MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Iran: Recent Cases of Human Rights Abuses

15.11.2011

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 122 of the Rules of Procedure

Fiorello Provera, Oreste Rossi, Bastiaan Belder, Rolandas Paksas, Jaroslav Paška, Mara Bizzotto on behalf of the EFD Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0594/2011

B7‑0594/2011

European Parliament resolution on Iran: Recent Cases of Human Rights Abuses

The European Parliament,

-having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, in particular those of 10 March 2011 and of 18 January 2011 and of 8 September 2010,

 

-having regard to the decision of the Council of 10 October 20011 to reinforce restrictive measures due to Iran's serious human rights violations,

 

-having regard to the statement by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of 18 October 2011 on the sentences on Iranian Filmmaker Jafar Panahi and Iranian Actress Marzieh Vafamehr and of 8 October 2011 on the sentencing of human rights defender Narges Mohammadi,

 

-having regard to the United Nations Human Rights committee's concluding observations of 3 November 2011,

 

-having regard to the statement by United States' National Security Council Spokesman on the Iranian government's organized intimidation against Iranian civil society of 27 February 2011,

 

-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 Iran is a party,

 

–having regard to Rule 122(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

 

A. whereas human rights conditions in the Islamic Republic of Iran have deteriorated following the outcome of the country's controversial presidential elections in 2009 and hundreds of opposition leaders, lawyers, journalists and human rights activists have been detained on dubious charges,

 

B. whereas since 2005, the Islamic Republic has refused to grant access to UN special envoys and human rights monitors, whilst the regime has continued to harass civil society members and since the beginning of 2011, several hundred prisoners have been executed and in 2010, 252 executions took place,

 

C. whereas Iranian opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard remain under house arrest without an arrest warrant, charges, trial or legal representation,

 

D. whereas in September 2010 lawyer and human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested and imprisoned in Evin Prison for six years, and has been banned from practising law for ten years,

 

E. whereas on 17 September 2011, four documentary makers Hadi Afarideh, Naser Saffarian, Mohsen Shahrnazdar and Mojtaba Mir Tahmash, as well as producer and Distributor, Katayoun Shahabi were arrested and are believed to be held in Evin Prison under the control of the Ministry of Intelligence,

 

F. whereas in September 2010, Youcef Nadarkhani, an Evangelical Christian pastor from the city of Rasht was tried and found guilty of apostasy, sentenced to death and his case has been referred to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,

 

G. whereas Iranian Kurds, Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi were sentenced to public hanging on 22 December 2010 on a charge of "enmity against God" (moharebeh) and "corruption on earth" for the alleged murder of the son of a senior cleric in Marivan, in north-eastern Iran and for their involvement with the Kurdish opposition group Komala,

 

H. whereas the Islamic Republic continues to restrict and curtail cultural and political activities of minority groups such as Azeris, Kurds and Arabs, and denies freedom of religion to the Baha'i community,

 

1. Calls on the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, and all other opposition figures who have been unduly detained or held under house arrest;

 

2. Calls for the immediate release of human rights lawyer Nasrin Soutodeh, Hadi Afarideh, Naser Saffarian, Mohsen Shahrnazdar Mojtaba Mir Tahmash, and Katayoun Shahabi who are held in Tehran's Evin Prison;

 

3. Urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately establish a moratorium on capital punishment, in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution of 18 December 2007 calling for a global moratorium on death penalty; calls on the Iranian authorities to commute without delay the death sentences of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and Kurdish activists Loghman Moradi and Zaniar Moradi;

 

4. Urges the Islamic Republic to allow Iranian citizens the right to freedom of expression, association and allow Iranian filmmakers to cooperate with foreign satellite channels, in accordance with the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party;

 

5. Urges the Iranian authorities to put an end, in law and in practice, to all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to respect the principles of the rule of law and fair trials; in particular, calls on the Iranian Parliament and judiciary to abolish cruel and inhuman punishments such as limb amputation, stoning and flogging, which are inconsistent with Iran's international obligations; firmly rejects the notion promoted by the Iranian judicial authorities that such punishments are culturally justified;

 

6. Strongly urges the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to comply with all internationally accepted human rights standards and calls for impunity to be brought to an end in Iran through the establishment of an independent judicial review procedure inside the country or referral through the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Security Council to institutions that operate under international law, such as the International Criminal Court;

 

7. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to acknowledge the human costs associated with the Gozinesh Law which blocks access to certain employment, educational, military and governmental opportunities based on a rigorous ideological screening to assure devotion to the state’s official ideology of Islam, and to work without delay to reform this law to allow equal access to opportunity for all;

 

8. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the only country, despite its ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to end the practise of executing minors, many of which are Kurds.

 

9. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to end its prohibition of the Baloch language in formal and public places, to re-open Balochi publication houses, and permit the broadcast of television programming in Balochi, and to uphold article 15 of Iran’s constitution that should permit Baloch children to receive instruction in Balochi;

 

10. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure West Balochistan, which is rich in natural resources including gas, oil, and gold yet remains the poorest region in Iran. begins to reap equal benefit from the state's natural resources.

 

11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the EU Member States and the government and parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.