory dress code imposed on women and girls.

44. Freedom of movement for women and girls was further restricted in 2016. In July, in

the city of Marivan, a group of women were reportedly arrested for riding bicycles and

made to sign pledges not to repeat the “violation”. The police told them a new government

directive had barred women from riding bicycles in public. 19 In September, Supreme

Leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa banning women from bicycling in public and was

quoted in official media as saying that riding a bicycle often attracts the attention of men

and exposes society to corruption, and thus contravenes women’s chastity. In their

comments on the present report, the authorities stated that the Supreme Leader’s fatwa was

related to those who voluntarily emulated him in religious affairs, but that it was not

binding, nor a governmental pronouncement.

45. Child marriage remains prevalent in Iran, where the legal age of marriage for girls is

only 13, with girls as young as 9 years of age being married with the permission of a court.

In December, Mohammad-Ali Pourmokhtar, a member of the Majlis Judicial and Legal

16 See opinion No. 2/2016.

17 See www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/02/iran-postpones-job-tests-gender-bias-state-exclusive-

men.

18 In the previous report of the Secretary-General to the Human Rights Council, he expressed concern

about the adoption of the Comprehensive Population and Exaltation of Family Law, on 2 November

2015, indicating that by giving priority to men in the labour market, it further excluded women from

that sphere (see A/HRC/31/26, para. 41).

19 Lizzie Dearden, “Women ‘arrested for riding bicycles’ in Iran and made to sign pledge never to cycle

in public again”, Independent, 28 July 2016.

Commission, indicated that the marriages of about 12,000 to 13,000 children had been

carried out unofficially and without registration.20

46. Child marriage is a violation of human rights that puts girls at risk of physical,

psychological, economic and sexual violence and can lead to a range of poor health and

social outcomes and other negative consequences, including early pregnancy and high rates

of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Child marriage has also been increasingly

recognized by international human rights bodies as a contemporary form of slavery. The

Secretary-General is concerned that recommendations by international human rights

mechanisms, most recently by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in January 2016,

have not led to the repeal of legal provisions authorizing child marriage and that the

authorities continue to claim that girls as young as 9 years old getting married might be in

their best interests. The Secretary-General encourages the Supreme Leader and the Council

of Guardians to pronounce themselves clearly against child marriage and to lead efforts

towards the eradication of this harmful practice.

47. Women and girls are still prohibited from attending and participating in sporting

events. Between February and July, several women were prevented from attending the

Beach Volleyball World Championships, the Premier League soccer season and the

International Volleyball Federation World League matches. In April, women were excluded

from the first international marathon to be held in the country and in November, the Iranian

Wrestling Federation barred three female athletes from participating in a world wrestling

competition.

D. Restrictions on freedoms of expression and of peaceful assembly

48. The continued crackdown on media professionals, the pervasive restrictions on

freedom of opinion and expression, including the closure of newspapers and magazines,

and the ongoing monitoring, filtering and blocking of websites that carry political news and

analysis remain of great concern. National security, espionage, propaganda against the

system and insulting the Supreme Leader remain the most frequent charges invoked for the

arrest and prosecution of journalists. At the end of the year, three opposition figures linked

to the Green Movement, which gained popularity during the presidential elections of 2009,

Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, remained under house arrest

without formal charges or trial.

49. Hundreds of websites remain blocked and the Government has continued to tighten

its control over social media. In December, the cyberpolice reportedly required Iranian-

owned channels with more than 5,000 followers on the most popular messaging

application, Telegram, to seek official registration. The authorities reportedly arrested 32

administrators of channels on the Telegram social media platform and accused them of

“disturbing public order” and “spreading lies”.

50. The Secretary-General welcomes the release, in January 2016, of Jason Rezaian, the

Washington Post correspondent who had spent 544 days in prison. However, at least six

journalists, including Chitsaz Afarin, Mohammad Seddigh Kaboudvand, Saeed Pourheydar,

Issa Saharkhiz, Saman Safarzaee and Reihaneh Tabatabaie remained in prison at the end of

2016.21

51. In June, Ghanoon newspaper reportedly announced its closure pursuant to an order

by the Chief Prosecutor in Tehran on the grounds that the paper was “publishing falsehoods

with the intent to cause public anxiety”. In October, the Prosecutor ordered that the closure

order be lifted.

52. In August, two bills posing threats to press freedom were introduced, reportedly

without media workers being consulted. One of them foresees the creation of a media

affairs commission, which would include members of the intelligence agencies. That

20 See www.ana.ir/news/166991.

21 See Committee to Protect Journalists, 2016 prison census, available from

cpj.org/imprisoned/2016.php.

commission is due to replace the independent Association of Iranian Journalists, which was

closed down in 2009.

53. In September, the editor-in-chief of Memari News, Yashar Soltani, was reportedly

arrested on charges, which included “spreading lies”, after he reported on alleged

corruption in the municipal government in Tehran. Sadra Mohaqeq, editor of the Shargh

Daily newspaper, was also reportedly arrested in September and described in State-run

media as “a collaborator who worked for anti-revolutionary media outlets” outside the

country. That same month, a revolutionary court in Tehran reduced a three-year prison

sentence it had handed down on journalist Issa Saharkhiz to 21 months. Mr. Saharkhiz, who

had previously served as the Deputy Minister of Culture, had been imprisoned from 2009 to

2013 on charges of insulting the Supreme Leader and propaganda against the State. At the

time of his arrest, he was contributing to the website Rooz Online.

54. In July, 92 student organizations reportedly wrote an open letter to President

Rouhani expressing concern about threats against and intimidation of students after the

declaration by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, on 18 June, on the risks of the politicization

of students and the responsibility of university officials, senior administrators and

academics to ensure a climate favourable to the promotion of Islamic revolutionary

principles on campus. Dozens of students expelled from universities for political reasons

between 2005 and 2016 had not been allowed to resume their studies at the end of 2016.

55. The Secretary-General welcomes the statement made by President Rouhani in

November about the necessity for news media to feel safe while doing their jobs.22 He

recalls that freedom of information and expression is of paramount importance for every

society. He urges the authorities to promote and protect the right of individuals to express

themselves freely, to refrain from adopting any new legislation which would further restrict

freedom of expression and to release all those who have been jailed for having peacefully

expressed their opinions.

56. Human rights defenders, lawyers, students, women’s rights activists, journalists and

trade unionists, have, however, continued to face restrictions, arrest, conviction and

imprisonment for exercising their rights to freedom of association.

57. More than 70 people were reportedly arrested in October 2016 at a peaceful

gathering celebrating Cyrus the Great near the ancient city of Pasargadae in the central

province of Fars. They were tried in mid-December without legal counsel and were

sentenced to prison terms by a branch of the revolutionary court in the city of Shiraz on

charges of propaganda against the State, disturbing public order and assembly and collusion

against national security.23

58. In December, several people participating in peaceful gatherings were arrested. They

included participants in a commemoration of the reported killing of two prominent writers

in Emamzadeh Taher cemetery in Karaj. 24 Also in December, riot units of the Tehran

security police, plain clothes agents and the Revolutionary Guard Corps from Sarallah

headquarters reportedly brutally dispersed families, students and supporters of Mohammad

Ali Taheri, who had peacefully gathered in front of Baqiyatallah hospital in Vanak, where

Mr. Taheri had reportedly been transferred after several days on hunger strike.25 At least 15

people, including 2 women and a 16-year-old teenager were arrested, some of them after

reportedly having been violently beaten.

22 See president.ir/fa/96233.

23 Center for Human Rights in Iran, “Revolutionary court sentences more than 70 Iranians to prison for

celebrating ‘Cyrus Day’”, 28 December 2016.

24 Center for Human Rights in Iran, “Iranian lawyer and writers beaten and arrested at commemoration

of murders of political dissidents in 1990s”, 5 December 2016.

25 See www.en-hrana.org/mohammad-ali-taheris-students-demonstration-raided-police.

E. Situation of human rights defenders and activists

59. The Secretary-General remains concerned at the shrinking space for human rights

defenders, who continue to face harassment, intimidation, arrest and prosecution for

defending rights and speaking up against violations and abuse. A large number of political

prisoners and prisoners of conscience were still detained at the end of 2016 and many

others received prison sentences in 2016. In December, eight prisoners of conscience went

on a life-threatening hunger strike to contest the legality of their detention.

60. In May, the High Commissioner publicly reacted to the prison sentence pronounced

by the revolutionary court in Tehran against Narges Mohammadi and called on the Iranian

authorities to release her. Ms. Mohammadi won the 2009 Alexander Langer award for her

human rights activities, especially her efforts to end the death penalty for juvenile

offenders. In 2016, she received the City of Paris medal for her peaceful activism. In

October, 15 members of parliament addressed a letter to the head of the judiciary,

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, calling on him to reverse the 10-year prison sentence imposed

on Ms. Mohammadi.26

61. Ms. Ebrahimi Iraee and her husband, Mr. Sadeghi, also a human rights activist, were

imprisoned in June and October 2016, starting prison sentences of 6 and 15 years,

respectively. Both were arrested in September 2014 and, upon arrest, were reportedly held

in isolation and denied access to lawyers. Mr. Sadeghi was reportedly subjected to torture.

During their trials, they were denied legal representation and could not defend themselves.

Mr. Sadeghi was sentenced on charges including “spreading propaganda against the

system”, “assembly and colluding against national security” and “insulting the founder of

the Islamic Republic”, while Ms. Ebrahimi Iraee was condemned for “insulting Islamic

sanctities” and “spreading propaganda against the system”. In December 2016, Mr. Sadeghi

ended a 71-day hunger strike after his wife was released on bail. However, despite his

critical medical condition he was reportedly denied specialized medical care outside prison.

62. In November, Ahmad Montazeri, a 60-year-old cleric, was sentenced to seven years

in prison by a clerical court in the city of Qom on charges of acting against national security

and releasing a classified audio file, and for propaganda against the system. In August, he

had released an audio recording of a discussion dating back to 1988 in which his father,

Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, reportedly argued with leaders of the judiciary and

condemned the execution of thousands of prisoners in 1988. The trial of Mr. Montazeri was

reportedly held behind closed doors and he was prevented from choosing his own lawyer.

The Secretary-General’s predecessor expressed deep concern over the imprisonment of Mr.

Montazeri and the apparent lack of investigation into the revelations contained in the audio

recording.27

63. At the end of 2016, Saeed Shirzad, a children’s rights activist, was still hospitalized

after spending more than one month on hunger strike while serving a five-year prison

sentence. Mr. Shirzad’s sentence was issued in 2015 by Judge Abolqasem Salavati of

Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court for assembly and collusion against national security

in connection with his activities in support of the children of political prisoners pursuing

their education. In December, he reportedly sewed his lips shut and began a hunger strike to

protest against the treatment of political prisoners at Rajaee Shahr prison. Dozens of

political detainees are reportedly being held in ward 12 of the prison without basic

sanitation or proper nutrition and without the possibility of regularly contacting their

families. At the time of writing the present report, Mr. Shirzad was in a serious medical

condition and there was no indication that the judiciary was ready to discuss his demands.

64. Several labour rights activists faced criminal prosecution in 2016, including Najbeh

Salehzadeh from Saqqez city, who was reportedly charged in June with sacrilege and

26 See www.isna.ir/news/95072514536.

27 During the last months of 2016, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights received copies of 31 letters addressed to the High Commissioner and to the Prosecutor of the

International Criminal Court. The letters were complaints from families of persons killed in the mass

executions which reportedly took place in 1988.

insulting the Supreme Leader. Two other labour rights activists, Mahmood Salehi and his

wife, were prosecuted for propaganda against the regime at a trade union congress in

France. Mr. Salehi was reportedly sentenced to nine years in prison.

65. Families of human rights defenders are also reportedly subjected to harassment. In

July, the daughter of Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent lawyer, was reportedly prevented from

travelling abroad. Such a travel ban violates the right to freedom of movement and the

ability to leave the country, pursuant to article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights. Members of Ms. Sotoudeh’s family had previously faced similar

restrictions in 2012.

66. Invoking charges related to national security against individuals for merely

expressing their opinion or participating in peaceful assemblies not only endangers their

physical integrity but also undermines their work as human rights defenders and instils fear

in society. The Secretary-General recalls that the ongoing harassment of and professional

ban on human rights activists and lawyers, who are instrumental in representing their

clients and safeguarding the rule of law, is a setback for the Islamic Republic of Iran as a

whole.

67. The Secretary-General reiterates his call to the Iranian authorities to release political

prisoners, including human rights defenders and lawyers, detained solely for legitimately

and peacefully exercising their rights to freedoms of expression, association and peaceful

assembly.

F. Treatment of religious minorities

68. Members of religious and ethnic minorities have continued to endure abuse and

discrimination and face persecution, including arrest and imprisonment, expulsion from

educational institutions, denial of economic opportunities, deprivation of the right to work,

the closure of businesses and the destruction of religious sites, such as cemeteries and

prayer centres.

69. As highlighted in the most recent report of the Secretary-General’s predecessor,

Baha’is have been considered by special procedure mandate holders as the most severely

persecuted religious minority in the Islamic Republic of Iran (see A/71/374, para. 64). In a

joint press statement issued in June 2016, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or

belief and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic

of Iran expressed concern at speeches made in May and June by 169 religious, judiciary

and political officials inciting hatred of the Baha’i community and reflecting extreme

intolerance of them. The Special Rapporteurs also stressed that 72 Baha’is were in prison

solely because of their religious beliefs and practices. During the period covered by the

present report, the Baha’is were the target of similar hate speech and numerous arrests and

detentions took place.

70. In many previous reports, the Secretary-General’s predecessor has expressed

concern over the denial of access to university to members of the Baha’i community. In

July 2016, the Court of Administrative Justice confirmed a decision of the Educational

Measurement and Evaluation Organization Sanjeh denying two adherents of the Baha’i

faith, Ms. Fanaian and Mr. Rahmani, entry into university for the academic year 2014/15.

In October, at least 129 Baha’i students who had satisfactorily completed their university

entrance examinations were reportedly excluded from admission.

71. The Secretary-General is concerned about the serious violations of the right to

education, work and an adequate standard of living, to which members of the Baha’i

community continue to be exposed. Between June and November 2016, at least 150

businesses owned by Baha’is across the country were shut down by the authorities. The

Secretary-General urges the authorities to repeal all legal provisions which allow

discrimination against the Baha’is.

72. The continuous discrimination against and persecution of other religious minorities

also remains of concern. In December, five dervishes of the Sufi Gonabadi Order were

arrested in the city of Dezful. They were reportedly initially arrested at an exhibition

honouring Sacred Defence Week in September, and were formally charged in November

with disturbing public order, destruction of public property, insulting the sacred and

insulting senior officials.

73. In December, the largest Persian-speaking Protestant community in the country,

Jama’at-e Rabbani, announced that Sharon Gardens, in the city of Karaj and of which it was

the owner, had been confiscated. Charges of espionage were reportedly brought against the

community and in July 2015, Branch 3 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court ordered the

confiscation of its premises. That decision was upheld by the Appeals Court in August

2016.

74. The Secretary-General renews his predecessor’s call on the Government to respect

the right to freedom of religion and belief, to address all forms of discrimination in all

spheres of life, to uphold and implement legislation that protects minority groups and

individuals, and to ensure the release of all individuals imprisoned on the basis of their

religion or belief.

G. Reprisals against activists cooperating with the United Nations

75. Allegations of reprisals against individuals because of their cooperation or contact

with the United Nations human rights mechanisms or representatives remain a cause for

great concern.

76. In a press statement issued in November 2016, several special procedure mandate

holders urged the Government to end the harassment of a woman trying to learn the fate of

her brother, Hossein Rahemipour, and his newborn daughter, who had disappeared from

prison more than 30 years earlier. In June, the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary

Disappearances reviewed the case of the alleged enforced disappearance of Mr.

Rahemipour and transmitted it to the Government. The experts indicated that the charges

against Raheleh Rahemipour might be in direct reprisal for her human rights activism in the

search for her relatives and the exercise of her rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of

expression.

77. The Secretary-General urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to

protect individuals from all acts of reprisal and to investigate and ensure accountability for

all cases of intimidation and reprisal.

III. Cooperation with international human rights mechanisms and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

A. Cooperation with the human rights treaty bodies

78. The Secretary-General welcomes the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran

with the treaty bodies, which has improved in recent years. The first report to the

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/C/IRN/1) has been scheduled

for consideration in March 2017. The Secretary-General also encourages the Government

to submit its fourth report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,

which has been overdue since November 2014.

79. The Secretary-General encourages the Government to comply fully with the follow-

up mechanisms of the treaty bodies and to provide the information sought by the

committees on the implementation of recommendations made in their concluding

observations. He renews his predecessor’s call on the Government to seize this opportunity

to examine the progress made in the application of the human rights treaties by way of

accurate, regular and timely reporting.

B. Cooperation with special procedures

80. The Secretary-General welcomes the significant increase in the number of

communications sent by special procedure mandate holders that have received a response

from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Of the 33 communications sent between January and

December 2016, the Iranian authorities responded to 21. The majority of the

communications addressed concerns with regard to cases of torture, execution, arbitrary

arrest and the detention of journalists and human rights activists, the persecution of

religious minorities, unfair trials, ill-treatment of prisoners, the denial of medical treatment

for prisoners and reprisals against individuals for their contact with United Nations human

rights mechanisms.

81. The Secretary-General encourages the Government to show full cooperation with

the newly appointed Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic

Republic of Iran by allowing her to visit the country. Although he repeatedly sought access

to the country following his appointment in 2011, the previous mandate holder was never

invited to visit by the authorities.

82. The Secretary-General welcomes the invitations extended to the Special Rapporteur

on the right to food and the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral

coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights for a country visit. They would be the

first country visits by mandate holders since 2005 and would represent a step forward in the

implementation of the standing invitation issued by the Government in 2002 to all thematic

special procedures. It should be recalled that the Government had previously agreed in

principle to visits by the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, the

Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special

Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. The Secretary-General also encourages the

Government to respond positively to the requests for visits it received from the Working

Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2015 and from the Special Rapporteur on the

independence of judges and lawyers in 2006.

C. Cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner

for Human Rights

83. The High Commissioner has continued to raise human rights concerns with Iranian

officials, including in meetings with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the head of the High

Council for Human Rights, the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to

the United Nations and visiting delegations. The High Commissioner has also intervened

with the Iranian authorities on individual cases. The Secretary-General welcomes these

exchanges and encourages the Government to pursue a dialogue on the implementation of

recommendations received during the second cycle of the universal periodic review and to

take advantage of the technical cooperation programmes of the Office of the High

Commissioner with a view to abolishing and/or restricting the use of the death penalty in

law and practice.

D. United Nations Development Assistance Framework

84. The Secretary-General expects that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran

and the United Nations system will implement programming under the United Nations

Development Assistance Framework from a human rights and a gender perspective,

consistent with human rights obligations. That is also consistent with the spirit of the

commitment to human rights made by the Government under the 2030 Agenda for

Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals contained therein.

IV. Recommendations

85. The Secretary-General remains deeply troubled by the continuing large

number of executions, including of juveniles, and reiterates his predecessor’s call on

the Government to introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty and to

prohibit and refrain from the execution of juvenile offenders in all circumstances.

86. The Secretary-General reiterates his predecessor’s concern about continued

restrictions on public freedoms and the related persecution of civil society actors, the

persistence of discrimination against women and minorities and the conditions of

detention. He urges the Government to create space for human rights defenders,

lawyers and journalists to exercise their peaceful, legitimate activities safely and

freely, and to release political prisoners, including human rights defenders and

lawyers, detained solely for legitimately exercising their right to freedoms of

expression, association and peaceful assembly.

87. The Secretary-General encourages the Government to take practical steps to

eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls in all spheres of life —

civil, political, economic, social and cultural.

88. The Secretary-General urges the Government to take prompt steps to protect

the rights of all persons belonging to religious and ethnic minorities and to remove

and address all forms of discrimination against them.

89. The Secretary-General welcomes the engagement of the Islamic Republic of

Iran with the human rights treaty bodies and urges the Government to follow up on

the concluding observations of all treaty bodies. He also calls on the Government to

ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against

Women, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading

Treatment or Punishment, the International Convention for the Protection of All

Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the International Convention on the

Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.

90. The Secretary-General welcomes the invitation that the Government has

extended to the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the Islamic Republic of

Iran and encourages it to cooperate fully with the newly appointed Special

Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran by giving

her access to the country. He also encourages the Islamic Republic of Iran to engage

constructively with the Office of the High Commissioner on the follow-up to all

recommendations in the present and previous reports, as well as those of all the

human rights mechanisms, including the universal periodic review.