MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the death penalty in Iran

15.2.2022 - (2022/2541(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

Marco Campomenosi, Susanna Ceccardi, Silvia Sardone, Anna Bonfrisco, Marco Zanni
on behalf of the ID Group

NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.

B9‑0100/2022

European Parliament resolution on the death penalty in Iran

(2022/2541(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,

 

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,

 

– having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, to which Iran is a party, 

 

– having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1985,

 

– having regard to the International Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989,

 

– having regard to the statement of the UN human rights experts on the imminent execution of juvenile offender Hossein Shahbazi in Iran of 13 January 2022,

 

– having regard to the Iranian Constitution and in particular the safeguards against torture and arbitrary detention,

 

– having regard to the Open Doors “2022 World Watch List Report”,

 

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

 

A. whereas there have been numerous reports of violations of the right to a fair trial and arbitrary imposition of the death penalty in Iran;

 

B. whereas, following the last presidential election in June 2021, there has been a significant rise in the number of executions, with 271 people having been hanged, including 11 women, according to official figures; whereas human rights groups have reported 365 executions in Iran in 2021 and another 54 executions in the first six weeks of 2022 alone;

 

C. whereas Iran continues to use the death penalty against people who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime, in violation of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

 

D. whereas the Islamic Penal Code allows for the execution of juvenile offenders starting at age nine for girls and age 13 for boys, the legal age of maturity; whereas Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code grants judges discretion to replace the death penalty with an alternative sentence if they find that there are doubts about the individual’s full “maturity” at the time of the crime;

 

E. whereas in 2021, at least three young men arrested as children, Sajad Sanjari, Arman Abdolali and Ali Akbar Mohammadi, were executed in August, November and December, respectively and over 80 people remained on death row for offences that occurred when they were under the age of 18;

 

F. whereas the enforced disappearance and suspicious death in custody of Shanin Naseri, the only witness to the torture of the protester and wrestler Navid Afkari, raises serious questions about the Iranian judicial system;

G. whereas Iran does not recognise dual nationality and EU-Iranian dual nationals continue to be arrested and are often used to obtain leverage in state-to-state relations; whereas at least a dozen EU nationals are being arbitrarily detained in Iran, including French-Iranian academic Fariba Adelkhah, German-Iranian national Nahid Taghavi and Swedish-Iranian national Dr Ahmadreza Djalali;

H. whereas Open Doors ranks Iran in ninth place in the top 50 countries where Christians face the most persecution; whereas converts from Islam to Christianity are particularly at risk to be persecuted; whereas concerns have been raised about amendments to the Penal Code whereby spreading the Christian message could lead to prosecution;

1. Calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the planned execution of all individuals who were below the age of 18 at the time of the crime of which they were convicted;

 

2. Underlines that the absolute prohibition against the use of the death penalty against child offenders is also recognized as a peremptory norm of customary international law;
3. Urges the Iranian authorities to consider amending Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code to completely abolish the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people below the age of 18 and without any discretion for judges, in line with international law;

 

4. Reiterates its concern for the situation of political prisoners, detained in inadequate conditions, often as a result of unfair trials; expresses concern about the systematic use of prolonged solitary confinement, of arbitrary arrest or detention, the denial of access to medical treatments, of visitation and furlough in violation of Iran’s international obligations;

 

5. Deplores that the statement of the General Directorate of Tehran Provincial prisons did not clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of Shanin Naseri, nor the main reason for sending him to the prison’s medical centre, where he subsequently passed away. Asks the authorities to follow up the case;

 

6. Calls on Member States to increase their efforts to improve the situation of dual nationals of the EU Member States detained in Iran;

 

7. Invites Member States to implement all necessary efforts in support of Christian minorities in Iran;

 

8. 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 UN Secretary-General, the Supreme Leader and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.