MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
10 January 2005
by Angelika Beer, Monica Frassoni, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Joost Lagendijk and Hélène Flautre on behalf of the Green/EFA Group
on human rights violations in Iran
B6-0058/2005
European parliament resolution on human rights violations in Iran
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,
- having regard to the Resolution of the UN General Assembly of 21 December 2004 condemning public executions, torture, stoning and systematic discrimination against women in Iran, branding the " 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. concerned that in recent months crack downs against the freedom of the press have multiplied in Iran,
B. noting that, according to the Special Rapporteur already one-year ago the number of publications closed down and of people arrested, prosecuted and sentenced for the peaceful expression of their opinion had increased considerably,
C. whereas, since September 2004, more than 20 internet journalists, webloggers and civil society activists have been arrested and held in a secret detention centre in Tehran,
D. whereas the detainees had been kept at a secret location one hour' 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 subjected to torture - including beatings with electrical cables—and interrogations that lasted up to 11 hours at a stretch,
E. whereas most have since been released on bail but at least one of them, Mojtaba Saminejad, remains imprisoned,
F. concerned about reports that those released have been regularly threatened by police and forced to deny that they suffered any mistreatment,
G. whereas the detainees were denied access to lawyers, to medical care and regular family visits and were threatened with lengthy prison sentences and the arrest of family members and friends if they did not co-operate,
H. whereas, according to reports, secret squads operating under the authority of the Iranian judiciary have used torture to force the detained Internet Journalists and civil society activists to write self-incriminatory 'confession letters', read on public television and whereas these detainees testified before a presidential commission to have received death threats from judicial officials under Tehran chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi,
I. considering that, within the last four years, the Iranian authorities have virtually silenced the political opposition in the country and have closed down over 100 publications and that with the repression against the free use of the internet the Iranian authorities are cracking down on the only remaining access of the Iranian public to uncensored information,
J. appalled about the November decision of the Supreme court upholding the death sentence by stoning against Hajieh Esmailvand as well as a supposed death sentence against Ruhollah G., 17 years old at the time of the alleged crime, who have together been accused of adultery,
K. outraged by the recent condemnation of Leyla Moafi, who faces flogging and execution on charges of acts contrary to chastity, a woman who has reportedly the mental age of eight, had reportedly been forced into prostitution from the age of eight and was raped by those to whom her mother introduced her,
1. Calls on the Iranian authorities to honour their publicly declared moratorium on stoning, to halt immediately all attempts of stoning and to prevent any further application of the death penalty to minors;
2. Welcomes the stay of execution of Hajieh Esmailvand and reports that Leyla Moafi's case has been referred to forensic psychiatrists to examine her mental condition; insists, however that their alleged "crimes" are not internationally recognisable criminal offences and that prosecution does not comply with international human rights standards;
3. Insists that adult consensual sexual activity in private is covered by the concept of "privacy" and calls for the immediate release of Hajieh Esmailvand and Leyla Moafi;
4. Reiterates its condemnation of the continuing persecution of journalists and political dissidents and calls on the authorities to release all prisoners prosecuted or sentenced for peacefully exercising their right to free expression, opinion and association;
5. Calls on the Iranian authorities to ensure that persons deprived of their liberty receive family visits and inform families about the location and status of their family members in detention;
6. Demands that detainees be brought before a judge and informed of the charges against them within 24 hours of their detention, as required by the Iranian Constitution;
7. Calls on the Iranian authorities to abolish the use of prolonged solitary confinement and to revoke the authority of the Ministry of Intelligence, the judicial authority, and the armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, over any civilian prisons or detention centres;
8. Demands that opinion-related offences should be excluded from the competence of Revolutionary Courts and that the Preventive Restraints Act, intended for serious crimes, should not apply in relation to press offences;
9. Calls on the Guardian Council to approve ratification of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as well as of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which had already been passed by Parliament;
10. Welcomes the invitation of the Iranian Government to receive human rights observers in the country and calls on the concerned UN special rapporteurs to follow up the concerns raised above;
11. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the High Representative for CFSP, the Government and the Parliaments of the EU Member States, the UN Commission on Human Rights and the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.