Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 18 December 2008  [on the report of the Third Committee (A/63/430/Add.3 and Corr.1)]  63/191. 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 62/168 of  18 December 2007,    1.  Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General submitted pursuant to  its resolution 62/168,2F 3 which highlights a broad range of serious human rights  violations, legal and institutional gaps and impediments to the protection of human  rights and which discusses some positive developments in a few areas;    2.  Expresses its deep concern at serious 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 of executions carried out in the absence of  internationally recognized safeguards, including public executions and executions of  juveniles;    (c)  Persons in prison who continue to face sentences of execution by  stoning;    (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;  _______________  1 Resolution 217 A (III).  2 Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.  3 A/63/459.   A/RES/63/191  2    (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 and monitor Baha’is, preventing members of the Baha’i faith from  attending university and from sustaining themselves economically, and the arrest and  detention of seven Baha’i leaders without charge or 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, in particular with  regard to the 2008 Majles electoral process;    (g)  Severe limitations and restrictions on freedom of religion and belief,  including the provision in the proposed draft penal code that sets out a mandatory  death sentence for apostasy;    (h)  Persistent failure to uphold due process of law rights, and violation of the  rights of detainees, including the systematic and arbitrary use of prolonged solitary  confinement;    3.  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 3F4 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, 4F5 which recommended ways in which the Islamic Republic of  Iran could emancipate the Baha’i community;  _______________  4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.  5 See E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2.   A/RES/63/191  3    (h)  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;    (i)  To uphold due process of law rights and to end impunity for human  rights violations;    4.  Notes the positive, though limited, gains, developments and steps  discussed in the report of the Secretary-General, but remains concerned that many  such steps have yet to be implemented in law or in practice;    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, including facilitating visits to its territory of special  procedures mandate holders, 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.  Requests an update from the Secretary-General on the situation of human  rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including its cooperation with international  human rights mechanisms, at its sixty-fourth session;    7.  Decides to continue its examination of the situation of human rights in  the Islamic Republic of Iran at its sixty-fourth session under the item entitled  “Promotion and protection of human rights”.