Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2009  [on the report of the Third Committee (A/64/439/Add.3)]  64/176. 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, 0F1 the International Covenants on Human Rights1F2 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 63/191 of  18 December 2008,    1.  Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to  resolution 63/191, 2F3 which highlights many areas of continuing concern with respect  to the promotion and protection of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and  notes with particular concern negative developments in the area of civil and political  rights since June 2008, and which discusses some positive achievements with  respect to economic and social indicators;    2.  Expresses deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights  violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran relating to, inter alia:    (a)  Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,  including flogging and amputations;    (b)  The continuing high incidence and increase in the rate of executions  carried out in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards, including public  executions and executions of juveniles;    (c)  Stoning as a method of execution and persons in prison who continue to  face sentences of execution by stoning, notwithstanding a circular from the head of  the judiciary prohibiting stoning;  _______________  1 Resolution 217 A (III).  2 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.  3 A/64/357.   A/RES/64/176  2    (d)  Arrests, violent repression and sentencing of women exercising their  right to peaceful assembly, a campaign of intimidation against women’s human  rights defenders, and continuing discrimination against women and girls in law and  in practice;    (e)  Increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against  persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, recognized or  otherwise, including, inter alia, Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, Kurds, Christians, Jews,  Sufis and Sunni Muslims and their defenders, and, in particular, attacks on Baha’is  and their faith in State-sponsored media, increasing evidence of efforts by the State  to identify, monitor and arbitrarily detain Baha’is, preventing members of the Baha’i  faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically, and  the continuing detention of seven Baha’i leaders who were arrested in March and  May 2008 and faced with serious charges without adequate or timely access to legal  representation;    (f)  Ongoing, systemic and serious restrictions of freedom of peaceful  assembly and association and freedom of opinion and expression, including those  imposed on the media, Internet users and trade unions, and increasing harassment,  intimidation and persecution of political opponents and human rights defenders  from all sectors of Iranian society, including arrests and violent repression of labour  leaders, labour members peacefully assembling and students, noting in particular the  forced closure of the Defenders of Human Rights Centre and the subsequent arrest  and harassment of a number of its staff;    (g)  Severe limitations and restrictions on freedom of religion and belief,  including arbitrary arrest, indefinite detention and lengthy jail sentences for those  exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief;    (h)  Persistent failure to uphold due process of law rights, and violation of the  rights of detainees, including defendants held without charge or held  incommunicado, the systematic and arbitrary use of prolonged solitary confinement,  and lack of timely access to legal representation;    3.  Also expresses particular concern at the response of the Government of  the Islamic Republic of Iran following the presidential election of 12 June 2009 and  the concurrent rise in human rights violations including, inter alia:    (a)  Harassment, intimidation and persecution, including by arbitrary arrest,  detention or disappearance, of opposition members, journalists and other media  representatives, bloggers, lawyers, clerics, human rights defenders, academics,  students and others exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and association and  freedom of opinion and expression, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries;    (b)  Use of violence and intimidation by Government-directed militias to  forcibly disperse Iranian citizens engaged in the peaceful exercise of freedom of  association, also resulting in numerous deaths and injuries;    (c)  Interfering in the right to a fair trial by, inter alia, holding mass trials and  denying defendants access to adequate legal representation, resulting in death  sentences and lengthy jail sentences for some individuals;    (d)  Reported use of forced confessions and abuse of prisoners including,  inter alia, rape and torture;    (e)  Escalation in the rate of executions in the months following the election;   A/RES/64/176  3    (f)  Further restrictions on freedom of expression, including severe  restrictions on media coverage of public demonstrations and the disruption of  telecommunications and Internet technology and the forcible closure of the offices  of several organizations involved in the investigation of the situation of persons  imprisoned following the election;     (g)  Arbitrary arrest and detention of employees of foreign embassies in  Tehran, thereby unduly interfering with the performance of the functions of those  missions in a manner inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic  Relations 3F4 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations; 4F5    4.  Calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the  substantive concerns highlighted in the report of the Secretary-General and 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, in particular:    (a)  To eliminate, in law and in practice, amputations, flogging and other  forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment;    (b)  To abolish, in law and in practice, public executions and other executions  carried out in the absence of respect for internationally recognized safeguards;    (c)  To abolish, pursuant to its obligations under article 37 of the Convention  on the Rights of the Child 5F6 and article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and  Political Rights, 0H2 executions of persons who at the time of their offence were under  the age of 18;    (d)  To abolish the use of stoning as a method of execution;    (e)  To eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and other  human rights violations against women and girls;    (f)  To eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and other  human rights violations against persons belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic or  other minorities, recognized or otherwise, to refrain from monitoring individuals on  the basis of their religious beliefs, and to ensure that access of minorities to  education and employment is on par with that of all Iranians;    (g)  To implement, inter alia, the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur on  religious intolerance, 6F7 which recommended ways in which the Islamic Republic of  Iran could emancipate the Baha’i community, and also to accord the seven Baha’i  leaders held since 2008 the due process of law rights they are constitutionally  guaranteed, including the right to adequate legal representation and the right to a  fair trial;    (h)  To end the harassment, intimidation and persecution of political  opponents and human rights defenders, students, academics, journalists, other media  representatives, bloggers, clerics and lawyers, including by releasing persons  imprisoned arbitrarily or on the basis of their political views, including those  detained following the presidential election of 12 June 2009;  _______________  4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 500, No. 7310.  5 Ibid., vol. 596, No. 8638.  6 Ibid., vol. 1577, No. 27531.  7 See E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2.   A/RES/64/176  4    (i)  To uphold due process of law rights, to end impunity for human rights  violations, and to launch a credible, impartial and independent investigation into the  allegations of post-presidential election human rights violations;    5.  Further calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to  redress its inadequate record of cooperation with international human rights  mechanisms by, inter alia, reporting pursuant to its obligations to the treaty bodies  of the instruments to which it is a party and cooperating fully with all international  human rights mechanisms, and encourages the Government of the Islamic Republic  of Iran to continue exploring cooperation on human rights and justice reform with  the United Nations, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner  for Human Rights;    6.  Expresses deep concern that, despite the Islamic Republic of Iran’s  standing invitation to all thematic special procedures mandate holders, it has not  fulfilled any requests from those special mechanisms to visit the country in four  years and has not answered numerous communications from those special  mechanisms, and strongly urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to  fully cooperate with the special mechanisms, including facilitating their visits to its  territory, so that credible and independent investigations of all allegations of human  rights violations, particularly those arising since 12 June 2009, can be conducted;    7.  Invites the thematic special procedures mandate holders to pay particular  attention to the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in particular  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 promotion and protection of the right to  freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of  human rights defenders, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the Working  Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances, with a view to investigating and  reporting on the various human rights violations that have arisen since 12 June  2009;    8.  Requests the Secretary-General to report to it at its sixty-fifth session on  the progress made in the implementation of the present resolution;    9.  Decides to continue its examination of the situation of human rights in  the Islamic Republic of Iran at its sixty-fifth session under the item entitled  “Promotion and protection of human rights”.