Resolution adopted by the General Assembly  on 17 December 2018          [on the report of the Third Committee (A/73/589/Add.3)]       73/181. 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 72/189 of 19 December 2017,     1.  Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to  resolution 72/1893  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 37/30 of 23 March 2018;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.  Welcomes the amendments made to the Anti-Narcotics Law, passed in  October 2017, which eliminated the mandatory imposition of the death penalty for  certain drug-related offences and which have so far led to a significant drop in drug- related executions, while noting that many cases still have yet to be reviewed in  accordance with those amendments, and encourages those within the judiciary who  are responsible for applying the law to continue to convert drug-related death  sentences to prison terms;   __________________    1 Resolution 217 A (III).    2 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.    3 A/73/299.    4 A/73/398.    5 See Official Records of the General Assembly, Seventy-third Session, Supplement No. 53  (A/73/53), chap. IV, sect. A.   A/RES/73/181  Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran   18-22277 2/5      4.  Notes the approval by the Parliament of the Islamic Republic of Iran of the  Bill for Protection of the Rights of Children and Youth, in July 2018, which, if adopted  and implemented, would mark an important step forward in protecting individuals  from violence and abuse;     5.  Recalls the commitments made by the Iranian authorities with regard to  improving the situation of women, and notes in this regard the introduction of the  Comprehensive Bill on Ensuring the Protection of Women against Violence;     6.  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 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;     7.  Also welcomes the continuing efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran to  host large numbers of Afghan refugees and to grant them access to basic services, in  particular access to health care and education for children;     8.  Further 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  procedures mandate holders;     9.  Welcomes the expressed readiness of the Iranian High Council for Human  Rights and other Iranian officials to engage in bilateral dialogues on human rights;     10. Expresses serious concern, notwithstanding the previously noted  reduction so far in the number of executions 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 the imposition  of the death penalty against minors and 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  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.  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  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;     12. Urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to cease the widespread and systematic  use of arbitrary 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  __________________    6 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.   Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran  A/RES/73/181   3/5 18-22277    degrading treatment or punishment and consideration of bail and other reasonable  terms for release from custody pending trial;     13. 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;     14. 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;     15. 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 right 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 leaders, students’ rights defenders, environmentalists,  academics, film-makers, journalists, bloggers, social media users and social media  page administrators, media workers, religious leaders, artists, lawyers and their  families and persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious minorities  and their families, wherever it may occur;     16. 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, including with respect to the right to freedom of movement, the right to  enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the right  to freedom of religion or belief and the right to work, 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 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;     17. 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, recognized or unrecognized religious minorities or  other minorities, including but not limited to Arabs, including Ahwazi Arabs, Azeris,  Balochis, Kurds and Turkmen, and their defenders;     18. Expresses serious concern about ongoing severe limitations and  restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief,  restrictions on the establishment of places of worship, attacks against places of  worship and burial and other human rights violations, including but not limited to  harassment, intimidation, persecution, arbitrary arrests and detention, denial of access   A/RES/73/181  Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran   18-22277 4/5    to education 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 release all religious practitioners  imprisoned for their membership in or activities on behalf of a recognized or  unrecognized minority religious group, including the remaining imprisoned member  of the Baha’i leadership, whom the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the  Human Rights Council has declared to have been arbitrarily detained since 2008;     19. 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,  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;     20. 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;    21. 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 consider acting upon the concluding  observations concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted by the bodies of the  international 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;     22. 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  procedures 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  Discrimination7  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, and its second cycle, in 2014, with the full and genuine  __________________    7 Ibid., vol. 660, No. 9464.   Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran  A/RES/73/181   5/5 18-22277    participation of independent civil society and other stakeholders in the implementation  process, and by engaging constructively in its upcoming third cycle in 2019;     (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;     23. 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;     24. 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;     25. Strongly encourages the relevant thematic special procedures 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;     26. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its  seventy-fourth 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 fortieth session;     27. Decides to continue its examination of the situation of human rights in the  Islamic Republic of Iran at its seventy-fourth session under the item entitled  “Promotion and protection of human rights”.