Fifty-third session
Agenda item 110 (c)
Human rights questions: human
rights situations and reports
of special rapporteurs and representatives
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of
the General Assembly the interim report prepared by Maurice Copithorne,
Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of
human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with Assembly resolution
52/142 of 12 December 1997 and Economic and Social Council decision 1998/273 of
30 July 1998.
Annex
Interim report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran prepared by the Special Representative of the Commission on
Human Rights in accordance with General Assembly resolution 52/142 of 12 December 1997 and Economic and Social Council
decision 1998/273 of 30 July 1998
Executive summary
1. The public and private debate about change in governance and in the
judicial system has become more open and more sharply focused.
2. Much of this change would directly or indirectly impact on the
promotion and protection of human rights.
3. There is a significant commitment to such change in many quarters
including, in particular, the executive.
4. Some human rights sectors are already benefiting from this
including, in particular, freedom of expression which, despite occasional
setbacks, does appear overall to be making progress.
5. Comprehensive plans for change in other areas have been announced
including, in particular, the prison system and, to a lesser extent, the court
system. There have also been positive developments with regard to the
Independent Bar Association and the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
6. In other areas, notably the status of women and the status of
religious and ethnic minorities, there appears to be
no comparable commitment to change. In both areas, human rights violations
continue to occur.
7. The situation of the Baha'is has not improved in the period under
review, nor has there been progress in the matter of the fatwa against Salman
Rushdie.
8. In selected other areas, progress, in real or prospective terms,
exists in about half the areas examined.
9. While the Islamic Republic of Iran is making progress in the field
of human rights, this progress is uneven and a number of sectors are, at this
time, being left behind. The Government needs to broaden its agenda for change
and to declare a strong commitment to achieving certain goals within specified
time-frames.
Contents
Paragraphs
I. Introduction 1-4
II. The Special Representative's
activities and sources 5-7
III. Freedom of opinion and expression
8-15
IV. Status of women 16-24
V. Legal subjects 25-40
A. The legal system 25-26
B. Independent Bar Association 27
C. Executions 28
D. The prison system 29-33
E. Torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment 34-40
VI. Situation of the Baha'is 41-46
VII. Other important matters 47-64
A. Islamic Human Rights Commission 47-49
B. Situation of certain religious
minorities 50-55
C. Narcotics control 56-58
D. Extraterritorial violence 59-63
E. Democracy 64
VIII. Conclusions 65-68
Appendices
I. Freedom of expression
II. Situation of the Baha'is
III. Correspondence between the
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Special Representative, January-August 1998
I. Introduction
1. The domestic reform process in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which
has been given new life and major impetus by President Khatami,
continued during the period under review, January to 31 August 1998. For many, this process was too slow
in bearing fruit and the improvements were too uncertain. For others, the
process was moving too quickly, and the Islamic nature of the society was in
jeopardy. Some observers saw the contest as one between freedom on the one hand
and economic development and social justice on the other. The development of
human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran seems to be very much bound up
with the outcome of this debate.
2. In practical terms, the contest is impeding improvements in most
of the major sectors under review by the Special Representative. Thus, in the
area of freedom of expression where progress is tangible, it seems to be too
often a matter of two steps forward and one step back. In other areas, notably
the legal system, there is a promising commitment by the executive. In still
others, such as women, and despite statements by the Government, continuing
quantifiable progress is not yet in sight. There are bright spots or
potentially bright spots such as the Islamic Human Rights Commission, the
acknowledgement that torture exists, and the reform of the prison system. The situation
of the Baha'is has not improved. As the present report was completed, it was
reported in the media that an accommodation on the matter of the fatwa against
Salman Rushdie had apparently been reached between the Iranian and British
Foreign Ministers.
3. The Special Representative was very disappointed that, despite
repeated statements to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
and to others, no invitation was forthcoming from the Government for the
Special Representative to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran. It was inevitable
that the absence of first-hand knowledge would have an impact on this report.
The Special Representative again calls on the Government to resume its full
cooperation with him in the discharge of his mandate.
4. Finally, the Special Representative wishes to note the visit to Tehran of the High
Commissioner during this period to open the Sixth Workshop on Human Rights
Arrangements in the Asia Pacific Region. In the course of the visit, the High
Commissioner had discussions with senior Iranian officials on human rights
matters, among which was the question of another visit to the Islamic Republic
of Iran by the Special Representative.
II. The Special Representative's
activities and sources
5. In April 1998, the Special Representative introduced his third
report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1998/59). The Special
Representative returned to Geneva in May to carry out
consultations and participate in the fifth meeting of special rapporteurs,
special representatives, experts and chairpersons of working groups of the
Commission on Human Rights. During his stay in Geneva, from 17 to 27 August 1998, to prepare the present report, the
Special Representative met with senior officials of the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, and with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights, and had other consultations.
6. To carry out the terms of his mandate, the Special Representative
continues to draw from a wide range of information sources, including the Government
of the Islamic Republic of Iran, other Governments, United Nations
organizations, bodies and programmes,
non-governmental organizations, individuals and media reports emanating from
inside and outside the Islamic Republic of Iran.
7. During the reporting period, the Special Representative received
written communications from the following groups: About Iran; Amnesty
International; Cross Colors Communication, Inc.; Association of Iranian
Political Prisoners in Exile; Association for World Education; The Joint
Committee of Iranian Opposition; Baha'i International Community; Democratic
Party of Iranian Kurdistan; Iranian Worker Left Unity; Labour Council (Shoray kar); Sharareha
Association; Solidarity Radio (Hambastegi Radio); Wamen Radion (Zanan
Raido); Left activists; International Federation of
Iranian Refugees; International PEN; People's Mojahedin
Organization of Iran; Lawyers Committee for Human Rights in New York; National
Council of Resistance of Iran; National Committee of Women for Democratic Iran;
Organisation for Defending Victims of Violence;
Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority);
Labour Party of Iran Tofan; Group Defending Freedom
of Expression in Iran; Iranian Association of Writers in Exile; Organization of
Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar); Fadaiian (Aghaliat); Communist Party of Iran; Combatant Workers Party
of Iran; Hasteh Aghaliat;
Society for the Defense of Political Prisoners in Iran; Working Group for
Institutionalization of Human Rights in Iran (WGIHRI); World Association of
Newspapers; and Human Rights Watch.
III. Freedom of opinion and expression
8. The period from January to August 1998 saw a continuation of
government efforts to make progress in the area of freedom of opinion and expression.
That Iranian media reported widely on these developments itself speaks to the
freewheeling public debate that continues on many subjects. Some of the
reported incidents are set out in appendix I.
9. Some incidents deserve particular mention. In May, foreign wire
services quoting Islamic Republic of Iran dailies, said that the former editor
of Iran, Morteza
Firoozi, who had been in custody since May 1997, had
lost his appeal on charges of having spied for several countries, and of
committing adultery with a married woman. He was reported in the Iranian press
to have been sentenced to death by stoning. Firoozi
is said to be a highly regarded and well-connected journalist. Interventions by
a number of international agencies, including an urgent appeal by the Special
Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions of the Commission
on Human Rights, were made on his behalf. The Government has advised that this
death sentence has been commuted.
10. In July, a foreign wire service, quoting the Iranian national
news agency (IRNA), reported that an Iranian appeals court had upheld a ban on
a leading reformist paper, Jameah, which had become
very popular for its outspoken reporting. The court referred to the publication
of immoral material and to cartoons insulting the judiciary. Also in July, a
foreign wire service, quoting a Justice ministry
spokesman, said that the director of the weekly Khaneh
had been detained for "offending Islam", the Shiite clergy and Imam
Khomeini, and for publishing photographs that violated public modesty. In
August, a foreign wire service quoting IRNA reported that the Tehran Justice
Department had banned the daily newspaper Tous which
had resumed publication only the week before after a previous run-in with
Iranian officials. Foreign wire services also reported that two reporters had
been attacked by militants outside the offices of the newspaper. Shortly
thereafter, a successor publication, Attab-e Emrouz, began publication.
11. Meanwhile, the Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance
for media affairs, Ahmad Bourqani, was quoted in the
Islamic Republic of Iran English-language press as declaring that the Ministry
would employ all its legal machinery for freedom and lawful operation of the
press. He said that the Ministry would resort to the judiciary to protect this
freedom. He was quoted as saying "nobody has the right to exert pressure
on the press and the statements made on the basis of personal taste have no
legal basis". He asserted that the Iranian press was now finding its true
position in society. Government sources state that there are now some 1,095
licensed periodicals and 88 newspapers published in the Islamic Republic of
Iran.
12. During this period, the minister responsible for media, the
Minister of the Interior, was forced to resign by an impeachment vote in the Majlis. He was immediately appointed Vice-President of the
Government. His successor as minister vowed to continue the reform effort. A
foreign wire service reported that at his inauguration, the new minister
declared "it is no art to allow only those to speak who agree with
us".
13. In related developments, students at Tehran university
held several large rallies during which strong criticism of the system was
expressed. While there had been opposition to their being held, the Government
appears to have intervened on only one occasion. Moreover, during this period,
the extrajudicial group Ansar-e Hezbollah, which has
a record of trying to break up reformist public meetings, appears to have been
less in evidence, although there was at least one recorded attack on a meeting
of university students in a Tehran park. There were
also reports in April of unidentified groups disrupting Friday prayers in Isfahan, and of the failure
of the judiciary to prosecute those concerned.
14. The Iranian media are clearly continuing to have a difficult
time. On the one hand, there is in practice widespread freedom of expression;
on the other, the lawful constraints upon that freedom have yet to be defined
clearly and to be regulated by a truly independent tribunal committed to the
application and enforcement of the law.
15. Freedom of expression remains a principal field of contention
between two groups of leaders with strongly differing visions of Iranian society;
one seeks significant respect for freedom of expression and related liberties.
IV. Status of women
16. In the period from January to August 1998, the status of women in
the Islamic Republic of Iran did not appear to improve in any significant way.
17. According to foreign wire services, there continued to be
occasional harassment of young women by Tehran police and
extrajudicial groups for failing to conform to the appropriate dress code. In
February, a foreign wire service reported the issuance of stricter dress code
requirements for women as well as provisions for prison terms of three months
to one year, fines and the inflicting of up to 74 lashes.
18. In January 1998, a foreign wire service reported that the Majlis had rejected a bill that would have provided for
equal inheritance rights for men and women. In May, the Iranian and foreign
press reported the adoption by the Majlis of a law
for the compulsory segregation of health-care services for men and women which
the critics said would compromise health care for women and girls because there
were not a sufficient number of trained female physicians and health-care
professionals to meet their needs. The President of the Iran Society of
Surgeons, a former Minister of Health, resigned over the issue and 1,200
doctors reportedly signed an open statement of protest. The proposal was also
opposed by the Ministry of Health. In August 1998, a foreign wire service
reported that the Majlis had approved a law imposing
more restrictions on the use of photographs of women in newspapers and
magazines.
19. With regard to the application of existing law, the Iranian media
reported in June that a spokesman for the judiciary had declared that courts
were not to accept cases brought before them for the registration of marriages
between Iranian women and foreign nationals that lacked the necessary legal
authorization of the Ministry of the Interior. It was further reported that any
foreign national who married an Iranian woman without such prior authorization
was subject to one to three years in prison.
20. In the official journal, No. 15,468, of 6 April 1998, it was reported that on 3 February 1998 the Supreme Council had taken a
decision that the Islamic Republic of Iran would not accede to the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. a
In the same issue of the journal, a document was published entitled
"Principles and foundations of executive methods to promote culture of
modesty and wearing of the veil". This document declared that, among other
steps, the culture of modesty and wearing of the veil "must be observed in
city planning and architecture", and that the chador "must be
respected as the most complete and the most commonly used veil".
21. In August, the English-language Tehran press reported the
appearance of Zan, the first women's daily paper devoted to women's affairs.
22. The role of women in the Iranian judicial system has been a
matter of some uncertainty. The latest word on this subject from the head of
the judiciary, Ayatollah Yazdi, as reported by Tehran Radio in July, is that
there are now 99 women in the judicial system. Other reports add that, of
these, four are judges in the family court and one is an assistant judge in the
general court. So far however, no woman presides over trials or pronounces
verdicts.
23. The Special Representative does not claim particular expertise on
the status of women in Iranian or Islamic law. However, even a superficial
reading of the literature suggests that there are real concerns relating to the
application of particular Iranian norms and practices. These include the right
to mahr, the bridal price roughly comparable to a dowry. It is described as often
being a married woman's only bargaining counter in the face of threats of
divorce. In rural areas, mahr is often replaced by shirbaha, a payment to the
bride's father which effectively deprives rural women of all bargaining power.
A second right viewed by observers as crucial is the legal reality of divorce.
While men can divorce at will, women have to meet one of 12 specific criteria.
Moreover, for minor indiscretions, the man can reportedly force the forfeiture
of the mahr during divorce proceedings, in the course of which the woman may
also lose her assets in the marriage and the custody of children above a
certain age. Long delays in granting divorce to women can also occur. In
January, the Prosecutor-General was quoted in a London-based Farsi newspaper as
saying divorce could take up to 15 years. A third area of widespread concern is
what might be called the autonomy of dress. Many argue for a more flexible view
of what Islam requires in terms of hejab, rather than an insistence on the full
chador, a garment viewed by many as singularly inconvenient and uncomfortable,
and as only one of many traditional forms of hejab in Iranian society. There is
also strong resentment at the implementation of the dress code by a variety of
judicial and extrajudicial agencies, and at the excesses of punishment meted
out for sometimes minor infringements. Reportedly, over the years, these have
involved whippings and worse. For his part, the Special Representative has
repeatedly pointed out the grossly offensive manner in which the dress code is
on occasion enforced. A fourth area of concern is the reported lack in practice
of a prompt and effective avenue through which a wife can get round a husband's
withholding of consent which, in medical situations in particular, can
jeopardize successful treatment and sometimes the life of the wife. Existing
recourse to the courts even in medical cases is in practice often a highly
drawn-out process.
24. The Special Representative suggests that in terms of the
immediate interests of those most affected - the women of the Islamic Republic
of Iran - the discourse should focus in the first place on such everyday needs
of women. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, change remains both urgent and
necessary and the steps mentioned above would constitute an important first
step in addressing the discrimination faced by women. In the view of the
Special Representative, leadership by the Government in this field remains one
of the critical touchstones for the overall improvement of human rights in the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
V. Legal subjects
A. The legal system
25. The recent celebrated trials of the Mayor of Tehran, Gholam
Hossein Karbaschi, and his colleagues touched off an intense public debate
about the conduct of trials and, particularly, the appropriate role of judges.
The conclusion seems to have been that the existing process had major flaws and
that the system had to be reformed. An Iranian periodical carried a more
broadly based critique of the search for a civil society and the Iranian
judicial system, concluding that a major overhaul of both the judiciary and the
relevant legislation was a prerequisite of the establishment of a civil society
in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
26. The Special Representative had occasion in the period under
review to discuss with the Iranian Prosecutor-General, Ayatollah Moghtadai, the reform of the legal system. The Special Representative
was informed that (a) amendments to the existing law on the public and
revolutionary courts were to go to the Majlis shortly; (b) training of judges
was to be improved by requiring prospective judges to have an undergraduate
degree before entering the judicial college; and (c) a judicial inspectorate of
very senior judges had been established with a "sweeping mandate" for
review and reform in each judicial complex of matters such as procedure,
treatment of offenders and prioritization of court cases. So far, the process
had been completed at two judicial complexes with what was described as
significant success. With regard to the right to a lawyer, the
Prosecutor-General volunteered that, "regrettably", some judges had
resisted this development, particularly in the Revolutionary Courts. This has
now been overcome and should it come to light in the course of review that a
defendant has not been represented, the case will be sent back for retrial. If
the defendant wants to defend himself or has no money to pay for a lawyer, the
Court will instruct the Bar Association to appoint a lawyer. When asked about
allegations that lawyers do not always defend their client vigorously or
independently, the Prosecutor-General agreed to receive complaints in this
regard. He was at the moment pursuing one such case with the Bar Association.
B. Independent Bar Association
27. In response to a question from the Special Representative
concerning the openness of the long-promised elections for the executive of the
Bar Association, finally held in December 1997, the Prosecutor-General denied
reports that candidates had to have been approved by the Guardian Council, but
did acknowledge that certain qualifications were required. In August, an
Iranian paper reported a written protest by the Bar Association to Ayotallah
Yazdi over the threats by the judge in the Karabaschi case to expel the
defendant's lawyer. Also in August, an Iranian paper published the text of a
detailed letter by the Bar Association to the Minister of Justice describing
the weaknesses of the general courts system and setting out a number of
important provisions that should be included in proposed amendments to the
legislation.
C. Executions
28. Executions, as reported in the Iranian press in the period under
review, have probably continued at a fairly high level. The Iranian authorities
have now agreed to cooperate with the Special Representative in the provision
of requested statistics. In the meantime, they insist that, excluding convicted
drug traffickers, the figure is much lower than reported, perhaps by half. The
Special Representative hopes to be able to include official statistics on this
matter in his next report.
D. The prison system
29. The Special Representative had occasion to meet Morteza Bakhtiari, the newly
appointed Director-General of the Prisons Organization, Public Protection and
Prison Education. The prison system had been subjected to
much criticism in the past both by the Special Representative and his
predecessor, by the witness of former inmates and by non-governmental
organizations and others concerned with the treatment of prisoners in the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
30. Mr. Bakhtiari brings a new face and, it
appears, a new approach to the task of reforming Iranian prisons. In the course
of conversation, the following information was supplied. There are about
150,000 prisoners in the official prison system of whom about 63 per cent were
incarcerated for narcotics-related offences. This percentage becomes higher
closer to the Afghanistan/Pakistan border; in Kerman the figure is 82 per cent.
It has now been decided to transfer narcotics-related prisoners, if they agree,
to newly established dedicated centres of which two are currently operating and
a further 26 will be in operation by the end of the year. The governing ratio
is 70 acres of land for each 500 prisoners. These centres will have a wide
variety of facilities designed for rehabilitation.
31. With regard to other changes, Mr. Bakhtiari said that the Prisons
Organization was (a) establishing a five-year plan for development; (b)
establishing or strengthening human resource development such as academic
scholarship programmes for social work training; (c) gradually recruiting
professionally trained guard staff; (d) introducing twice-a-year workshops with
all the provincial directors of prisons focusing on legal matters and in
particular the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of
Prisoners;b
and (e) preparing a new prison law which would emphasize rehabilitation and
introduce the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules into Iranian law.
32. In response to questions about other detention centres, often
known for their mistreatment of detainees, Mr. Bakhtiari
said that a senior task force had been established in the judiciary, including
himself, "to root out illegal detention centres". With regard to the
mistreatment of prisoners, Mr. Bakhtiari declared
such treatment was anti-Islamic and that every person detained or imprisoned on
any ground should receive treatment according to law.
33. The Special Representative welcomes the prospect of serious
improvement of the Iranian prison system, and looks forward to following the implementation
of these long-overdue reforms.
E. Torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment
34. In his recent reports, the Special Representative has been addressing
certain punishments used in the Islamic Republic of Iran that are generally
considered to fall within this category. One of these is stoning. In March
1998, an Iranian daily carried a report about a news conference in which a
senior official, in response to a question about why he had not defended the
practice of stoning during interviews outside the country, said that "we
should keep the interests of our country in mind in an open atmosphere of
international public relations. Would it be in our interest if an act of
stoning is filmed and broadcast abroad? If not, we should consider carrying out
the verdict in front of a small crowd of the believers in order to forestall
public backlash". To the Special Representative's knowledge, this is the
first recent occasion on which such a senior official has spoken about this
form of punishment. The Special Representative notes with regret such evident
approval for this form of punishment from such a source in the executive. The
Special Representative again calls upon the Government to abolish the practice
of stoning.
35. It has come to the attention of the Special Representative that
Iranian courts have on occasion apparently sentenced persons to blinding. A
foreign wire service carried such a story, dated 4 January 1998, without
providing the name of the individual or the place where the sentence was meted
out. Even as retribution for a crime that had involved an act of blinding,
there can be no justification for such a punishment as so clearly falls within
the international definition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment. The
Government advises that this sentence has been revoked.
36. With regard to amputation, the Special Representative notes that
according to the Iranian press and foreign wire services, amputation continues
to be a judicially imposed punishment, chiefly, it would seem, for those
convicted of repeated theft. The Government advises that, in practice, no amputation
punishments are now being carried out.
37. In this report, the Special Representative wishes to pay some
attention to the subject of torture. Torture appears to have had a long history
in the Islamic Republic of Iran; it was certainly widely practised in the
Pahlavi era. It is frequently alleged that it has continued since that time.
Without going back over the period covered by his predecessors, the Special
Representative wishes to observe that there appears to be much credible
evidence in support of such allegations. Since his assumption of the mandate,
the Special Representative has received many such allegations, most, but not
all, referring to the period before he took office. The Special Representative
has no reason to doubt that many of these have a basis in fact. In its
occasional comments on the subject, the Government has until now simply
declared that torture is banned by the Constitution. Specific allegations
brought to its attention were denied. Allegations of torture have not been
mentioned in the Iranian press.
38. Recently, however, there have been several positive developments.
The first is that allegations of torture, apparently used to elicit information
or a confession, are now being openly reported in the Iranian press, perhaps
most notably in the aftermath of the recent trial of Gholamhossain Karbaschi,
the then Mayor of Tehran, and his colleagues. Second, foreign wire services,
quoting Iranian press stories, reported that in response to these allegations,
152 deputies in the Majlis had sent a letter to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Khamani requesting a high-level inquiry into them. Third, as mentioned in
paragraph 48 below, the Islamic Human Rights Commission has recently seemed to
be taking allegations of torture seriously. Fourth, an Iranian paper reported
in July that the Commander of the State Security Forces Protection and
Intelligence Department had declared that 10 or 12 suits had been filed against
the security forces for torture and physical and psychological violence.
39. The existence of torture has been confirmed by witnesses who have
appeared recently before the Special Representative, testifying to extreme physical
abuse at particular detention centres in Tehran during the period
under review.
40. The Special Representative views these developments with
considerable hope. That such allegations are now part of the public discourse
is an important first step towards doing away with this gross invasion of
personal integrity - this violation of basic human rights.
VI. Situation of the Baha'is
41. During the reporting period, the Special Representative continued
to receive reports of the violation of the human rights of Baha'is, forcing him
to conclude that the pattern of persecution of members of this community has
not abated.
42. According to information received by the Special Representative
(see appendix II), a Baha'i prisoner in Mashad, Ruhu'ulah Rowhani, was executed
on 21 July 1998, after having served nine months in solitary confinement
reportedly on charges of unlawfully attempting to convert a woman to the Baha'i
faith. Three other Baha'is were reported to have also been sentenced to death
in Mashad. After first denying the reports, the Iranian authorities
subsequently acknowledged that he had been executed. They asserted that the
case had nothing to do with conversion, that he had been convicted instead of
spying for Israel, and that this was the third occasion on which he was found
to have been engaged in this activity. The authorities stated that the death
sentences against the other three Baha'is who had been convicted of the same
offence had been lifted, as this was their first offence.
43. It was reported that since November 1997, 12 Baha'is had been imprisoned
and 6 released. According to information received, by the end of July 1998, 15
Baha'is remained in detention in the Islamic Republic of Iran,
charged with such activities as holding meetings and teaching their faith, or
allegedly engaging in espionage activities of one sort or another.
44. There continued to be reports of violations of the basic human
right of Baha'is to enjoy free and peaceful association, to be free from the
confiscation and destruction of individual and community Baha'i property, and
to be free from discrimination with regard to access to education, employment,
pensions and other public benefits, as well as reports of the denial of other
fundamental rights and freedoms, including, inter alia, the freedom of
movement.
45. The Special Representative once again urges the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to improve its treatment of the Baha'i community and,
specifically, to refrain from ordering the death penalty for religious
offences; to lift the ban on Baha'i organizations so that Baha'is may associate
freely; to put an end to discrimination against Baha'is in all spheres of
public life and services; to effect the return of confiscated personal and
community Baha'i property; to institute the reconstruction of destroyed places
of worship wherever possible or, at a minimum, ensure the provision of
appropriate compensation to the Baha'i community; to lift restrictions
regarding the burial and honouring of the dead; and to eliminate from passport
application forms questions concerning religion so as to avoid undue
infringements on the freedom of movement.
46. The Special Representative once again urges the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to implement the outstanding recommendations of the
Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance.
VII. Other important matters
A. Islamic Human Rights Commission
47. In previous reports, the Special Representative had noted the
reports he had received of the activities of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
He made recommendations for their extension and, in particular, for more
detailed reporting on the allegations received by the Commission and their
disposition, and on human rights developments generally in the Islamic Republic
of Iran.
48. In March 1998, a foreign wire service carried a report, based
probably on a Tehran press conference, of
the Commission's Secretary-General, Mohammad Hassan Ziaifar. In this report,
Mr. Ziaifar gave important information. There had been 2,450 complaints to the
Commission in the past year, half of them from women and 50 per cent of them
against the police. The Commission had probed complaints from religious
minorities "notably the Baha'is". Mr. Ziaifar acknowledged there were
widespread human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, stating:
"Torture and violence have no affinity with Islam." He complained
about the detention centres run by different government organizations. The
Commission had began to educate police and security officers as well as prison
guards and judges about international and Islamic concepts of human rights.
"We are after a cohesive, lawful and organized system to investigate and
prove violations. We do not want to create a conflict between the Western
notion of human rights and the Islamic one. We are after common ground. Human
rights do not know borders. You cannot draw a fence around it." In a July
report attributed to Tehran dailies, Mr. Ziaifar
again spoke of the need for reform, particularly with regard to the use of
coercion to obtain confessions.
49. The Special Representative welcomes what seems to be a new
openness on the part of the Islamic Commission, and in particular a greater
focus on the human rights situation within the Islamic Republic of Iran. He
recommends that these trends be appropriately institutionalized and publicized
as part of the process of the Commission's becoming a truly independent
national agency for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran. He also suggests that a national action plan for human rights
be developed.
B. Situation of certain religious
minorities
50. In his report to the 1998 session of the Commission on Human
Rights, the Special Representative expressed his view on what constitutes a
minority by referring to the definition set out some years ago by Special
Rapporteur Francisco Capotorti.c This
definition is at odds with the view of the Iranian Government that religious
minorities are defined constitutionally in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and
that its constitutional definition does not, for example, encompass the Sunnis
or certain other groups. The Special Representative continues to believe that
in the Islamic Republic of Iran, groups meeting the Capotorti definition face
discrimination - in some cases religious and in others ethnic or linguistic. He
had hoped to pursue the matter in the course of a visit to the Islamic Republic
of Iran, but the absence of the cooperation of the Government in this regard
precluded this.
51. As regards the general subject of minority rights, the Special
Representative wishes to draw attention to the latest Commission on Human
Rights resolution thereon, namely Commission resolution 1998/18 entitled
"Implementation of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of
Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief", adopted on
9 April 1998.
52. According to information coming to the Special Representative's
attention from Zoroastrian and Christian sources in particular, even the
recognized minorities believe they face discrimination in civil society.
Allegations include the difficulty of obtaining government employment; the
requirement placed upon shops to have a window sign reading, "Designated
for religious minorities", which, officially, should apply only to food
shops in the context of halal food, but which in practice is used to discourage
Muslim customers; and the awarding of substantial damages in automobile
accident claims if the driver was a person of a religious minority and the
victim a Muslim but very low awards for cases where the reverse obtains. More
generally, it is asserted that all minorities, especially religious minorities,
are by law or practice barred from being elected to a representative body
(except as regards the reserved seats in the Majlis), from becoming a school
principal and from holding senior government or military positions.
53. In his last report to the General Assembly (A/52/472, of 15
October 1997), the Special Representative commented on the allegations he had
received from Sunni sources, particularly the Baluch, concerning the
destruction of Sunni schools and mosques, and the imprisonment, execution and
assassination of Sunni leaders. Some of these allegations were and are quite
specific. There are also charges of socio-economic discrimination and
repression, and transmigration policies that risk turning the Baluch into a
minority in their traditional lands.
54. The Government has made it clear that it does not regard the
Sunnis, as fellow Muslims, to be a minority in Iranian society nor are they
discriminated against owing to their beliefs. The Special Representative has
been further informed that there are at least one judge and one provincial
governor, and six or eight members of the Majlis, who are Sunnis.
55. The Special Representative is satisfied that the Sunni community
and the Baluch in particular may well be subject to unacceptable treatment and
he calls upon the Government to address the situation as a systemic problem
rather than insist upon the details of particular incidents.
C. Narcotics control
56. The subject of narcotics control has been much discussed in the
period under review. As noted above, Iranian sources advise that nationally, 63
per cent of about 150,000 prisoners have been convicted of drug-related
offences (see para. 30 above). These prisoners are now being separated into
separate dedicated centres.
57. In January, an Iranian newspaper, quoting a statement of the
Metropolitan Tehran police force, reported that 21,861 drug dealers and addicts
had been arrested over the previous nine months. In February, the Iranian press
reported an announcement by the Prosecutor-General, Ayatollah Moghtadai, that
the punishment for drug trafficking had increased between two- and tenfold. In
July, the Economist magazine described the narcotics crisis facing the Islamic
Republic of Iran in terms of the struggle to control the entry of narcotics
from Afghanistan and Pakistan. Almost 175 tons had been seized on the borders
with those countries in the last year, up from perhaps 30 tons in 1990. The
Economist noted that, according to official statistics, there were 500,000
addicts in the Islamic Republic of Iran but, also, that private estimates were
higher.
58. The allegation is made from time to time that in its war on
drugs, the Government sets aside human rights considerations or, worse, that it
uses drug trafficking charges as a pretext for executing political prisoners.
The Government has denied such charges. During the period under review the
Special Representative has again received such an allegation. By their very
nature, such allegations are difficult to prove or disprove in the
circumstances that exist in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Government
advises that capital punishment is now only imposed in the case of ringleaders.
D. Extraterritorial violence
59. In the period under review, the Istanbul
Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of an Iranian national, one Reza Barzegar
Massoumi, for complicity in the murder in Istanbul in 1996 of Zahra Rajabi and
Ali Moradi, both associated with the National Council of Resistance (NCR). Four
members of the Iranian Consulate General in Istanbul had earlier been declared
personae non gratae by the Turkish Government. In Rome, Italian security
authorities reportedly continue their investigation into the assassination in Rome on 16 March 1993 of Mohammad Aossein Naghdi, the
representative in Italy of the National
Council of Resistance.
60. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently
denied all allegations about involvement in such murders of Iranian dissidents
abroad. The Special Representative notes that no new incidents of the type
described above have come to his attention in the period under review.
61. Violence also continued against Iranian armed groups on the Iraqi
side of the Islamic Republic of Iran/Iraq border. These attacks are not
generally denied by the Iranian Government which describes them rather as
legitimate self-defence measures. Given the uncertainty over the definition of
the conditions usually attached to the exercise of this right at international
law, with regard both to the existence of a real and present danger, and the
principle of proportionality, it is difficult to come to unequivocal
conclusions in most such cases.
62. Within the Islamic Republic of Iran, it should be noted that the
National Council of Resistance has accepted responsibility for a July bombing
in Tehran in which a number of persons were killed whom the National Council of
Resistance asserts were judicial officials; this assertion is denied by the
Iranian Government. In August, the same organization claimed responsibility for
assassinating Asadollah Lajevardi, the former Director-General of the Iranian
Prisons Organization. Two other persons were reportedly also killed in the
incident.
63. The Special Representative condemns political violence among
Iranians whether inside or outside the Islamic Republic of Iran.
E. Democracy
64. The Special Representative would note two prospective events in
this regard. The first is the 23 October election on a universal suffrage basis
of the Council of Experts, the body that under the Constitution is responsible
for selecting the Supreme Leader and, by implication, removing him. Senior
Iranian officials state that in recent years a 15-member commission of the
Council charged with monitoring and advising the Supreme Leader has come to
play an active role in the governance process. The second event is the prospect
of the implementation for the first time of the constitutional provisions for
local elected councils at the village, city and provincial levels.
VIII. Conclusions
65. On several occasions in the past, the Special Representative has
drawn attention to the need for greater tolerance on the part of the Government
of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards its own citizens. Certainly, this view
appears to be shared by President Khatami as reflected in his public
statements. In a speech at the end of July to the heads of education departments
in the country, the President declared that a religion that respects man first
respects his freedom, "a divine right of human beings". Later the
same week in a ceremony at IRNA the President was quoted as saying "I am
trying today to defend people's rights on the basis of religion and freedom. We
must defend the rights of an individual who does not even recognize my
religion." It is difficult to doubt that these aspirations are sincerely
felt but, as this report seeks to suggest, a tolerant society is still very
much a work in progress. The general goals that the Islamic Republic of Iran
should have before it in this regard were most recently reiterated by the
Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1998/21 entitled "Tolerance
and pluralism as indivisible elements in the promotion and protection of human
rights", adopted 9 April 1998.
66. In this report, the Special Representative identifies most of the
areas he believes to be critical for the attainment of the declared goals of
the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As noted, some quantifiable
progress has been seen in some of these areas; in others, progress is not so
evident, at least to an observer outside the country. While determined efforts
are being made by the executive in the area of freedom of expression, for
example, the same efforts are not evident with regard to the status of women.
Measurable efforts to improve the legal system are only just beginning. The
condition of religious and ethnic minorities must have a place in the agenda of
the Government.
67. The Iranian tendency towards violence does not facilitate - nor
does the frequent use of national security as a basis for derogating from basic
rights of the individual - the mutual respect that is inherent in a tolerant
society. Somehow two sets of values must be brought into a degree of balance
reflecting the rights of the individual on the one hand, and the rights of
society and the State on the other. The prevailing level of violence in the
Islamic Republic of Iran confirms that this balance has yet to be achieved.
68. In short, the Special Representative believes that a will exists on
the part of many leaders in the Islamic Republic of Iran to move the society
towards a more tolerant and more peaceful condition. The obstacles to be
overcome in achieving this goal are very evident and success is by no means
assured. In the meantime, significant violations of human rights continue. The
Government needs to broaden its agenda for change and to declare a strong
commitment to achieving certain goals within specified time-frames.
Notes
a General Assembly
resolution 34/180, annex.
b First United Nations
Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, Geneva, 22 August- 3 September 1955: report prepared by the Secretariat
(United Nations publication, Sales No. 1956.IV.4), annex I, sect. A.
c Francisco Capotorti,
"Study on the right of persons belonging to ethnic, religious and
linguistic minorities" (E/CN.4/Sub.2384 and Add.1-7), 30 June 1997.
Appendix I
Freedom of expression
1. In February, it was reported in an Iranian newspaper that the clerics court had sentenced Abolfazi Moussavian, editor of
Nameyeh Mofid, to one year in prison on charges of publishing and propagating
false information.
2. In March, a foreign wire service reported that Iranian publisher
Akbar Ganji had been sentenced to one year in prison after being found guilty
of publishing false news in the monthly Rah-e No.
Ganji had denied the charges and demanded a jury trial open to the public.
Ganji was subsequently released. In May, a foreign wire service reported that
Fereydoun Verdinejad, the Director-General of IRNA, had been summoned to answer
unspecified charges before the press tribunal.
3. In July, the Tehran English-language
press announced that the Press Council had issued permission for the appearance
of 13 new publications.
Appendix II
Situation of the Baha'is
1. In his last report to the Commission, the Special Representative
had drawn attention to the case of Mansour Haddadan. The Permanent Mission of
the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations responded that he had been
"arrested on charges of organizing unauthorized and illegal meetings and
acting against national security. In accordance with due process of law, he was
tried by a competent court and benefited from a defence lawyer. The court found
him guilty of the charges and he was sentenced to five years' imprisonment. The
verdict was also reaffirmed by the court of appeal of Khorassan Province".
2. The Special Representative has received information indicating
that verdicts were reached by the Court of Appeals in Khurasan on 18 September
1997 concerning the cases of two Baha'is, Jamali'd-Din Hajipur and Mansur
Mihrabi, referred to in his report to the Commission. The joint verdict of the Appeals Court, dated 18 September 1997, affirmed the lower court finding of
guilt on grounds that the Baha'i faith constituted an illegal organization
which posed a threat to the internal security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
3. On 27 July 1998, the Special
Representative wrote to the Minister of Foreign Affairs to express his regret
over the reported execution of Ruhu'ullah Rawhani, a Baha'i from Mashad, in
relation to charges of having converted a woman to the Baha'i faith. He also
expressed his concern about the three other Baha'i citizens detained in Mashad,
Ata'ullah Hamid Nasirizadih, Sirus Dhabini-Muqaddam and Hidayat-Kashifi
Najabadi, who had been sentenced to death. The Special Representative drew the
attention of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to its obligations
pursuant to article 6 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights,a which provides that the death penalty may be imposed only for the most
serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the
commission of the crime. The Special Representative also expressed his concern
that the religious beliefs of the accused may have been a persuasive factor in
the eyes of the court, and may have prevented the accused from receiving a fair
trial according to international human rights standards. The Special
Representative referred also to the obligations incumbent upon the Government
concerning the right to fair trial as set out in article 14 of the Covenant,
and requested the Government's urgent intervention to ensure that the reported
death sentences would not be carried out. The Special Representative requested
the Government not to allow the imposition of the death penalty without due
legal process in full conformity with international human rights standards.
4. It appears that pressures on Baha'is from the judiciary have
increased. Neither Baha'i marriage nor divorce is legally recognized in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, and the right of Baha'is to inherit is denied. The
freedom of Baha'is to travel outside or inside the Islamic Republic of Iran
continues to be impeded by Iranian authorities or has been denied altogether.
Notes
a See General Assembly
resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
Appendix III
Correspondence between the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Special
Representative, January-August 1998
1. During the reporting period, correspondence between the Special
Representative and the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran
to the United Nations Office at Geneva was exchanged, some
of which concerned requests for information about individual allegations. The
Special Representative appealed to the Iranian Government to ensure that those
affected benefited from all the internationally recognized safeguards,
particularly those provided for in the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rightsa
or other relevant international human rights instruments, for example, the
Convention on the Rights of the Childb
and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Administration of
Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules).c
2. With regard to specific cases, the Special Representative received
a letter dated 28 May 1998 from the Permanent
Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations providing
information on six persons referred to in the Special Representative's report
to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1998/59 of 28 January 1998). The
Special Representative noted that Kalimollah Tohid, a well-known Kurdish
scientist and writer, had been arrested in Mashad and that nothing further had
been heard of him. In its letter of 28
May 1998, the Permanent Mission informed the Special Representative that Mr.
Tohid had been sentenced to one year's imprisonment by the Court in Mashad on 15 October 1997 for falsification but that on 19 February 1998, he was pardoned and released.
3. In a section of his Commission report dealing with the treatment
of religious dissidents, the Special Representative referred to the treatment
of certain dissident Shia clerics, mainly in Qum, and drew attention to
information he had received that two further supporters of Grand Ayatollah
Shirazi, Syed Aref Nassrollah and Theqatol Islam Bagirzadeh, were arrested in
Qum on 15 October 1997 by agents of the clergy courts. The Permanent Mission in
its 28 May letter stated that:
"Mr. Syed Aref
Nassrollah was arrested on charges of smuggling 2,000
handwritten old books out of Iran, assisting people to
leave the country illegally, and using a fake car plate. He was later released
on bail on 6 September 1997. His case is under consideration."
4. The Special Representative also raised the issue of torture, and
cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment in connection with a number of
sentences ordering the amputation of fingers of persons found guilty. In
particular, the Special Representative drew attention to reports in Salaam
that, in September 1997, Branch 12 of Tehran's General Court had sentenced one
Gholam Hossein to have four fingers amputated for stealing 28 cameras and
camera equipment. The Special Representative referred also to reports of
September 1997 in Jomhouri-Islami that Gotvand General Court had sentenced
Asghar Ghasemi and Farhad Heidari to have their hands amputated for robbery and
forgery. In its 28 May letter, the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to the United Nations indicated that the sentence of Mr. Gholam Hossein
had been rescinded on grounds that the owners of the stolen goods did not
pursue their case. The letter indicated that Asghar Ghasemi and Farhad Heidari
had appealed and "subsequently their cases have been sent to the Supreme
Court for review".
5. On 25 August 1998, the Special
Representative addressed the Minister of Foreign Affairs concerning the arrest
of Iranian scholar Hojatoleslam Sayyid Mohssen Saeidzadeh. According to
information received by the Special Representative, Mr. Saeidzadeh had been
arrested at his home by three plainclothes security officers who did not
present a warrant and placed him in incommunicado detention. He was not
provided with access to a lawyer or an opportunity to inform or meet with
family members. Neither were criminal charges brought against him. According to
the Islamic Human Rights Commission, a case was being prepared against Mr.
Saeidzadeh in a special court for the clergy.
6. In his letter of 25 August, the Special Representative referred to
article 9 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which provides, inter alia, that no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest
or detention, and to article 9 (2) of the Covenant which guarantees to anyone
placed under arrest the right to be informed, at the time of the arrest, of the
reasons for his arrest and to be promptly informed of any charges against him.
He further reminded the Government of its obligations under article 9 (4) of
the Covenant which provides that anyone deprived of his liberty by arrest or
detention shall be entitled to take proceedings before a court of law in order
that that court might decide without delay on the lawfulness of his detention
and order his release in any case where the detention proves unlawful.
7. The Special Representative also drew the Government's attention to
article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which
provides for a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and
impartial tribunal established by law, as well as for the accused to have the
right to benefit from the services of a lawyer of his own choosing. Moreover,
he expressed his deep concern that, based on the information available to him,
Mr. Saeidzadeh's arrest appeared to have been related not to criminal activity,
but to his intellectual endeavours and publicly expressed opinions. If this was
indeed the case, his arrest would constitute a breach of article 19 of the
Covenant, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, including
freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of any kind.
Furthermore, the Special Representative requested that the Government provide
any information that it could on this case, including on any steps taken by the
competent authorities to guarantee Mr. Saeidzadeh's rights to liberty and
security of person in compliance with the provisions contained in the relevant
international legal instruments.
8. The Special Representative continues to be concerned about the
infrequency of responses from the Government and has raised the problem with
the Iranian authorities with a view to improving cooperation in this area.
Notes
a See General Assembly
resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
b General Assembly
resolution 44/25, annex.
c General Assembly
resolution 40/33, annex.
*Please find hereafter corrigendum to this document
A/53/423/Corr.1
Situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran
Note by the Secretary-General
Annex
Interim report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic
Republic of Iran prepared by the Special Representative of the Commission on
Human Rights in accordance with General Assembly resolution 52/142 of 12 December 1997 and Economic and Social Council
decision 1998/273 of 30 July 1998
Corrigendum
Paragraph 62
For National Council of Resistance read People's Mojahedin
Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
