MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
06.01.2005
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by André Brie
on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group
on Iran
B6‑0054/2005
European Parliament resolution on Iran
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on 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 UN Universal Declaration on Human Rights, 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 Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure
- A.whereas the situation in Iran with regard to the exercise of key human and civil rights and political freedoms has deteriorated despite commitments on the part of the Government of Iran to promoting these universal values,
- B.whereas the Iranian government has systematically used torture as a means of threatening political and social activists and journalists ,
- C.whereas human rights groups as well as the UN Special Rapporteurs documented thousands of cases of arbitrary arrests, long and unwarranted detentions in secret detention centres, long periods of solitary confinement, threats of long prison sentences, based on false charges, death threats against prisoners and their family members, along with systematic torture, including severe beatings with electrical cables by the Iranian authorities,
- D.whereas since the year 2000 over 100 publications have been closed and scores of journalists, in particular webjournalists, editors, political opponents, and social and civil society activists have been imprisoned, tortured and forced to write false confessions against themselves and others,
- E.whereas in 2004 three child offenders were executed and extremely preoccupied about the case of Leyla Mafi, who was forced into prostitution as a child and who faces execution on account of charges including sexual intercourse with blood relatives, giving birth to an illegitimate child and acts contrary to chastity,
1. Condemns the arbitrary arrest and torture of journalists; calls on the authorities to stop this practice immediately and to release all prisoners prosecuted or sentenced for press- and opinion-related offences;
2. Calls on Iran to implement the internal memo banning torture from Spring 2004 and to sign the Convention Against Torture;
3. Condemns the Iranian judiciary's use of threats of lengthy prison sentences and coerced televised statements in an attempt to cover up its arbitrary detention and torture of internet journalists;
4. 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;
5. Calls on the Iranian Government to feel accountable for the safety and the lives of the journalists who were imprisoned since September 2004, Shahram Rafiizadeh, Rouzbeh Mir Ebrahimi and Omid Memarian, to drop all charges against them immediately and release those still in custody;
6. 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 provides 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;
7. Condemns the execution in Iran of at least three child offenders in 2004 as well as the death sentence passed on Leyla Mafi; calls for her immediate release;
8. Calls on the Iranian authorities to halt any further application of the death penalty immediately; reiterates its general opposition to the death penalty and hopes that a judicial reform in Iran will bring this inhumane practice to an end;
9. Calls on the Iranian authorities to give evidence that they are willing to implement their publicly declared moratorium on stoning;
10. Expresses its deep preoccupation about the fact that political and economical interests prevail in the relations between the EU and Iran and that the massive and systematic violations of human and democratic rights are widely neglected; demands that the Presidency of the Council and the Member States urgently undertake concerted and consequent action with regard to the human rights situation in Iran;
11. Supports the efforts of the European Union and its Member States to negotiate agreements with the Iranian Government on its nuclear programme on the basis of transparency and compliance with IAEA standards but calls on the European Union and the Member States not to make any concessions on human rights when negotiating agreements with the Iranian Government;
12. Recalls its rejection of the list of terrorist organizations of the EU in which contains together with other organizations the Iranian Mojahedin (PMOI); calls on the Council to withdraw this list;
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.