MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on human rights in Iran, in particular the cases of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and of Zahra Bahrami

6.9.2010

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Fiorello Provera, Bastiaan Belder, Lorenzo Fontana on behalf of the EFD Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0494/2010

B7‑0494/2010

European Parliament resolution on human rights in Iran, in particular the cases of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and of Zahra Bahrami

The European Parliament,

–   having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

–   having regard to the statement by the President of the European Parliament on the occasion of the European Day against Death Penalty on 10 October,

–   having regard to the statement of the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the imminent executions in Iran of 6 July 2010,

 

– having regard to the statement on Iran of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of 4 March 2010,

 

– having regard to resolution A/RES/62/149 of 18 December 2007 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) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party,

–   having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas 43-year-old mother of two Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani awaits execution by stoning on the charge of committing adultery after having already received 99 lashes in 2006 as punishment,

B.  whereas Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was accused of adultery after the death of her husband and has been falsely implicated in his death,

C.      whereas Dutch-Iranian woman Zahra Bahrami was arrested last December during the Ashura Day protests and has been detained in Tehran’s Evin Prison on charges of being a ‘mohareb’ or enemy of God, endangering national security and drug possession,

D.  whereas Bahrami has been refused the services of a lawyer and other visiting privileges and is one of thousands of Iranians detained in the aftermath of the summer 2009 elections,

E.  whereas Iran's existing penal code provides for the use of stoning for one crime, adultery, which is considered an offence 'against divine law'; whereas human rights groups report that eight men and three women are currently awaiting execution by stoning and that since 2006 at least six people have been put to death in this manner,

1.  Strongly condemns the growing number of executions, and urges the Iranian authorities to establish a moratorium on the use of the death penalty with a view to its abolition in accordance with the resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 2007;

2.  Strongly urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to halt the execution by stoning of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and to release Zahra Bahrami without delay;

3. Deplores the use of torture and ill-treatment in order to extract confessions which are presented as evidence during trials;

4. Calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to provide adequate legal assistance to all those who commit crimes considered punishable by death;

5. Calls for the presentation of a resolution at the next UN General Assembly with a request to all countries who retain the death penalty to make available to the UN Secretary-General and to public opinion all information on capital punishment and executions, so as to overcome state secrecy on the death penalty, which is a factor in a great number of executions;

6. Calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect the tenets defined in the ICCPR, the ICESCR and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party;

7. Strongly urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to sign and ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW);

8.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Council, the Commission, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the UN Human Rights Council.