Resolution adopted by the General Assembly  on 18 December 2019          [on the report of the Third Committee (A/74/399/Add.3)]       74/167. Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran        The General Assembly,    Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, as well as the Universal  Declaration of Human Rights,1 the International Covenants on Human Rights2 and  other international human rights instruments,    Recalling its previous resolutions on the situation of human rights in the Islamic  Republic of Iran, the most recent of which is resolution 73/181 of 17 December 2018,    1.  Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to  resolution 73/1813  and the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Human Rights  Council on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 4 submitted  pursuant to Council resolution 40/18 of 22 March 2019;5    2.  Recalls the pledges made by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran  with regard to improving the human rights situation in the country;    3.  Notes the significant decline in the number of executions in 2018, notably  due to the reduction in the number of executions for drug-related offences, following  amendments to the Anti-Narcotics Law, passed in October 2017;    4.  Welcomes the approval in May 2018 by the Parliament of the Islamic  Republic of Iran of the Law for the Protection of the Rights of Persons with  __________________    1  Resolution 217 A (III).    2  Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.    3  A/74/273.    4  A/74/188.    5  See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-fourth Session, Supplement No. 53  (A/74/53), chap. IV, sect. A.   A/RES/74/167  Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran   19-22299 2/6    Disabilities and subsequent discussions regarding its implementation, and urges the  authorities to work together with civil society to ensure that sufficient State funds are  allocated for its implementation and monitoring;    5.  Also welcomes the continuing efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran to  host a large number of Afghans, including approximately 1 million registered  refugees, and to provide them with access to basic services, in particular health care  and education for children;    6.  Further welcomes the commitments made by the Iranian authorities with  regard to improving the situation of women, and notes the ongoing discussions  regarding the comprehensive bill on ensuring the protection of women against  violence and the ratification of the amendment to the Nationality Law, which gives  Iranian women married to men with foreign nationality the right to request Iranian  citizenship for their children under the age of 18 years;    7.  Welcomes the engagement of the Islamic Republic of Iran with human  rights treaty bodies, including through the submission of periodic reports, and notes  in particular the engagement of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran with  the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the  Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on the Rights of Persons  with Disabilities and its participation in the universal periodic review;    8.  Also welcomes the ongoing contact with and dialogue between the Islamic  Republic of Iran and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the  Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as the invitations extended to other special procedure  mandate holders;    9.  Further welcomes the expressed readiness of the Iranian High Council for  Human Rights and other Iranian officials to engage in bilateral dialogues on human  rights, and calls upon them to increase such dialogues or resume those that have been  paused;    10. Expresses serious concern, notwithstanding the previously noted  reduction in the number of executions, notably for drug-related crimes, at the  alarmingly high frequency of the imposition and carrying-out of the death penalty by  the Islamic Republic of Iran, in violation of its international obligations, including  executions undertaken against persons on the basis of forced confessions or for crimes  that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, including crimes that are overly broad  or vaguely defined, in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political  Rights,2 expresses concern at the continuing disregard for internationally recognized  safeguards, including executions undertaken without notification of the prisoner’s  family members or legal counsel, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic  Republic of Iran to abolish, in law and in practice, public executions, which are  contrary to the 2008 directive seeking to end this practice issued by the former head  of the judiciary;    11.  Also expresses serious concern at the continued imposition of the death  penalty by the Islamic Republic of Iran against minors, and urges the Islamic Republic  of Iran to cease the imposition of the death penalty against minors, including persons  who at the time of their offence were under the age of 18, in violation of the  Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6  and to commute the sentences for child  offenders on death row;    12. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure, in law and in practice,  that no one is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or  punishment, which may include sexual violence, and punishments that are grossly  __________________    6  United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.   Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran  A/RES/74/167   3/6 19-22299    disproportionate to the nature of the offence, in conformity with amendments to the  Penal Code, the constitutional guarantees of the Islamic Republic of Iran and  international obligations and standards, including but not limited to the United  Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela  Rules);7    13. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to cease the widespread and systematic  use of arbitrary arrests and detention, including the use of this practice to target dual  and foreign nationals, to release those who have been arbitrarily detained and to  uphold, in law and in practice, procedural guarantees to ensure fair trial standards,  including timely access to legal representation of one’s choice from the time of arrest  through all stages of trial and all appeals, the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel  and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and consideration of bail and  other reasonable terms for release from custody pending trial, and calls upon the  Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure that it meets its obligations under article 36 of the  Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 8  in relation to communication with and  access to nationals of sending States who are in prison, custody or detention;    14. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to release persons detained for the  exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those who have  been detained solely for taking part in peaceful protests, to consider rescinding unduly  harsh sentences, including those involving the death penalty and long-term internal  exile, and to end reprisals against individuals, including for cooperating or attempting  to cooperate with the United Nations human rights mechanisms;    15. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the poor conditions  of prisons, to end the practice of deliberately denying prisoners access to adequate  medical treatment, which creates a consequent risk of death, and to put an end to the  continued and sustained house arrest of leading opposition figures from the 2009  presidential elections despite serious concerns about their health, as well as the  pressure exerted upon their relatives and dependants, including through arrest, and  calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to establish credible and independent prison  oversight authorities to investigate complaints of abuse;    16. Further calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the judicial and  security branches, to create and maintain, in law and in practice, a safe and enabling  environment in which an independent, diverse and pluralistic civil society can operate  free from hindrance and insecurity, and urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to end  widespread and serious restrictions, in law and in practice, on the right to freedom of  expression and opinion, including in digital contexts, and the rights to freedom of  association and peaceful assembly, and to end its harassment, intimidation and  persecution of political opponents, human rights defenders, women’s and minority  rights defenders, labour and trade union activists, students’ rights defenders,  environmentalists, academics, film-makers, journalists, bloggers, social media users  and social media page administrators, media workers, religious leaders, artists,  lawyers, including human rights lawyers, and their families and persons belonging to  recognized and unrecognized religious minorities and their families, wherever it may  occur;    17. Strongly urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in  practice, all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against women  and girls, to take measures to ensure protection for women and girls against violence  and their equal protection and access to justice, to address the concerning incidence  of child, early and forced marriage, as recommended by the Committee on the Rights  __________________    7  Resolution 70/175, annex.    8  United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 596, No. 8638.   A/RES/74/167  Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran   19-22299 4/6    of the Child, to promote, support and enable women’s participation in political and  other decision-making processes, and, while recognizing the high enrolment of  women in all levels of education in the Islamic Republic of Iran, to lift restrictions on  women’s equal access to all aspects of education and women’s equal participation in  the labour market and in all aspects of economic, cultural, social and political life,  including participation in and attendance at sporting events;    18. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to release women human rights  defenders imprisoned for exercising their rights, including the rights to freedom of  association and peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression and opinion,  and to take appropriate, robust and practical steps to protect women human rights  defenders and guarantee their full enjoyment of all their human rights;    19. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in  practice, all forms of discrimination and other human rights violations against persons  belonging to ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, including but not limited to Arabs,  Azeris, Balochis, Kurds and Turkmen, and their defenders;    20. Expresses serious concern about ongoing severe limitations and increasing  restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief,  restrictions on the establishment of places of worship, undue restrictions on burials  carried out in accordance with religious tenets, attacks against places of worship and  burial and other human rights violations, including but not limited to harassment,  intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention, and incitement to hatred that  leads to violence against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious  minorities, including Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Sufi Muslims, Sunni  Muslims, Yarsanis, Zoroastrians and members of the Baha’i faith and their defenders  in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic  Republic of Iran to cease monitoring individuals on account of their religious identity,  to release all religious practitioners imprisoned for their membership in or activities  on behalf of a recognized or unrecognized minority religious group and to ensure that  everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the  freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of their choice, in accordance with its  obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;    21. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice,  all forms of discrimination on the basis of thought, conscience, religion or belief,  including economic restrictions, such as the closure or confiscation of businesses and  properties, the cancellation of licences and the denial of employment in certain public  and private sectors, including government or military positions and elected office, the  denial of and restrictions on access to education, and other human rights violations  against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities, and  to end impunity for those who commit crimes against persons belonging to recognized  and unrecognized religious minorities;    22. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to launch a comprehensive  accountability process in response to all cases of serious human rights violations,  including allegations of excessive use of force against peaceful protesters and cases  of suspicious deaths in custody, as well as violations involving the Iranian judiciary  and security agencies, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran  to end impunity for such violations;    23. Further calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement its  obligations under those human rights treaties to which it is already a party, to  withdraw any reservations that are imprecise or could be considered incompatible  with the object and purpose of the treaty, to act upon the concluding observations  concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted by the bodies of the international   Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran  A/RES/74/167   5/6 19-22299    human rights treaties to which it is a party and to consider ratifying or acceding to the  international human rights treaties to which it is not already a party;    24. Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to deepen its engagement with  international human rights mechanisms by:    (a)  Cooperating fully with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human  rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including by accepting the repeated requests  made by the Special Rapporteur to visit the country in order to carry out the mandate;    (b)  Increasing cooperation with other special mechanisms, including by  facilitating long-standing requests for access to the country from thematic special  procedure mandate holders, whose access to its territory has been restricted or denied,  despite the standing invitation issued by the Islamic Republic of Iran, without  imposing undue conditions upon those visits;    (c)  Continuing to enhance its cooperation with the treaty bodies, including by  submitting overdue reports under the International Covenant on Civil and Political  Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial  Discrimination9  and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural  Rights;2    (d)  Implementing all accepted universal periodic review recommendations  from its first cycle, in 2010, its second cycle, in 2014, and its third cycle, in 2019,  with the full and genuine participation of independent civil society and other  stakeholders in the implementation process;    (e)  Building upon the engagement of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the  universal periodic review process by continuing to explore cooperation on human  rights and justice reform with the United Nations, including the Office of the United  Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;    (f)  Following through on its commitment to establish an independent national  human rights institution, made in the context of both its first and its second universal  periodic reviews by the Human Rights Council, with due regard for the  recommendation of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;    25. Also calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to continue to translate the  pledges made by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran with respect to human  rights concerns into concrete action that results in demonstrable improvements as  soon as possible and to ensure that its national laws are consistent with its obligations  under international human rights law and that they are implemented in accordance  with its international obligations;    26. Further calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the substantive  concerns highlighted in the reports of the Secretary-General and the Special  Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well  as the specific calls to action found in previous resolutions of the General Assembly,  and to respect fully its human rights obligations in law and in practice;    27. Strongly encourages the relevant thematic special procedure mandate  holders to pay particular attention to, with a view to investigating and reporting on,  the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran;    28. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its  seventy-fifth session on the progress made in the implementation of the present  resolution, including options and recommendations to improve its implementation,  and to submit an interim report to the Human Rights Council at its forty-third session;  __________________    9  Ibid., vol. 660, No. 9464.   A/RES/74/167  Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran   19-22299 6/6      29. Decides to continue its examination of the situation of human rights in the  Islamic Republic of Iran at its seventy-fifth session under the item entitled  “Promotion and protection of human rights”.