MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

23.10.2007

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Pasqualina Napoletano, Christa Prets, Paulo Casaca, Elena Valenciano Martínez-Orozco
on behalf of the PSE Group
on Human Rights in Iran

B6‑0410/2007

European Parliament resolution on Human Rights in Iran

The European Parliament,

-   having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably those concerning human rights and in particular the resolution adopted on 16 November 2006,

-  having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to all of which Iran is a party,

-   having regard to UNSC resolutions 1696, 1737 and 1747 on the Iranian nuclear programme,

-  having regard to the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue, the EU Presidency statement of 20 December 2005 on the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue,

-  having regard to the 8th EU Annual Report on Human Rights (2006), adopted by the Council on 17 October 2006,

-  having regard to the EU presidency Declaration on 25 May, 2007 on human rights cases in Iran,

-  having regard to EU Presidency Declaration on 3rd August, 2007 on the sentences of Adnan Hassanpour and Abdolvahed Boutimar,

-  having regard to the EU presidency declaration on 11 September, 2007 on the imminent execution of Mr. Behnam Zare,

-  having regard to the Iranian local elections and the final results of a parallel election held on 15 December, 2007 to select members of the Assembly of Experts, a body of 86 senior clerics that monitors Iran's supreme leader and chooses his successor,

-  having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas the situation in Iran regarding human rights has worsened in the last years, despite several commitments by the Iranian authorities to promote universal values,

B.  whereas the number of executions in Iran, including among them minors and homosexuals, often public by hanging or stoning, has dramatically increased, bringing the number of executions recorded since the start of 2007 to at least 244[1], a number which exceeds the 177 executions recorded in 2006,

C.  whereas the UN General Assembly in its 62nd session in October, 2007 will vote on a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions, to be introduced as a step towards the abolition of the death penalty,

D.  whereas recently for the first time journalists have been sentenced to death,

E.  whereas several renowned intellectuals have been arrested, detained and often tortured recently, to an extent that has never been seen before;

F.  whereas several activists of the women's rights movement are being or have been prosecuted for their involvement in the "one million signatures" campaign seeking to obtain the repeal of discriminatory laws against women and planning to submit these to the National Parliament (Majlis),

G.   whereas Iran is still not a party to the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

H.  whereas the Iranian authorities recently (June 2007) cracked down in Tehran on two student organisations resulting in arrests, although a number of the students were subsequently released on bail; in addition the Alummi Association of Iran was closed down, in violation of Iranian law and international human rights standards on freedom of association,

I.  whereas newspapers and online publications are regularly closed down in Iran, while repression of journalists is on the rise, with arrests and harsh sentences, especially against those from Iranian Kurdistan,

J.  whereas the repression is growing against ethnic and other groups which exercise their right to freely express their opinion, in particular in Kurdish and Arab minority regions,

K.  whereas trade unions have increasingly been repressed in recent years, and in particular members of the union of workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company have been targeted and their leader has been arrested,

1.  Expresses its deep concern about the deterioration of the human rights situation in Iran during recent years; appeals to the Iranian authorities to honour their obligations in accordance with international human rights standards and instruments ratified by Iran in promoting universal values and granting all persons the right to exercise their civil rights and political freedoms;

2.  Is deeply concerned about the dramatic increase of the repression of civil society movements in Iran over the past year; calls the Iranian authorities to put an end to harsh repression against women's rights defenders, activists of the "one million signatures" campaign, student movements, intellectuals, teachers, journalists and trade unionists;

3.  Reminds the Government of Iran of its obligations, as a signatory to the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to safeguard fundamental human rights, notably the freedom of opinion, and calls for the release of all imprisoned journalists, students, women's rights and prisoners' defenders, intellectuals and trade unionists;

4.  Is appalled at the spiralling numbers of executions recorded and many of those executed faced unfair trials; calls on Iran to fully respect its Criminal Procedure Code and to grant the right to a fair trial to all individuals, particularly by allowing them to have access to a lawyer from the beginning of the judicial process;

5.  Reiterates its opposition to death penalty as such and condemns in particular death sentences passed against and executions of juvenile offenders and minors; recalls Iran's international commitments, and specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both clearly prohibiting the execution of minors or people who have been convicted of crimes committed while they were minors;

6.  Calls on the Iranian authorities to renew the moratorium on execution of minors, to guarantee the prohibition of stoning, to implement all required safeguards in capital cases and to limit the scope of crimes punishable by death, as a first step towards its total abolition;

7.  Calls on the people of Iran to support the campaign entitled "Stop the Death Penalty: the World decides" initiated by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty (WCADP) and other non-governmental organisations;

8.  Urges the Iranian authorities to immediately put an end to the politically motivated use of capital punishment and to end its application to sexual offences and minors;

9.  Calls on the Iranian authorities to unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, notably the journalists: Emaddedin Baghi, Ako Kurdnasab, Ejlal Ghavami, Mohammad Sadegh Kaboudvand, Said Matinpour, Adnan Hassanpour, Abdolvahed "hiva" Botimar, Kaveh Javanmard and Mohammand Hassan Fallahieh, the unionists Mansour Osanloo, and Mahmoud Salehi, the students: Ehsan Mansouri, Majid Tavakoli and Ahmad Ghassaban as well as students of the University of Tehran;

10.  Appeals to the Iranian authorities to permit Mrs Mehrnouche Solouki to leave Iran;

11.  Suggests that Iranian Parliament (Majlis) take over, along with the European parliament, the EU-Iran Human Rights Dialogue, unilaterally interrupted by the Iranian authorities in June 2004;

12.  Calls on the international community to draw attention to the worsening of the situation of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran , in particular to the plight of the Bahai, who are excluded from public life, discriminated against and harassed;

13.  Urges the United Nations General Assembly to vote on a resolution explicitly and decisively condemning the violation of fundamental human rights in Iran and to adopt urgent measures to halt the recent wave of executions in Iran;

14.  Asks on the Member States to consider favourably files by Iranian asylum applicants and in particularly those applicants who are in danger because of their sexual orientation;

15.  Calls upon the Council and the Commission to closely monitor developments in Iran and also to raise concrete cases of human rights abuses as the basic condition for progress in EU-Iran economic and trade relations;

16.  Recommends that the Conference of Presidents authorises its committee responsible to draw up a report on the role of civil society in the protection of human rights in third countries and its role in the promotion of democratisation in third countries and the consequences for the EU;

17.  Calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with the European Parliament, to make effective use of the new Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights in order to promote democracy and respect for human rights in Iran by supporting the different components of civil society as women rights, economic and social rights, uncensored media and cultural dialogue with European counterparts;

18.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the High Representative for CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Head of the State Supreme Court of Iran and the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

• [1] Number of executions given by Amnesty International as at 18 October 2007