UN Human Rights Council: Joint statement under item 4 General debate
Please check against delivery
HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
22thsession (25 February 2013 -22 March 2013)
Item 4: General debate
Oral statementdelivered by The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT),
a non-governmental organisation ingeneral consultative status in conjunction with the International Campaign forHuman Rights in Iran
Thankyou, Mr. President,
Ourorganisations would like to express our deep concerns about the deterioratingsituation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, particularly withregards to the continued large numbers of execution sentences implemented aswell as widespread practice of torture in Iranian detention centers and prisonsagainst peaceful dissidents and civil society activists.
Weare also extremely concerned at the rampant culture of impunity and lack ofaccountability that protects and encourages acts of torture.
Mr.President, the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the leading countriesimplementing execution sentences. According to the latest report of the SpecialRapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran, Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, theIranian judiciary carried out at least 493 hangings in 2012 alone. There areserious concerns regarding lack of due process and fair trial standards leading to such large scaleexecutions. The implementation of execution sentences against juveniles is alsoof particular concern and is a blatant violation of Iran’s internationalobligations.
Moreover,many executions are taking place in public and are widely publicized by thestate media. According to OHCHR, at least 55 public hangings took place in Iranin 2012. We call on the Iranian government to immediately institute amoratorium on death penalty, as a first step towards abolition of the deathpenalty.
Iranianauthorities are also sanctioning use of torture against detainees and prisonerson a wide-scale. According to Dr. Shaheed’s report, 78% of witness interviewedby him reported having been tortured. In one stark example, confirmed byIranian authorities, Sattar Beheshti, a dissident blogger was detained,tortured, and murdered under torture within four days of his detention inOctober 2012. No one has been held accountable or charged for his tortureleading to his death.
Furthermore,Iran has been implementing an increased number of limb amputations, many inpublic spaces, which constitute acts of torture and are considered cruel andinhumane punishment under international law. With great disbelief and regret,we note the amputation of fingers of an alleged convict in city of Shiraz on 24January 2013 in public which the Iranian state media widely distributed graphicpictures of it.
We are also deeply concernedthat dozens of human rights defenders remain jailed as a means to preventtheir human rights activities, including Mr. Abdolfattah Soltani, Ms. NasrinSoutoudeh, Mr. Mohammad Seifzadeh and Mr. Mohammad Ali Dadkha.
Mr.President,
Wecall on the members of the Council to strongly support Dr. Shaheed’s mandateand to use all available means to hold the Iranian government accountable forits gross violations of international law, particularly with regards toexecutions, torture, and limb imputations.
Thankyou.