MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Iran, notably the situation of women’s rights defenders and imprisoned EU dual nationals

17.9.2019 - (2019/2823(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Hannah Neumann, Ernest Urtasun, Heidi Hautala, Katrin Langensiepen, Saskia Bricmont, Gwendoline Delbos‑Corfield, Viola Von Cramon‑Taubadel, Caroline Roose, Marie Toussaint, Ellie Chowns, Markéta Gregorová, Mounir Satouri, Salima Yenbou, Catherine Rowett, Yannick Jadot, Bronis Ropė, Monika Vana, Anna Cavazzini, Alexandra Geese, Pierrette Herzberger‑Fofana, Tineke Strik, Kim Van Sparrentak
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0089/2019

B9‑0090/2019

European Parliament resolution on Iran, notably the situation of women’s rights defenders and imprisoned EU dual nationals

(2019/2823(RSP))

The European Parliament,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably on the case of human rights defenders of March 2019, on the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh of December 2018, on the imprisoned EU-Iranian dual nationals in Iran of May 2018, on the EU strategy towards Iran of April 2014 and on death penalty of October 2015 and to its report on the EU strategy towards Iran after the nuclear agreement of 24 October 2016;

 

- having regard to the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty, on Torture and on Freedom of Expression;

 

- having regard to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders;

 

- having regard to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran of January 2019;

 

- having regard to the Report of the Secretary General on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran of February 2019;

 

- having regard to the Statements by UN human rights experts “Iran: release women jailed for protesting against compulsory wearing of veil”, of 16 August 2019, and “Iran must protect women´s rights advocates”, of 29 November 2018;

 

- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

 

- having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

 

- having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,

 

 

A. whereas Mojgan Keshavarz, Yasaman Aryani, Morineh Arabshahi and Saba Kord-Afshari  were convicted in August to sentences going from 16 to 24 years imprisonment; whereas the charges were brought after they protested against Iran´s compulsory veiling laws; whereas they were denied access to lawyers during the initial investigation stage and their legal representatives were reportedly prohibited from representing them at their trial; whereas their sentences are directly related to their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and assembly in defence of gender equality in Iran;

 

B. whereas since January 2018, at least 32 people have been arrested and at least 10 imprisoned for protesting against the mandatory wearing of the hijab; whereas UN human rights experts have called on Iran to guarantee the rights of human rights defenders and lawyers who have been jailed for publicly supporting protests against the mandatory wearing of the hijab; whereas Sahar Khodayari set herself on fire after she was accused of “improperly wearing hijab”;

 

C. whereas the renowned human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was tried in absentia on 30 December 2018 and sentenced to 38 years of prison and 148 lashes after grossly unfair trials; whereas Nasrin Sotoudeh was awarded the 2012 Sakharov prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament in recognition of her outstanding work in the defence of human rights;

 

D. whereas Atena Daemi and Golrock Ebrahimi Iraee were sentenced to six years of prison in October 2016; whereas two additional years have been added to their sentence in September 2019 after being accused of “insulting the supreme leader”; whereas this sentence was reportedly handed out in reprisal for women´s rights defenders protests in prison;

 

E. whereas Iran has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; whereas Iran has a range of discriminatory laws, in particular the legal provisions relating to personal status, including marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody; whereas women suffering gender-based violence in Iran lack a legislative framework which protects them; whereas the lack of laws to prevent violence against women is in violation of Iran´s international obligations;

 

F. whereas at least four EU-Iranian dual nationals are currently imprisoned in Iran: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Ahmadreza Djalali, Kamal Foroughi and Kamran Ghaderi;

 

G. whereas in the past months there has been a heavy crack down on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, including jailing of peaceful critics on spurious national security charges; whereas the Government reportedly closed seven million web addresses, and the websites of human rights and political opposition groups;

 

H. whereas there are numerous reports regarding the inhuman and degrading conditions in prisons and the lack of adequate access to medical care during detention with the aim of intimidating, punishing, or coercing detainees, in contravention of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; whereas according to civil society reports detainees held by the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards are routinely subjected to prolonged solitary confinement amounting to torture;

 

I. whereas there are no independent mechanisms for ensuring accountability within the judiciary, and serious concerns remain over the politicisation of judges, particularly those presiding over Revolutionary Courts; whereas judicial harassment is being used to silence human rights defenders;

 

J. whereas the EU has adopted restrictive measures related to violations of human rights, including asset freeze and visa bans for individuals and entities responsible for grave human rights violations and ban on exports to Iran of equipment which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications; whereas these measures are regularly updated and remain in place;

 

1. Praises and supports the work of women´s rights defenders in Iran and reminds the Iranian authorities that women´s rights defenders challenging the imposition of a compulsory dress code on women are acting in defence of universally guaranteed human rights;

 

2. Calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Nasrin Sotoudeh, Mojgan Keshavarz, Yasaman Aryani, Morineh Arabshahi, Saba Kord-Afshari and Atena Daemi as well as all the women´s rights defenders, other human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience detained and sentenced for merely exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; stresses that Iranian authorities must in all circumstances ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry out their human rights work free of threats, intimidation, and impediment;

 

3. Condemns in its strongest terms the ongoing repression of women in relation to their objection to compulsory veiling and in exercise of their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; urges the Iranian authorities to ensure the full implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which it is party;

 

4. Deeply regrets the lack of progress in the cases of EU-Iranian dual nationals; recalls its condemnation of the continuing practice of imprisonment of EU-Iranian dual nationals by Iranian authorities following unfair trials, calls for their immediate and unconditional release, unless retried according to international standards, and for the officials responsible for the violations of their rights to be held accountable;

 

5. Insists that the Iranian authorities must ensure the right to a due process and to a fair trial of all detainees, including the right to have a lawyer of their own choice;

 

6. Insists that Iranian authorities must guarantee the safety and physical and psychological well-being of all detainees while in detention, including adequate medical care to the imprisoned women´s rights defenders; calls on the Iranian authorities to investigate all allegations of ill-treatment in detention and bring perpetrators to justice;

 

7. Urges the Iranian authorities to revise the legal provisions which discriminate against women, in particular the ones related to their personal status; welcomes the introduction to Parliament of the bill on protection of women against violence and stresses the need for comprehensive legislation to specifically define and criminalise all forms of gender-based violence against women;

 

8. Calls on all senior representatives of EU Member States and of EU institutions, notably VP/HR and Commissioners, to systematically raise the case of the arrested women´s rights defenders and other human rights defenders in their contacts with their Iranian counterparts and to request to meet with them during their visits in the country;

 

9. Calls on EU Member States with diplomatic missions on the ground to fully implement the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and to provide all appropriate support to the women´s rights defenders and other human rights defenders detained, including prison visits, trial monitoring and the provision of legal or any other form of assistance that they might require;

 

10. Insists once again on the importance of an expeditious establishment of an EU Delegation in Tehran, which would inter alia strengthen the EU capacity to monitor the human rights situation on the ground and engage with its Iranian counterparts and with local civil society;

 

11. Calls on the EU and its Member States to increase their protection and support for human rights defenders, particularly women´s rights defenders, in Iran, including through emergency grants under the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights;

 

12. Calls on the EEAS to continue including human rights, particularly the situation of women´s rights defenders, in the context of the EU-Iran High Level Dialogue;

 

13. Calls on the Iranian authorities to extend a standing invitation to the visit of all Special Procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and to cooperate in a proactive manner, urges them to ensure particularly that the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran is allowed to enter the country;

 

14. Calls on the EEAS to assess the impact of the soon to be expired EU Gender Action Plan II “Gender equality and Women´s Empowerment: Transforming the Lives of Girls and Women through EU External Relations 2016-2020” and to present a renewed Gender Action Plan by 2020;

 

15. Urges the Iranian authorities to join the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; stresses that President Hassan Rouhani promised to promote women´s rights by signing the Convention and calls him to abide by his word;

 

16. Welcomes the much-awaited amendments to the drug-trafficking law, which will reduce the imposition of capital punishments, but stresses that this is insufficient; calls on the Iranian authorities to introduce an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a step towards abolition; calls for a review of all death sentences to ensure that these trials adhered to international standards;

 

17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice‑President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Office of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran;