Iran
09.09.02
Urgent Interventions
Press Release - Iran: 23 NGOs urge the EU and its current President, Denmark, to sponsor a censure resolution at the upcoming UN General Assembly
PRESS RELEASE
Geneva, September 9th, 2002
Deteriorating human rights situation in Iran requires international action
23 NGOs urge the EU and its current President, Denmark, to sponsor a censure resolution at the upcoming UN General Assembly
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the world’s largest network of NGOs fighting against torture, on behalf of a group of 21 international and regional NGOs with consultative status at the United Nations, wishes to express our grave concerns resulting from continuing reports of flagrant and systematic violations of human rights that are occurring in Iran. Not only has the situation in the country been of particular concern over the last two decades, but a recent spate of grave violations, including public executions, give rise to fears of a further deterioration in this situation, which appears to be gaining momentum.
Of note with respect to this apparent trend is this year’s UN Human Rights Commission’s failure to adopt a resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran, as well as the termination of UN Special Representative in Iran’s monitoring activities in April. These developments result from, amongst other things, the particular composition of this year’s Commission, and the group of NGOs fear that the lack of a resolution and the removal of monitoring mechanisms in Iran will only pave the way for a further degradation of the human rights situation in the country.
As an illustration of these fears becoming a sombre reality, is an unprecedented wave of punishments, including hanging, amputation of limbs and flogging, which have occurred in recent months. These are carried out in public in order to spread fear and intimidation. Reports indicate that the number of sentences concerning such types of punishments, which in many cases constitute torture, tripled during the period covering May and June, as compared with the same period last year. During one period spanning 17 days, a reported 50 executions and death sentences were issued by the country’s clerical regime. The number of executions announced by state-run dailies since the beginning of 2002 has reached 250.
There are indications that this situation will continue to worsen further, with the regime’s senior officials reportedly having called for a greater use of repressive measures and the Head of the Judiciary having urged judges to show no leniency and to issue sentences expeditiously. Furthermore, reports indicate that the Deputy Commander of the State Security Forces has called for the harshening of conditions in prisons, in order to increase the pressure on prisoners.
For examples of increasingly prevalent sentences that constitute human rights violations, one need look no further than the recent sentencing to death by stoning of a young woman, which was handed down on June 20th. A total of 23 such sentences have been given over the last five years of President Khatami’s tenure, with four women currently being detained while they await their execution. It has also been reported in official announcements made by the authorities that a young man was sentenced on July 18th in Tehran to execution by being thrown off a cliff. Furthermore, on July 24th, a court in southwest Iran sentenced a 21-year old woman named Azam to be “blinded in public.” More recently, reports in the state-run media have announced the execution of eight prisoners in the Rajai-Shahr and Qasr prisons, sentences of amputation of right arms and left legs for five men from the towns of Lamerd and Lar and at least 43 floggings of up to 160 lashes and over 100 hundred arrests in the five-day period ending on August 26th, 2002. In one case, a man named Hessamoddin received 100 lashes in public in Hosseinieh Junction, Ravar, for having stolen pistachio nuts from a shop. Further recent cases of such human rights violations can be seen at:
http://www.omct.org/displaydocument.asp?DocType=Appeal&Index=2289&Language=EN
This situation is of great concern to OMCT and the other co-signatories of this appeal, who fear that a tangible element in giving momentum to the worsening human rights situation in the country has been the removal of monitoring and the lack of a UN Commission resolution on the situation, which has been interpreted by the authorities as a green light to pursue and increase the systematic repression of the people of Iran. It is therefore clear that action at the international level is required in order to address this human rights crisis. It is felt that a lack of proper attention to this pressing issue would only result in a further worsening of the human rights situation in Iran.
The International Secretariat of OMCT, on behalf of the coalition of organisations cited below, calls upon the international community to take action in order to ensure that the situation in Iran is not allowed to pass unnoticed. The coalition of organisations wishes in particular to call upon Denmark, as the current President of the European Union and in collaboration with other member states, to sponsor and introduce a substantive resolution at the upcoming UN General Assembly, with the aim of condemning the widespread and systematic human rights violations that currently characterise the situation in Iran, and call for the resumption of the UN Special Representative to Iran’s monitoring activities.
Contact: OMCT, tel: +41 22 8094939, fax: +41 22 8094929, e-mail: omct@omct.org
Co-signatories:
1. Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO)
2. Association of American Jurists (AAJ)
3. Asian Centre for Organisation Research and Development (ACORD)
4. Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations
5. Indian Association “Tupaj Amaru”
6. International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP)
7. International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic (FIMARC)
8. International Educational Development (IED)
9. International Council of Jewish Women (IAJW)
10. International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
11. International Movement for Fraternal Union among Races and Peoples (UFER)
12. International Council of Women (ICW)
13. Japan Fellowship of Reconciliation
14. Liberation
15. Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights
16. Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples (MRAP)
17. New Human Rights
18. Pax Romana
19. Women Human Rights International Association (WHRIA)
20. World Federation of Democratic Youth
21. World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
22. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
23. Zonta International
Geneva, September 9th, 2002
Deteriorating human rights situation in Iran requires international action
23 NGOs urge the EU and its current President, Denmark, to sponsor a censure resolution at the upcoming UN General Assembly
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the world’s largest network of NGOs fighting against torture, on behalf of a group of 21 international and regional NGOs with consultative status at the United Nations, wishes to express our grave concerns resulting from continuing reports of flagrant and systematic violations of human rights that are occurring in Iran. Not only has the situation in the country been of particular concern over the last two decades, but a recent spate of grave violations, including public executions, give rise to fears of a further deterioration in this situation, which appears to be gaining momentum.
Of note with respect to this apparent trend is this year’s UN Human Rights Commission’s failure to adopt a resolution condemning human rights violations in Iran, as well as the termination of UN Special Representative in Iran’s monitoring activities in April. These developments result from, amongst other things, the particular composition of this year’s Commission, and the group of NGOs fear that the lack of a resolution and the removal of monitoring mechanisms in Iran will only pave the way for a further degradation of the human rights situation in the country.
As an illustration of these fears becoming a sombre reality, is an unprecedented wave of punishments, including hanging, amputation of limbs and flogging, which have occurred in recent months. These are carried out in public in order to spread fear and intimidation. Reports indicate that the number of sentences concerning such types of punishments, which in many cases constitute torture, tripled during the period covering May and June, as compared with the same period last year. During one period spanning 17 days, a reported 50 executions and death sentences were issued by the country’s clerical regime. The number of executions announced by state-run dailies since the beginning of 2002 has reached 250.
There are indications that this situation will continue to worsen further, with the regime’s senior officials reportedly having called for a greater use of repressive measures and the Head of the Judiciary having urged judges to show no leniency and to issue sentences expeditiously. Furthermore, reports indicate that the Deputy Commander of the State Security Forces has called for the harshening of conditions in prisons, in order to increase the pressure on prisoners.
For examples of increasingly prevalent sentences that constitute human rights violations, one need look no further than the recent sentencing to death by stoning of a young woman, which was handed down on June 20th. A total of 23 such sentences have been given over the last five years of President Khatami’s tenure, with four women currently being detained while they await their execution. It has also been reported in official announcements made by the authorities that a young man was sentenced on July 18th in Tehran to execution by being thrown off a cliff. Furthermore, on July 24th, a court in southwest Iran sentenced a 21-year old woman named Azam to be “blinded in public.” More recently, reports in the state-run media have announced the execution of eight prisoners in the Rajai-Shahr and Qasr prisons, sentences of amputation of right arms and left legs for five men from the towns of Lamerd and Lar and at least 43 floggings of up to 160 lashes and over 100 hundred arrests in the five-day period ending on August 26th, 2002. In one case, a man named Hessamoddin received 100 lashes in public in Hosseinieh Junction, Ravar, for having stolen pistachio nuts from a shop. Further recent cases of such human rights violations can be seen at:
http://www.omct.org/displaydocument.asp?DocType=Appeal&Index=2289&Language=EN
This situation is of great concern to OMCT and the other co-signatories of this appeal, who fear that a tangible element in giving momentum to the worsening human rights situation in the country has been the removal of monitoring and the lack of a UN Commission resolution on the situation, which has been interpreted by the authorities as a green light to pursue and increase the systematic repression of the people of Iran. It is therefore clear that action at the international level is required in order to address this human rights crisis. It is felt that a lack of proper attention to this pressing issue would only result in a further worsening of the human rights situation in Iran.
The International Secretariat of OMCT, on behalf of the coalition of organisations cited below, calls upon the international community to take action in order to ensure that the situation in Iran is not allowed to pass unnoticed. The coalition of organisations wishes in particular to call upon Denmark, as the current President of the European Union and in collaboration with other member states, to sponsor and introduce a substantive resolution at the upcoming UN General Assembly, with the aim of condemning the widespread and systematic human rights violations that currently characterise the situation in Iran, and call for the resumption of the UN Special Representative to Iran’s monitoring activities.
Contact: OMCT, tel: +41 22 8094939, fax: +41 22 8094929, e-mail: omct@omct.org
Co-signatories:
1. Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO)
2. Association of American Jurists (AAJ)
3. Asian Centre for Organisation Research and Development (ACORD)
4. Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations
5. Indian Association “Tupaj Amaru”
6. International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples (LIDLIP)
7. International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic (FIMARC)
8. International Educational Development (IED)
9. International Council of Jewish Women (IAJW)
10. International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL)
11. International Movement for Fraternal Union among Races and Peoples (UFER)
12. International Council of Women (ICW)
13. Japan Fellowship of Reconciliation
14. Liberation
15. Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights
16. Movement against Racism and for Friendship among Peoples (MRAP)
17. New Human Rights
18. Pax Romana
19. Women Human Rights International Association (WHRIA)
20. World Federation of Democratic Youth
21. World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU)
22. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
23. Zonta International