Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 19 December 2006  [on the report of the Third Committee (A/61/443/Add.3)]  61/176. Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran         The General Assembly,    Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of  Human Rights, 1  the International Covenants on Human Rights 2  and other  international human rights instruments,    Reaffirming that all Member States have an obligation to promote and protect  human rights and fundamental freedoms and to fulfil the obligations they have  undertaken under the various international instruments in this field,    Mindful that the Islamic Republic of Iran is a party to the International  Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,2 the International Covenant on Economic,  Social and Cultural Rights,2 the International Convention on the Elimination of All  Forms of Racial Discrimination3 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,4     Recalling its previous resolutions on the subject, the most recent of which is  resolution 60/171 of 16 December 2005, and recalling also Commission on Human  Rights resolution 2001/17 of 20 April 2001,5     Noting the submission by the Islamic Republic of Iran of voluntary pledges  and commitments on human rights in accordance with General Assembly resolution  60/251 of 15 March 2006,6    Noting also the statements made by the Government of the Islamic Republic of  Iran on strengthening respect for human rights in the country and promoting the rule  of law, and noting further the relevant provisions of its Constitution,  _______________  1 Resolution 217 A (III).  2 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.  3 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 660, No. 9464.  4 Ibid., vol. 1577, No. 27531.  5 See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 2001, Supplement No. 3 (E/2001/23), chap. II,  sect. A.  6 A/60/770/Add.1, annex.   A/RES/61/176  2    1.  Welcomes:    (a)  The standing invitation extended by the Government of the Islamic  Republic of Iran to all human rights thematic monitoring mechanisms in April 2002  and the cooperation extended to the special procedures during their visits, while  regretting that no special procedure has been able to visit the Islamic Republic of  Iran since July 2005 and expressing its hope that special procedures of the Human  Rights Council will be able to visit in the near future;     (b)  The report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its  causes and consequences on her visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran from  29 January to 6 February 2005;7    (c)  The report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a  component of the right to an adequate standard of living on his visit to the Islamic  Republic of Iran from 19 to 31 July 2005;8    (d)  The statement by the head of the judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran  in October 2006 in which he expressed his hope that judges will choose alternative  punishments for minors instead of long jail terms for some offences;    (e)  The announcement by the head of the judiciary in April 2004 of the ban  on torture and the subsequent passage of related legislation by the parliament, which  was approved by the Guardian Council in May 2004;    (f)  The human rights dialogues between the Islamic Republic of Iran and a  number of countries, while urging the Islamic Republic of Iran to intensify those  dialogues and ensure that they are held regularly;    (g)  The release of some prisoners held without due process of law;    (h)  The cooperation with United Nations agencies in developing programmes  in the fields of human rights, good governance and the rule of law;     2.  Expresses its serious concern at:    (a)  The continuing harassment, intimidation and persecution of human rights  defenders,  non-governmental  organizations,  political  opponents,  religious  dissenters, political reformists, journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics,  academics, webloggers, union members and labour organizers, including through  undue restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, conscience, opinion and expression,  the threat and use of arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention, targeted at both  individuals and their family members, the ongoing unjustified closure of  newspapers and blocking of Internet sites and restrictions on the activities of unions  and other non-governmental organizations, as well as the absence of many  conditions necessary for free and fair elections;    (b)  The persistent failure to comply fully with international standards in the  administration of justice and, in particular, the absence of due process of law, the  refusal to provide fair and public hearings, the denial of the right to counsel and  access to counsel by those detained, the use of national security laws to deny human  rights, the prevalent atmosphere of impunity for officials who commit human rights  abuses, the harassment, intimidation and persecution of defence lawyers and legal  defenders, the adulteration of judicial files, the lack of respect for internationally  _______________  7 E/CN.4/2006/61/Add.3.  8 E/CN.4/2006/41/Add.2.   A/RES/61/176  3  recognized safeguards, inter alia, with respect to persons belonging to religious,  ethnic or national minorities, officially recognized or otherwise, the application of  arbitrary prison sentences and the violation of the rights of detainees, including the  systematic and arbitrary use of prolonged solitary confinement, the failure to  provide proper medical care to those imprisoned, the arbitrary denial of contact  between detainees and their family members, and the death of detainees in unclear  circumstances or resulting from general mistreatment while in custody;    (c)  The continuing use of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment  or punishment such as flogging and amputations;    (d)  The continuing of public executions, including multiple public  executions, and, on a large scale, of other executions, in the absence of respect for  internationally recognized safeguards, and the issuing of sentences of stoning; and,  in particular, deplores the execution of persons who were under the age of 18 at the  time their offence was committed, contrary to the obligations of the Islamic  Republic of Iran under article 37 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child4 and  article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and in spite of  the announcement of a moratorium on juvenile executions;    (e)  The continuing violence and discrimination against women and girls in  law and in practice, the refusal of the Guardian Council to take steps to address this  systemic discrimination and recent arrests of and violent crackdowns on women  exercising their right of assembly;     (f)  The increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against  persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, recognized or otherwise,  including Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, Christians, Jews, Sufis and Sunni  Muslims; the escalation and increased frequency of discrimination and other human  rights violations against members of the Baha’i faith, including reports of plans by  the State to identify and monitor Baha’is, as noted by the Special Rapporteur on  freedom of religion or belief; an increase in cases of arbitrary arrest and detention;  the denial of freedom of religion or of publicly carrying out communal affairs; the  disregard for property rights, including through de facto expropriation, as noted in  the report of the Special Rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the  right to an adequate standard of living; the destruction of sites of religious  importance; the suspension of social, educational and community-related activities  and the denial of access to higher education, employment, pensions, adequate  housing and other benefits; and recent violent crackdowns on Arabs, Azeris,  Baha’is, Kurds and Sufis;    3.  Calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran:    (a)  To ensure full respect for the rights to freedom of assembly, opinion and  expression and for the right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, in  accordance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and  Political Rights, and, in particular, to end the harassment, intimidation and  persecution of political opponents and human rights defenders, including by  releasing persons imprisoned arbitrarily or on the basis of their political views; and  to increase actions to promote and facilitate human rights education at all levels and  to ensure that all those responsible for training lawyers, law enforcement officers,  the personnel of the armed forces and public officials include appropriate elements  of human rights teaching in their training programme;   A/RES/61/176  4    (b)  To ensure full respect for the right to due process of law, including the  right to counsel and access to counsel by those detained, in criminal justice  proceedings and, in particular, to ensure a fair and public hearing by a competent,  independent and impartial tribunal established by law, to end harassment,  intimidation and persecution of defence lawyers and legal defenders and to ensure  equality before the law and the equal protection of the law without any  discrimination in all instances, including for members of religious, ethnic, linguistic  or other minority groups, officially recognized or otherwise;    (c)  To eliminate, in law and in practice, the use of torture and other cruel,  inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, such as amputations and flogging  and, as previously proposed by the elected Iranian parliament, to accede to the  Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or  Punishment; 9 and to end impunity for violations of human rights that constitute  crimes by bringing the perpetrators to justice in accordance with international  standards, noting in this regard, inter alia, the updated set of principles for the  protection and promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity;10    (d)  To abolish, in law and in practice, public executions and other executions  carried out in the absence of respect for internationally recognized safeguards, in  particular, as called for by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its report of  January 2005,11 executions of persons who at the time of their offence were under  the age of 18, and to uphold the moratoriums on juvenile executions and executions  by stoning and to introduce these moratoriums as law in order to completely abolish  this punishment;    (e)  To eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and  violence against women and girls and, as previously proposed by the elected Iranian  parliament, to accede to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of  Discrimination against Women;12    (f)  To eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination based on  religious, ethnic or linguistic grounds and other human rights violations against  persons belonging to minorities, including Arabs, Azeris, Baha’is, Baluchis, Kurds,  Christians, Jews, Sufis and Sunni Muslims, to refrain from monitoring individuals  on the basis of their religious beliefs, to ensure that minorities’ access to education  is on a par with that of all Iranians and to address these matters in an open manner,  with the full participation of the minorities themselves, to otherwise ensure full  respect for the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief of all  persons, and to implement the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur on religious  intolerance,13 which recommended ways in which the Islamic Republic of Iran could  emancipate the Baha’i community;    4.  Encourages the thematic procedures of the Human Rights Council, inter  alia, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, the  Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or  punishment, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, the  Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, the Special Rapporteur on the  _______________  9 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1465, No. 24841.  10 See E/CN.4/2005/102 and Add.1.  11 See CRC/C/146.  12 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1249, No. 20378.  13 See E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2.   A/RES/61/176  5  promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the  Special Representative of the Secretary-General on the situation of human rights  defenders, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working Group on  Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, to visit or otherwise continue their work to  improve the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and urges the  Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to live up to the commitment it made  when it issued a standing invitation to special procedures by cooperating with them,  and to illustrate how their subsequent recommendations have been addressed,  including the recommendations of special procedures that have previously visited  the country;    5.  Decides to continue its examination of the situation of human rights in  the Islamic Republic of Iran at its sixty-second session under the item entitled  “Promotion and protection of human rights”.