MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
11 January 2005
pursuant to Rule 115(5) of the Rules of Procedure
by Cecilia Malmström and Alexander Nuno Alvaro
on behalf of the ALDE Group
on Iran
B6-0036/2005
European parliament resolution on Iran
The European parliament
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran and its decision to set up an interparliamentary delegation with Iran,
– having regard to the EU-Iran dialogue on human rights and most particularly the fourth round of the dialogue, which took place on 14 and 15 June 2004 in Tehran, where the Government of Iran expressed its commitment to strengthening respect for human rights and the rule of law,
– having regard to the EU guidelines on human rights dialogues,
– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Iran is a State Party,
– having regard to the fact that Iran is still not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and that the new parliament has rejected draft legislation on gender equality,
- having regard to the Resolution of the UN General Assembly on 20 December 2004 which said there is a " worsening situation" regarding freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the media, "especially the increased persecution for the peaceful expression of political views, including arbitrary arrest and detention without charge or trial",
– having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the situation in Iran with regard to the exercise of key civil rights and political freedoms has deteriorated since the parliamentary elections of February 2004 despite commitments on the part of the Government of Iran to promoting these universal values,
B. concerned by multiplying reports about executions being carried out with apparent disregard for internationally recognised safeguards, including executions of juvenile offenders,
C. concerned that in recent months crackdowns on the freedom of the press have multiplied in Iran,
D. whereas since September 2004, more than 20 internet journalists and civil society activists have been arrested and held in a secret detention center in Tehran, most have since been released on bail,
E. whereas the detainees had been kept at a secret location within one hour's travel from central Tehran, where they were held in solitary confinement in small cells for up to three months,during the entire length of their detention they were subjected to torture -including beatings with electrical cables—and interrogations that lasted up to 11 hours at a stretch,
F. whereas the detainees were denied access to lawyers and to medical care when they fell ill, were allowed family visits rarely and were often threatened with the arrest of family members and friends if they did not cooperate,
G. whereas these detainees had been detained and tortured by secret squads apparently taking orders from Judge Mortazavi,
H. noting that, according to the UN Special Rapporteur, a year ago the number of publications closed down and people arrested, prosecuted and sentenced for the peaceful expression of their opinion had already increased considerably,
I. noting reports that the National Security Council and the office of the public prosecutor are increasingly intervening directly with the press to influence the content of the reported news, and that in the provinces journalists have been forced to report in a certain way under threat of imprisonment,
J. whereas, according to reports, the Iranian authorities are increasingly filtering internet sites and blocking access to several dozen online publications and political, social and cultural weblogs and whereas, with the repression of free use of the internet, the Iranian authorities are cracking down on the Iranian public’s only remaining means of access to uncensored information,
K. deeply concerned by the planned execution of a 19-year-old girl called Leyla Mayfi who was sentenced for having illicit relationships,
L. underlining the findings of the Special UN Rapporteur Ambeyi Ligabo to the effect that the Iranian Press Law and Penal Code does not conform to the permissible restrictions listed in Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),
M. deeply concerned at reports that 25 minors have been sentenced to death this past year alone,
N. highly concerned at recent reports of the condemnation of the 13-year-old child Zhila Izadi to death by stoning after being found to be pregnant by her 15-year-old brother, who was himself condemned to 150 lashes,
1. Calls on the Iranian authorities to halt immediately all attempts at stoning and to prevent any further application of the death penalty to minors;
2. Reiterates its general opposition to the death penalty and hopes that a judicial reform in Iran will bring this inhumane practice to an end;
3. Calls on the Iranian authorities to give evidence that they are willing to implement their publicly declared moratorium on stoning;
4. Condemns the recent arbitrary arrests of journalists and calls on the authorities to release all prisoners prosecuted or sentenced for press- and opinion-related offences;
5. Condemns the mistreatment in prison of cyberdissidents and webloggers after an Iranian committee report concluded that public confessions of two of them, Omid Memarian and Rozbeh Mir Ebrahimi, were obtained under duress and points out that weblogger Mojtaba Saminejad, along with online journalist, Javad Gholam Tamayomi, are still in prison;
6. Calls on the Iranian government to investigate Judge Mortazavi’s role in orchestrating the detention and torture of non-violent journalists and activists and to end its campaign of repression against free speech;
7. Calls on the Iranian Parliament to adapt the Iranian Press Law and the Penal Code to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and notably to repeal all criminal provisions dealing with the peaceful expression of opinion, including in the press;
8. Calls on the Supreme Court to take note of the statement of the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and the Special Rapporteur on torture of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and to ensure an open and fair trial;
9. Urges the Iranian authorities to respect the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which provide that capital punishment shall not be imposed for offences committed by persons under 18 years of age at the time of the offence being committed;
10. Calls on the Iranian authorities to stop the practice of arresting family members of journalists and reformers;
11. Calls on the Council to present a resolution on behalf of the European Union on the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran for the next session of the United Nations General Assembly;
12. Expresses its hope that the creation of the Interparliamentary Delegation with Iran will enable the European Parliament to engage in constructive discussions with the Iranian Madjlis and Iranian civil society on human rights and other issues of common concern;
13. Calls on the Council and the Commission to monitor developments in Iran closely and to raise their serious concerns about human rights abuses in the framework of the EU-Iran human rights dialogue;
14. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the High Representative for CFSP, the governments and parliaments of the EU Member States, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the head of the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.