UN Watch has obtained a copy of the advanced unedited version of the Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed: click here for PDF.
The 81-page report details gross and systematic abuses of human rights by the Iranian regime, and lists the names of victims and the details of Tehran’s violations.
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The Special Rapporteur further regrets the difficult situation of recognized and unrecognized religious minorities, and that communities continue to report arrests and prosecution for worship and participation in religious community affairs, including in private homes. He urges the authorities to recognize that freedom of religion or belief entails the freedom to choose a religion or belief, and that measures restricting eligibility for civil, political, social or economic privileges, or imposing special restrictions on the practices or manifestations of the beliefs of other faiths violate the prohibition of discrimination based on religion or belief and the guarantee of equal protection under article 26 of the ICCPR.
The Special Rapporteur further calls on the Government to amend laws that violate the rights of women, or that undermine their full enjoyment of civil political, social, and economic rights, including the right work and to freedom from discrimination, especially in education and the workplace. Draft legislation currently under consideration that appears to infringe on these rights raises serious concern, and should be reconsidered.
Laws that render activities legitimate rights under international law as offenses, including those that restrict the press, criminalize expression, limit access to information and give rise to the ongoing arrests of civil society actors and members of vulnerable groups; including religious and ethnic minorities, and laws that apply the death penalty to offenses not considered to be ‘most serious crimes’ under international law, such as drug-trafficking, should be rescinded. Moreover, the mandatory use of the death penalty is not compatible with the fair trial safeguards required under international law for the application of the death penalty and should be reconsidered.
