MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the situation in Iran
3.2.2010
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Fiorello Provera, Lorenzo Fontana, Mara Bizzotto on behalf of the EFD Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0078/2010
B7‑0081/2010
European Parliament resolution on the situation in Iran
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,
– having regard to the EU Presidency statement of 28 December 2009 on the recent demonstrations in Iran,
– having regard to the declaration issued by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the European Union of 12 January 2010 on the trial of seven Baha'i leaders in Iran,
– having regard to the statement by its President of 9 October 2009 reiterating Parliament's commitment to the worldwide abolition of the death penalty and specifically denouncing capital punishment for juvenile crimes and the imminent executions in Iran,
– having regard to United Nations General Assembly Resolutions 62/149 of 18 December 2007 and 63/168 of 18 December 2008 on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,
– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to all of which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the recent Ashura commemorations were marked by the violent suppression of demonstrations and arbitrary detentions in Tehran and other Iranian cities, leading to the killing of at least eight people,
B. whereas Iran missed the end-of-year deadline to comply with calls to open its nuclear facilities to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors,
C. whereas several opposition members, who are currently being held in Tehran's Evin Prison, have been refused access to their families via telephone or in person; whereas the fate of many opposition supporters arrested during the post-election demonstrations is still unclear,
D. whereas two bloggers and human rights activists, Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi, who are currently being held in Tehran's Evin Prison, have been accused of 'moharebeh' (waging war against God), an offence punishable by death,
E. whereas several women's rights activists were arrested in connection with the Ashura demonstrations, including Badralsadat Mofidi (Secretary of the Union of Journalists), Bahareh Hedayat (member of the Central Council of the Office for the Consolidation of Unity), Nasrin Vaziri (reporter for ILNA and Khabar Online), Shiva Nazar Ahari (journalist), Parisa Kakaee (journalist), Mansoureh Shojaei (researcher, member of the Women’s Cultural Centre), Negin Derakhshan (editor at the newspaper Tehran Today) and Atieh Yousefi,
F. whereas the general human rights situation in Iran has continued to deteriorate since the presidential elections of June 2009; whereas the torture, ill-treatment and rape of prisoners, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement, clandestine detention, the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and impunity for state agents all continue to be widespread,
G. whereas Iran is the country which carries out the highest number of executions after China, that number having increased fourfold since President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad came to power in 2005, and whereas it holds the sad distinction of being the only country in the world still to execute juvenile offenders,
H. whereas on 12 January 2010 in Qom agents of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence arrested Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Khalaji, father of Mehdi Khalaji, a scholar based at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and whereas on 19 January 2010 he was transferred to solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin Prison,
I. whereas the Kurdish political and civil activists Habib Lotfi, Farzad Kamangar, Zeynab Jalalianm and Shirko Maarefi are in imminent danger of execution,
J. whereas on 26 January 2010 two Baha'i youths, Bahman Yazdani and Vesal Mohammadi, were arrested in the city of Mashad and continue to be held in an undisclosed location,
K. whereas the grave of Neda Agha Soltan, the young Iranian woman who was shot in the chest during the post-election demonstration, has been frequently defaced,
1. Condemns the use of violence against demonstrators who are seeking to exercise freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly; pays tribute to the courage of all those Iranian women and men who are defending their basic freedoms and democratic principles and expressing their wish to live in a society free from repression and intimidation; recalls the sacrifice of Neda Agha Soltan, who has become the symbol of the violent repression of those struggling for democratic reforms;
2. Points out that freedom of thought, conscience and religion are fundamental and undeniable rights which must be guaranteed in every circumstance, in accordance with Article 18 of the ICCPR, which the Islamic Republic of Iran has signed and ratified;
3. Condemns the large-scale and excessive use of force, arbitrary arrest and alleged torture in the repression of demonstrations following the Ashura riots and the funeral of Ayatollah Montazeri; calls for all peaceful demonstrators and all those arrested in the wider context of the recent unrest - be they students, academics, campaigners, clerics, journalists or human rights activists - to be released unconditionally;
4. Expresses concern at the fact that Iran's acquisition of nuclear military capabilities could pose a serious threat to European security and the stability of the region; for that reason, calls on the Iranian Government to conduct all nuclear activities in a manner that is transparent to the international community and therefore under the full supervision of the IAEA;
5. Urges the Iranian authorities to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and to uphold due process of law and end impunity for human rights violations;
6. Deplores the execution on 28 January 2010 of Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani and Arash Rahmani-Pour, who had been accused of organising post-election demonstrations in June 2009 even though they were already in custody at that time;
7. Reiterates its call to the Iranian authorities to abolish the death penalty and, in the meantime, to establish a moratorium on executions, as called for in UN General Assembly Resolutions 62/149 and 63/168;
8. Recommends that a Special Envoy be dispatched by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to monitor the situation of political detainees and ensure that the Iranian authorities adhere to international procedural standards and honour their legal human rights obligations;
9. Condemns the statement by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Revolutionary Guard, Ali Saeedi, admitting that it is worth killing 75 000 people in order to protect and save the Islamic regime;
10. Deplores the systematic restriction of freedom of information by means of the blocking of websites, a ban on them covering unauthorised demonstrations and the imposition of new restrictions requiring journalists to obtain permission before covering any story; strongly condemns the decision by the Iranian Government to jam the BBC's Persian service, after the channel was taken off a satellite owned by EutelSat;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the UN Human Rights Council and the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.