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Motion for a resolution - B6-0389/2008Motion for a resolution
B6-0389/2008

MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION

2.9.2008

with request for inclusion in the agenda for the debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 115 of the Rules of Procedure
by Pasqualina Napoletano, Hannes Swoboda, Christa Prets, Paulo Casaca
on behalf of the PSE Group
on hangings in Iran

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B6-0389/2008

Procedure : 2008/2624(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected :  
B6-0389/2008

B6‑0389/2008

European Parliament resolution on hangings in Iran

The European Parliament,

-   having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, notably those concerning human rights, and in particular the resolution on the execution of juvenile offenders in Iran adopted on 19 June 2008,

-   having regard to the Declaration of 29 July 2008, by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the execution of 29 people in Evin prison in Iran,

-   having regard to the Declaration of 19 August, 2008 by the presidency on behalf of the European Union on the execution by hanging of Reza Hejazi,

-   having regard to the Declaration of 28 August 2008, by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on imminent execution of Bahman Soleimanian,

-   having regard to the resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and, in particular, resolution 62/168 of 18 December 2007 on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and resolution 62/149 of 18 December 2007 on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,

-   having regard to the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, to all of which Iran is a party,

-   having regard to Rule 115(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.   whereas the general human rights situation in PlaceTypeIran has continued to deteriorate since 2005 and whereas the number of executions in PlaceTypePlaceTypeIran increased dramatically in recent months and years,

B.   whereas, according international human right organisations[1], the number of executions carried out in Iran so far this year amount to at least 191, while in 2007 more executions were carried out in Iran – 317 - than in any other country in the region and in the world except China,

C.   whereas PlaceTypeIranPlaceType carried out mass execution of 29 men in PlaceTypeTehran’s Evin Prison on 27 July 2008,

D.   whereas juvenile offenders Hassan Mozafari and Rahman Shahidi were executed on 22 July 2008, Reza Hejazi was executed on 19 August 2008 and Behnam Zare was executed on 26 August 2008,

E.   whereas juvenile offenders Amir Marollahi, Behnood Shojaee, Mohammed Fadaei and Bahman Soleimanian, face imminent risk of execution,

F.   whereas the Iranian authorities continue to fly in the face of the global trend when it comes to executions, despite the UN General Assembly resolution of 18 December 2007 which calls on States “to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty”,

G.   whereas Iran is a party to both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child – treaties which place a legal obligation on States parties not to impose the death penalty for those under the age of 18 years at the time when the crimes were committed,

1.   Is deeply concerned by the spiralling increase of executions and the increasing recourse to the death penalty in Iran in recent months and years; is appalled that Iran continues to have the highest number of executions in the world as a percentage of the population and the highest number of executions of juvenile offenders in the region and in the world;

2.   Condemns in the strongest terms the death sentences and executions and in particular the imposition of the death penalty to minors and their execution in PlaceTypePlaceTypeIran and around the world;

3.   Strongly condemns the mass execution of 29 men in PlaceTypePlaceTypeTehran’s Evin Prison on 27 July 2008, as well as the executions of juvenile offenders Hassan Mozafari, Rahman Shahidi, Behnam Zare and Reza Hejazi;

4.   Urges the Iranian authorities to halt the execution of Amir Marollahi, Behnood Shojaee, Mohammed Fadaei and Bahman Soleimanian, and all other offenders sentenced to death;

5.   Urges the Iranian authorities to put an end to death sentences and executions, to establish a moratorium with a view to abolishing the death penalty in accordance with the resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 18 December 2007 and to respect international human rights standards for all Iranians;

6.   Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to fully comply with international law and reiterates that juvenile death sentences are in direct contravention of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s international obligations and commitments to which the Islamic Republic of Iran has freely entered, specifically as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both clearly prohibiting the execution of minors or people who have been convicted of crimes committed when they were minors;

7.   Calls on the Council and the Commission to closely monitor developments in PlaceTypePlaceTypeIran and also to raise concrete cases of human rights abuses as the basic condition for progress in EU-Iran economic and trade relations;

8.   Calls on the Presidency of the Council and the Member States’ diplomatic representatives in PlaceTypePlaceTypeIran urgently to undertake concerted action with regard to the abovementioned concerns;

9.   PlaceTypeUrgesPlaceType MemberPlaceType States and democratic countries to suspend the expulsion to PlaceTypePlaceTypeIran of persons who are threatened with execution or torture;

10.   Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Governments and Parliaments of the PlaceTypePlaceTypeMember PlaceTypeStates, the UN Commission on Human Rights, the Head of the State Supreme Court of Iran and the Government and Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran.