1997 UN Commission on Human Rights Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran
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A/52/472
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Fifty-second session
Agenda item 112 (c)
HUMAN RIGHTS QUESTIONS: HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATIONS AND REPORTS OF
SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS AND REPRESENTATIVES
Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the members of the General
Assembly the interim report prepared by Mr. Maurice Danby Copithorne, Special
Representative of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human
rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in accordance with Assembly resolution
51/107 of 12 December 1996 and Economic and Social Council decision 1997/264 of
22 July 1997.
Annex
INTERIM REPORT ON THE SITUATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN, PREPARED BY THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS IN ACCORDANCE WITH GENERAL ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION 51/107 AND ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
DECISION 1997/264
Summary
In
his earlier reports to the General Assembly and to the Commission on Human
Rights, the Special Representative has noted that his function was to bring the
status of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran into clear focus,
providing at the same time an indication of areas in which progress is being made
and areas in which it is needed. As he has said before, the Islamic Republic of
Iran is a complex and dynamic society and, bearing in mind that space
constraints impose a need to be selective, the Special Representative is faced
with a considerable challenge.
Freedom of expression in the Islamic Republic of Iran has become the subject of
increasing criticism in recent years. At least until the recent change in
Government, the atmosphere could reasonably be characterized as repressive. On
the other hand, in one of the many paradoxes of that society, there continued
to be a lively discourse on many subjects, including that of freedom of
expression itself. The Government has now declared substantial change in this
area to be a major priority.
The status of women in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been the subject of
wide and generally critical debate including, increasingly, within the country
itself. While there had been proposals for introducing further harsh measures,
there have now been promising indicators of change, such as the recent
appointment of a woman as a Vice-President.
With regard to legal subjects, there remain a number of dark spots. The use of
the death penalty has continued to rise sharply, despite the generally accepted
conditions to be applied by those States that maintain the death penalty.
Convictions for apostasy continue to be rendered occasionally by Iranian
courts, despite the fact that no such crime is known in the Islamic Criminal
Code. The sentence of stoning is provided for in the Code, and four cases of
its use have been reported in the last 18 months.
There has been no progress on the issue of the fatwa against the British writer
Salman Rushdie. There is also no improvement to report on the condition of the
Baha'is in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Several outstanding court cases
outside the country involving the murder of Iranian dissidents abroad have now
resulted in convictions. In one case, a connection to the Iranian authorities
was found to exist despite the denials of the Government.
Presidential elections were held in May 1997. Only four candidates were
approved to run in the election, but a lively campaign ensued. It was generally
considered that the voters had a choice, and that they opted for change. This
resulted in a broadly if not uniformly held view that change would now occur
and that significant improvement in the human rights situation in the Islamic
Republic of Iran would follow. The new Government has made a number of policy
statements that reflect a clear intention that this should happen.
CONTENTS
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Paragraphs |
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I. |
1 - 7 |
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II. |
8 - 10 |
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III. |
11 - 14 |
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IV. |
15 - 34 |
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A. |
15 - 21 |
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B. |
22 - 30 |
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C. |
Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment |
31 - 34 |
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V. |
35 - 38 |
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VI. |
39 - 42 |
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VII. |
43 - 47 |
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VIII. |
48 - 64 |
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A. |
48 - 53 |
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B. |
54 - 60 |
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C. |
61 - 63 |
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D. |
64 |
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IX. |
CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN |
65 - 66 |
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X. |
67 - 68 |
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Appendices |
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I. |
Correspondence between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Special Representative |
20 |
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II. |
23 |
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III. |
25 |
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IV. |
27 |
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. This interim report is the second substantive report the Special Representative
has submitted to the General Assembly. During the interim the Islamic Republic
of Iran has gone through turbulent times, which have had an impact on the human
rights situation in the country. There has been some progress and some
backsliding, but in most areas the pace of change for the better has been
imperceptible, or at least so modest as to represent little substantive
improvement.
2. In the present report, the Special Representative has highlighted
developments in a number of sectors that he considers worthy of note. Some
represent recent activity in sectors of long-standing concern. Others are being
brought forward for the first time. There are certainly many areas in which
change is required in order to meet existing international norms and, the
Special Representative would argue, to respect the freedom and dignity of the
Iranian people. He has highlighted freedom of expression and certain legal
subjects, as well as several of the subjects he reports on regularly.
3. A major event in the Islamic Republic of Iran during the period under review
was the presidential election, which is reported on in greater detail below.
Here, the Special Representative wants to draw attention to the potential
implications of the election results for human rights in the Islamic Republic
of Iran. Turning first to the 4 August inauguration speech of President
Khatami, it is noteworthy from a human rights perspective that he devoted
considerable attention to opening up to the people the discourse about government
policy:
"The Government must promote the culture and capacity for participation,
evaluation, critique and reform. It must itself be the model for tolerance and
take the lead in empowerment for the people."
4. The President also referred to the need to prevent any violation of the
integrity, dignity and constitutional rights and freedom of individuals.
5. In subsequent statements, particularly, those entitled "political
development policies" of the executive branches, emphasis was again placed
on respecting human dignity and integrity; ensuring civil rights and freedom;
defending public trials and the right to a lawyer; fostering an independent
mass media; and fostering the principles of pluralism and diversity. The major
ministries issued "objectives, policies and programmes" papers. Those
of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance
and the Ministry of Information (Intelligence) reiterated the spirit of the
President's statements in greater detail as applicable to those ministries. The
Minister of Culture was quoted by a foreign journalist as saying, "I
disagree with almost all the present practices in the Culture Ministry. We have
to provide an atmosphere of creativity, tranquillity and freedom."
6. It is not the Special Representative's role to critique government policy
statements. Nevertheless, in these particular circumstances, he believes it
important to highlight the declaration of the intentions of the new Government
in most if not all the areas captured in the concept of human rights. He will
watch with great interest to see how those policy statements are implemented,
with particular reference to their positive impact on the status of human
rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
7. Finally, the Special Representative wishes to refer to the question of
another visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on his part. He has been in touch
with the Iranian authorities about such a visit for some time. In late August
he was informed that, owing to the change of Government, there had not yet been
an opportunity to consider extending an invitation to him. The Special
Representative is hopeful that he will be accorded full cooperation in that
regard.
II. THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE'S ACTIVITIES AND SOURCES
8. On 9 April 1997 the Special Representative personally introduced his second
report to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1997/63). He returned to
Geneva from 20 to 22 May and from 25 to 29 August 1997 in order to conduct a
number of consultations, to participate in the fourth meeting of special
rapporteurs, special representatives, experts and chairmen of working groups of
the Commission on Human Rights, which took place from 21 to 23 May 1997, and to
draft the present interim report to the General Assembly. En route from Geneva,
the Special Representative made a stopover visit to London, a city with a major
Iranian constituency, from 23 to 25 May 1997. While in Geneva, the Special
Representative held consultations with representatives of the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, officials of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights/Centre for Human Rights, officials of the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and representatives of
several non-governmental organizations. He also received representations from
interested persons concerning alleged human rights violations in the Islamic
Republic of Iran.
9. In seeking to fulfil his mandate, the Special Representative has looked to
many sources for information, including the Government of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, other Governments, individuals, non-governmental organizations and the
Iranian and international media. In Geneva, the Special Representative held
interviews with representatives of several non-governmental organizations,
among them Amnesty International, the Baha'i International Community, the
Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, the National Council of Resistance of
Iran and the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence.
10. During the period mentioned above, the Special Representative also received
written communications from the following non-governmental organizations: About
Iran; Amnesty International; Article 19, International Centre against
Censorship; Association of Iranian Political Prisoners in Exile; Association
pour la défense des prisonniers politiques et d'opinion en Iran; Baha'i
International Community; Comité iranien contre la répression et le terrorisme
d'état; Committee for Defence of Liberty in Iran; Constitutionalist Movement of
Iran; Cross-Connections International; Defenders of Islam in Iran; Democratic
Party of Iranian Kurdistan; Democratic Union of Iranian Workers; Dra. Homa
Darabi Foundation; Foundation for Democracy in Iran; Human Rights Watch/Middle
East; International PEN Writers in Prison Committee; Iranian People Fedaii
Guerrillas; Ligue iranienne des droits de l'homme en exil; National Council of
Resistance of Iran; Organisation for Defending Victims of Violence;
Organization of Iranian People's Fedaian (Majority); Rainbow Anti-racist
Organization; Supporters of the Iranian Muslim Nation; and World Organization
against Torture.
III. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
11. A healthy society is one in which there exists freedom of opinion and
expression and a tolerance of open discussion and dissent. This freedom is
articulated in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well
as in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In effect, the vitality of the society and of the State is promoted through a
right vested in individuals to dissent from government policy or popular
opinion and to express that dissent openly.
12. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the Special Representative has noted
before, there are "islands of liberty", one of which tolerates lively
debate about many public issues, including the freedom of expression itself.
Most recently, according to a foreign news service, there has been a lively
debate on the role of the clergy in Government and the limitations on the
authority of the President. There are, however, boundaries to free expression,
sometimes explicit and sometimes implicit. In the view of the Special
Representative, it can be fairly said that the rights of the press and the
media in general, the film industry, authors, publishers and bookstores appear
in practice to be significantly circumscribed. Various means of official and
unofficial control exist. Among them are the press tribunal, restricted access
to newsprint, need for approval of book and film manuscripts, various licensing
systems and unofficial strong-arm enforcers of their own view of religion and
morality.
13. It was less than two years ago that the United Nations Special Rapporteur
on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression,
Abid Hussain, visited the Islamic Republic of Iran and prepared a report for
the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1996/39/Add.2). The Special
Representative has decided to revisit the subject at this time because of
recent developments in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The report of Mr. Hussain
is the starting point for this discussion, and the Special Representative would
particularly call attention to section II, Concluding observations, and section
III, Recommendations, of that report. The latter contains a significant list of
changes that need to be made by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
in order to meet international norms and, in particular, nourish a culture of
free expression. The Special Representative would also draw attention to the
sections of his own earlier reports on freedom of expression, namely, section
VI, Freedom of the media, in E/CN.4/1996/59, and section IV, Freedom of
expression, in E/CN.4/1997/63. In appendix II to the present report, the
Special Representative notes some of what he views to be indicative recent
incidents in the Islamic Republic of Iran that make it clear that the need for
change remains urgent.
14. Finally, the Special Representative would take particular note of the case
of Faraj Sarkouhi, the chief editor of the monthly magazine Adineh. The
early stages of this matter were noted in the report of the Special
Representative to the Commission on Human Rights (E/CN.4/1997/63, para. 45). In
June, Mr. Sarkouhi was reportedly charged with spying for a foreign country and
attempting to leave the country illegally. The Special Representative requested
information and made representation to the Government of the Islamic Republic
of Iran on two occasions (see appendix I). There were international calls that
the trial be held in public, and a question arose as to his freedom to have
counsel of his choice. In mid-September, it was reported that Mr. Sarkouhi had
been tried and convicted in camera of carrying out propaganda against the
Islamic Republic of Iran. The propaganda was apparently the widely published
letter dated 3 January 1997, in which he described his initial arrest and his
mistreatment while in detention. He was sentenced to one year in prison less
time already spent in detention. His family's lawyer stated to a foreign wire
service that she had never been permitted to meet with him in jail nor was she
allowed to attend the closed trial.
IV. LEGAL SUBJECTS
A. Executions
15.
The Special Representative had occasion to report to the Commission on Human
Rights earlier this year that the number of executions in the Islamic Republic
of Iran in 1996 had reportedly at least doubled over that of 1995
(E/CN.4/1997/63, para. 27). The Special Representative pointed out that his
request for official statistics in that regard had gone unanswered.
16. The Special Representative has now been presented with external reports
indicating that the number of publicly announced executions for the period from
January to September 1997 reached 137, a rate of increase that if continued to
the end of the year would likely constitute a further doubling. In addition,
there continue to be troubling reports of disappearances and deaths under
suspicious circumstances.
17. In August 1997 there was a report on Iranian radio stating that a new law
would "increase the seriousness of [drug] trafficking tenfold" and
give judicial authorities "a free hand" to deal with drug
traffickers. Public hanging also appears to be on the increase.
18. The Special Representative wishes to draw attention to resolution 1997/12
adopted by the Commission on Human Rights on 3 April 1997. In the resolution,
the Commission, inter alia:
- Urged all States maintaining the death penalty to comply fully with their
obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
notably not to impose it for any but the most serious crimes;
- Called upon all States that still maintained the death penalty to observe
safeguards guaranteeing the protection of the rights of those facing the death
penalty set out in the annex to Economic and Social Council resolution 1984/50
of 25 May 1984;
- Called upon all States that had not yet abolished the death penalty
progressively to restrict the number of offences for which the death penalty
might be imposed;
- Called upon States that retained the death penalty to make available to the
public information with regard to its imposition.
19. The Special Representative recalls the concerns about the use of the death
penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran that he recorded in his report to the
Commission on Human Rights in February 1997 (E/CN.4/1997/63, paras. 28 and 29).
Noting the apparent continuing sharp growth in the use of the death penalty,
the Special Representative recommends that the Government, as a matter of
urgency, undertake a programme to reverse this trend and, specifically, to
comply with the four provisions of the resolution cited above.
20. Without in any way diminishing the worth of any person executed recently in
the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Special Representative is compelled to single
out the case of Mohammad Assadi for particular mention. Mr. Assadi, aged 68,
was a lawyer in Tehran who had been in prison since 1993. He is reported to
have been convicted of participating in a coup d'état plot in 1990 and
having been a freemason and a member of the Lions Clubs International. He was
condemned to death for those acts and executed on 9 August 1997.
21. The Special Representative made urgent representations about the Assadi
case on 9 April 1997 seeking information, and on 20 May 1997 renewed a request
for clemency (see appendix I). No answer was received to either representation.
The Special Representative deplores the failure of the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to his request for full details of the
charges brought against Mr. Assadi and the conviction entered against him, and
its refusal to grant clemency in a case that, according to the information
available to the Special Representative, may have involved no serious criminal
activity.
B. Apostasy and conversion
22. Apostasy seems to be a term not in wide currency in the world today. Its
definition in one English-language dictionary is "renunciation of a belief
or faith, especially religious". It is unclear to the Special
Representative how many countries regard apostasy as an offence. In the Islamic
Republic of Iran it appears to be used currently in two situations, one to
describe the conduct of the British writer Salman Rushdie and the other as an
offence of which adherents of the Baha'i faith and sometimes Christian
Protestants are from time to time charged and sometimes convicted. To the
Special Representative's knowledge, there are currently three persons - all
Baha'is - standing convicted of apostasy.
23. There would appear to be no provision in codified Iranian law making
apostasy a crime. The Special Rapporteur on the question of religious
intolerance was told in December 1995 that "under the Civil Code,
conversion was not a crime and that no one had been punished for
converting" (E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2, para. 21).
24. That, however, is not the end of the matter. Article 167 of the Iranian
Constitution authorizes judges, in the absence of applicable law, to apply
"authoritative Islamic sources and authentic fatwa". The head of the
Judiciary, Ayatollah Yazdi, has said this includes a treatise declaring that
"a national apostate will be caused to repent and in case of refusing to
repent will be executed". A "national apostate" has reportedly
been defined as an infidel who embraces Islam as an adult and later returns to
infidelity. It is thus clear that a convert to Islam who subsequently
reconverts exposes himself to prosecution and death, even though apostasy is
not a codified offence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
25. In the case of Zabihullah Mahrami, the January 1996 judgement in his first
trial by the Revolutionary Court in Yazd found that he was a Baha'i at the age
of maturity, later accepted Islam for a period of seven years and subsequently
returned to the Baha'i faith. The text of this judgement is available. On that
basis he was found to be an apostate and was sentenced to death. On appeal, it
was held that the Revolutionary Court lacked jurisdiction, and the matter was
sent back to be retried. He was apparently convicted again and sentenced to
death, although the conviction judgement is not available.
26. Another Baha'i, Musa Talibi, after several trials and appeals was sentenced
in Isfahan, on 18 August 1996, to death for apostasy. It was reported in
January 1997 that the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran had
confirmed both the Talibi and Mahrami death sentences. In February 1997, an
external wire service reported from Tehran a statement by the head of the
Revolutionary Court for the province of Tehran that the two men had been
convicted of espionage and that he had denounced as false and fallacious
reports that the men were convicted because of their religion. The Special
Representative made urgent representations on behalf of both individuals on 3
February 1997 (see appendix I).
27. A third Baha'i, Ramazan-Ali Zulfaqari, had earlier been condemned to death
for apostasy. He was reportedly later released from prison, but the apostasy
charge may not have been resolved.
28. The Special Representative considers that the right to change one's
religion is a clearly established international human rights norm, as
articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 18), the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 18, para. 2), the
Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of
Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief (article 1, para. 2) and in the
general comments on this subject by the Human Rights Committee (General Comment
22 (forty-eighth session), para. 5, of 20 July 1993 (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.1)). In his
1996 report on the Islamic Republic of Iran (E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2/para. 116),
the Special Rapporteur on the question of religious intolerance concluded:
"Likewise, with regard to proselytism, conversion and apostasy, the
Special Rapporteur reaffirms the need to respect internationally recognized
standards in the field of human rights, including freedom to change one's
religion and freedom to manifest one's religion or belief, either individually
or in community with others and in public or private, barring necessary
restrictions provided for by law."
29. The Special Representative notes that in the past, senior officials of the
Islamic Republic of Iran have attempted to distinguish between the act of
private worship, which is permitted, and more public acts such as teaching,
forming assemblies and working with the administration of the Baha'i community,
which were forbidden on the grounds that those were hostile and conspiratorial
acts that were criminal in nature. More recently, as the Special Representative
has recorded, senior officials from time to time declare that no one is
convicted in the Islamic Republic of Iran on the grounds of religion, and that
Baha'ism is not a religion but "a web of espionage activities". In
the view of the Special Representative, the publicly known facts in the Mahrami
and Talibi cases do not bear out those assertions.
30. The Special Representative urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, in recognition of the international human rights norm referred to above,
to recognize fully the rights of the individual as set out in articles 19, 20,
22 and 23 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to set aside the
convictions described above and to take appropriate steps to prevent future
prosecutions for acts of religious conversion, whether or not they be
categorized as apostasy.
C. Torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment
31. The Special Representative is deeply concerned at the continuing reports of
the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the Islamic
Republic of Iran, conduct banned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(article 5), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article
7), and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment (article 16). This is an area that requires urgent
reform in terms of both law and practice in order to meet international human
rights norms. In the present report the Special Representative will address
perhaps the most abhorrent of such practices, that of stoning.
32. The Special Representative notes that article 82 (b) of the Islamic
Criminal Code provides that adultery by a married woman shall be punished by
stoning to death. Information reaching the Special Representative suggests that
stoning has been occurring from time to time since 1979. Four cases of such
punishment in the past 18 months have come to the attention of the Special
Representative:
- An Iranian magazine reported in its July 1996 edition that Shasin
Soltan-Moradi and Mohammad-Ali Hemmati were stoned to death in June 1996 in
Orumiyeh;
- An Iranian daily reported on 13 July 1997 that Changiz Rahimi, son of Jaafar,
was sentenced to stoning for several offences, including adultery;
- An external media source reported on 20 April 1997 that a young woman in
Sanandaj, Shahgol Zamani, had been stoned to death that week;
- An external wire service story from Tehran of 12 August 1997 recounted a
story appearing in a Tehran newspaper about a 20-year-old woman in Boukan who
had been sentenced to stoning for adultery. The sentence had been carried out,
but the woman had apparently survived the ordeal.
33. It may be replied that stoning happens very rarely in the Islamic Republic
of Iran and certainly not in the major cities. The Special Representative
believes that for it to happen at all is unsustainable both legally and
morally. The fact that it is provided for in the Islamic Criminal Code does not
make it a "lawful sanction" but, in the view of the Special
Representative, serves only to encourage recourse to such punishment. The
Special Representative would note the most recent condemnation of cruel,
inhuman or degrading punishment of the Commission on Human Rights, which is
resolution 1997/38, adopted on 11 April 1997.
34. In the view of the Special Representative, there is no doubt that stoning
is a cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, as discussed in the international
instruments mentioned above. The Special Representative urges the Government of
the Islamic Republic of Iran to remove article 82 (b) from the Islamic Criminal
Code and to undertake a policy of actively suppressing recourse to such conduct
throughout the country.
V. THE STATUS OF WOMEN
35. The Special Representative has noted in the past, as indeed has his
predecessor, that the system of governance in place in the Islamic Republic of
Iran, including both its laws and its policies, does not recognize the equality
at law of men and women, and that it frequently tolerates discrimination
against women by private groups. Moreover, some senior members of the governing
circles continue to incite violence in support of discriminatory conduct
against women.
36. The Special Representative has also noted that in 1997 there is evidence of
a lively discourse under way in the Islamic Republic of Iran about the role of
women in that society. He has also noted what he has chosen to characterize as
"straws in the wind", which may suggest the prospect of change. While
he continues to be optimistic in this regard, little has come to his attention
since his report to the Human Rights Commission earlier this year
(E/CN.4/1997/63) that would support the proposition that sustained progress is now
under way. He notes, for example:
- The reports in the Iranian media in January 1997 that hospitals were to be
segregated on the basis of gender;
- The long statement by the Head of Branch 43 of the Martyr Ghoddousi Judicial
Affairs Centre, entitled "Citizens combat against offensive of the West
from the viewpoint of the law", which appeared in the Iranian daily Re'salat
in three parts in February and March 1997, and which, among other things,
provided for imprisonment of up to 12 months, fines and flogging up to 74
lashes for some offences relating to the dress code;
- The announcement carried in a Tehran daily on 28 August 1997 of a new
programme entitled, "Extension of the culture of chastity", which
would impose stricter veiling requirements.
37. On the other hand, the new President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has
appointed a woman as one of eight Vice-Presidents. Several others were reported
to have been candidates for ministerial appointments. The Special Rapporteur
has also noted that the discourse about the role of women continues. For
example, a report was carried in a Tehran daily on 25 August 1997 of an
interview with three women holding prominent positions who spoke of women being
precluded from decision-making in areas affecting them, such as education and
medicine, of women's condition as being deprived and oppressed and of the many
obstacles and barriers blocking the advancement of women according to their
competence. An article in a Tehran daily on 5 August 1997 reported the complaints
of a number of married women concerning the unfair treatment they had received
from judicial authorities in the context of matrimonial disputes.
38. The Special Representative urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to attach high priority to reforming the status of women, not only to
bring itself into compliance with international human rights norms, but also
out of respect for the dignity of the individual.
VI. THE FATWA AGAINST SALMAN RUSHDIE
39. As provided in his mandate, the Special Representative has referred to the
fatwa against Salman Rushdie in each of his previous reports to the General
Assembly and to the Commission on Human Rights.
40. The Special Representative notes that in February 1997 an Iranian
charitable foundation increased its reward to $2.5 million for the death of Mr.
Rushdie. Further, the head of the foundation, who has personal links with the
Government, was quoted in the Iranian press as saying that the reward was now
available to non-Muslims. The Special Representative would also note that the
efforts by certain Governments over recent years to reach an accommodation with
the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on this matter have been
unsuccessful.
41. The Special Representative would once again record his own condemnation of
the threat upon the life of Mr. Rushdie and state that he shares the view of
those who judge the offered reward to be an incitement to murder. The Special
Representative does not accept the view that in circumstances such as these, the
Government can disassociate itself from the decisions of an organization such
as the foundation concerned on the grounds that it is, formally at least, a
non-governmental entity.
42. The Special Representative urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to attach a high priority to this issue and to approach its settlement in
a fresh and positive manner.
VII. THE SITUATION OF THE BAHA'IS
43. The Special Representative has continued to receive reports of cases in
which the human rights of Baha'is have been breached and of situations of
discrimination and even of persecution against the members of this religious
community, including extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, refusal of
entry to universities, confiscation of property and dismissal from employment.
44. According to the information received by the Special Representative (see
appendix III), two Baha'is were killed in July 1997, and those responsible for
the deaths were enjoying impunity. Twelve Baha'is continue to be held in Iranian
prisons. In January 1997 the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences
imposed for apostasy against two Baha'is, Mr. Talibi and Mr. Mahrami, and
another Baha'i has been charged with the same offence (see paras. 25-27 above).
Being active in the Baha'i community and gathering for Baha'i meetings are in
practice considered offences. Short-term detention of Baha'is, disregard of
their private ownership of property, eviction from and confiscation of their
houses and destruction of their holy places continue to be reported.
45. In his previous reports the Special Representative has made reference to
the complaints received regarding the denial of employment, pensions and other
benefits, access to higher education and civil rights and liberties. The
Special Representative reiterates his opinion that the implementation of the
recommendations contained in the report submitted to the Commission on Human
Rights at its fifty-second session by the Special Rapporteur on the question of
religious intolerance on his visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran
(E/CN.4/1996/95/Add.2) would constitute an important first step in the
improvement of the situation of Iranian Baha'is.
46. Specifically, the recommendations concerned:
(a) The urgent revision of the death sentences passed on Baha'is and the
promulgation of amnesties or other appropriate measures to prevent the
enforcement of the penalties imposed;
(b) The lifting of the ban on the Baha'i organization to enable it to organize
itself freely through its administrative institutions;
(c) The end to discrimination in access to higher education or to employment in
the Administration;
(d) The return of confiscated personal and community property;
(e) The reconstruction of the places of worship destroyed, or at least, the
establishment of compensatory measures in favour of the Baha'i community;
(f) The lifting of restrictions regarding the burial and honouring of the dead;
(g) The elimination from passport application forms of the question on religion
in order to guarantee the freedom of movement.
47. The Special Representative recommends that the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran, as a matter of priority, proceed to implement the
recommendations of the Special Rapporteur summarized above.
VIII. OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS
A. The Islamic Human Rights Commission
48.
The Special Representative has reported on the establishment of the Islamic
Human Rights Commission by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and
has referred to its reports about its activities. The Special Representative
had a meeting in Geneva in April 1997 with a group of senior Iranian
personages, including several who were members of the Commission. He followed
up this meeting with a letter to the Executive Secretary of the Commission. In
subsequent communications to the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of
Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, the Special Representative
requested more specific information about the work of the Commission and
particularly its achievements in terms of successful interventions in response
to allegations of human rights violations. The Special Representative has not
received direct replies to those requests, but has received copies of several
recent publications of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
49. One of the publications, Appeals (No. 21, February 1997) sets out in
some 20 pages a selection of seven allegations of violations in countries
around the world other than the Islamic Republic of Iran that have been brought
to the attention of the Commission. Another publication, A Brief on the
One-Year Operation of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, January 1996-January
1997, contains a section on the Commission's human rights activities in the
Islamic Republic of Iran. In addition to noting certain structural changes
within the Commission, the report set out certain statistics, including the
following:
- Complaints received : 1,300
- Complaints found to have no probative value: 7 per cent
- Complaints found after investigation to have no merit : 14 per cent
- Complaints that "required legal advice and necessary guidance": 42
per cent
50. The Report goes on to say:
"In order to persuade the courts to have due cooperation with the
Commission and to send reports requested, several meetings have been held with
the respective judicial authorities ... It may be noted that in most cases the
Commission received good cooperation of the courts ..."
51. The Report further notes that the Commission:
"has had periodic and regular visits to prisons, judicial centres,
executive centres and the police, and has effectively conducted investigations
whenever required into an individual complaint".
52. The Special Representative would note that the President and several
members of the Islamic Human Rights Commission itself and its subcommittees are
current or former senior figures or officials in the Government. Whether the
Commission has significant freedom of action remains to be seen. In that
regard, the Special Representative recommends that the Commission move quickly
to begin publishing a detailed description of the types of complaints it is
receiving, of the interventions it is making and of the success it is having in
reversing the conduct that gives rise to the complaints.
53. The Special Representative notes the recent statement of the Commission
Secretary that the Commission will act as a bridge between the people and the
Government to realize the objectives of the new President of the Islamic
Republic of Iran. The Special Representative will follow with great interest
the progress being made in that regard.
B. Violence outside the Islamic Republic of Iran
54. In his interim report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session (A/51/479
and Add.1) and in his report to the Commission on Human Rights at its
fifty-third session (E/CN.4/1997/63), the Special Representative noted a number
of incidents of extraterritorial violence against Iranians. Although the
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran frequently denied involvement in any
of those incidents, in some of the resulting legal proceedings in foreign
courts a strong connection to that Government was asserted.
55. According to Press Release No. 38/97 issued by the Department of Justice of
the State of Berlin on 10 April 1997, a Berlin court found four persons guilty
of the assassination on 17 September 1992 of a group of four leaders of the
Democratic Party of Kurdistan-Iran, headed by Sadegh Sharafkandi, in Berlin's
Mykonos restaurant. The two main suspects in the case, Kazem Darabi, a 38-year-
old who claimed to be an Iranian agent and a former member of the Pasdaran, and
Abbas Rhayel, a Lebanese member of Hezbollah, were sentenced to life
imprisonment. Another two Lebanese nationals received sentences for complicity
of 11 years and of 5 years and 3 months, respectively. A fifth suspect was
cleared. According to the press release, the court's oral findings also
included the following statement: "The evidence has revealed the decision-
making procedures within the Iranian leadership which in the final analysis
have led to the liquidation of opposition politicians abroad". According
to German wire reports, an arrest warrant was issued for Ali Fallahian, the
former Information (Intelligence) Minister, for having played a supervisory
role in the attack.
56. The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran rejected the ruling as
unjust, biased and influenced by a propaganda campaign against the country. It
stated that the killings were the result of in-fighting within the Kurdish
opposition.
57. The Special Representative was provided with a copy of the verdict issued
on 24 January 1997 by the seventh Criminal Court of Istanbul, Turkey, headed by
Judge Iyhan Onal, condemning Reza Barzegar Massoumi, an Iranian citizen born in
Orumiyeh, to 32 years and 6 months of imprisonment with hard labour for his
participation in the premeditated murder of Zahra Rajabi (also known as Maryam
Javedan Jokar) and Ali Panah Moradi, two members of the People's Mojahedin
Organization of Iran. Mr. Massoumi was found guilty of using his acquaintance
with the victims to open the door of their apartment to the murderers.
According to the verdict, the accused stated in his confession that he had
acted under instruction of the Iranian intelligence service, specifically of
the agents Sa'eed Choobtrash (Asghar), Rahim Afshar (Rassoul), Haj Ghassem
(Zargar-Panah) and Jalal (Mohsen Kargar-Azad), who planned and committed the
murders carried out on 20 February 1996 in the Fateh suburb of Istanbul.
58. The Special Representative was also informed of several attacks against
Iranian Kurdish refugees in the Iraqi province of Suleimania, particularly
against members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan, allegedly committed
by persons working for the Iranian Government. Such attacks reportedly took
place in early April 1997, 24 June 1997 and 14 and 19 August 1997 and resulted
in 85 victims, including both dead and wounded. On 14 August 1997, Qaleb
Alizadeh and Anjad Mowlaii, two members of the Democratic Party of Iranian
Kurdistan, were murdered in the centre of Suleimania. A resident of the city
was also killed in the attack, and four other residents were wounded. On 19
August 1997, Saeed Moradi, Ali Zokaleh and Isma'il Namaki were killed during
the armed attack against the bus in which they were travelling towards
Suleimania. Nine other members of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan
were wounded. Agents of the Islamic Republic of Iran were alleged to be responsible
for both attacks.
59. According to foreign wire reports, a Bangkok criminal court had convicted
Hossein Dastgiri, an Iranian citizen, of murder and of conspiring to set off a
bomb at the Israeli embassy in Bangkok in 1994, and had sentenced him to life
imprisonment. The Special Representative was informed that the Islamic Human
Rights Commission was seeking to improve his conditions of detention.
60. To the Special Representative's knowledge, the Berlin verdict is the first
occasion in which a foreign court has clearly attributed responsibility for the
assassination of Iranian opposition figures abroad. The Special Representative
cannot ignore the finding that persons in the employ of the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, including in one case very senior members of the
Government, were directly or indirectly involved and were found to be
responsible for those acts. While noting the denials of the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran, the Special Representative is bound to view the court
decision as a finding of substantial credibility. He condemns such acts and
calls upon the Government to denounce such violence and to forswear direct or
indirect involvement in it.
C. The situation of certain religious minorities
61. In previous reports, the Special Representative has referred to the
condition of religious minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the
present report, the Special Representative wishes to refer specifically to the
Sunnis, of which there are an estimated 12 to 15 million in the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Many of the ethnic minority groups in the Islamic Republic of
Iran are in whole or in part Sunni Muslims. The great majority of Iranian
Kurds, Baluchis and Turkmens are Sunnis. In general, the Sunnis inhabit the
areas closer to the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran, although there are
reportedly close to 1 million Sunnis in Tehran.
62. Sunni activists state that they, along with other religious minorities, are
denied by law or practice access to such government positions as cabinet
minister, ambassador, provincial governor, mayor and the like. They allege the
destruction of Sunni schools and mosques and the imprisonment, execution and
assassination of Sunni leaders. There are, in addition, other specific allegations.
63. While some of this information may be difficult to corroborate, the Special
Representative is left with the clear impression that the right of freedom of
religion is not being respected with regard to the Sunni minority. In the
coming months, the Special Representative will be pursuing enquiries with the
Government about the allegations and looks forward to its cooperation in that
regard.
D. Democracy
64. Presidential elections were held in the Islamic Republic of Iran on 23 May
1997. A total of 238 individuals had applied for permission to run in the
election, including 9 women; 4 were ultimately approved by the Guardian
Council. Iranian and foreign press reports seem to have uniformly characterized
the debate in the final weeks as open and lively. Many described the election
as offering a real choice. The winner, Mohammad Khatami, was reported to have
received some 21 million of the 31 million votes cast. There were apparently no
significant complaints of election irregularities, nor was there any annulment
of election results as there had been after the 1995 Majiles elections.
IX. CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ISLAMIC
REPUBLIC OF IRAN
65.
The correspondence between the Special Representative and the Permanent
Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at
Geneva during the period from February to August 1997 is set out in appendix I
to the present report. It consists in part of requests for information on
individual cases. Also during the period, the Special Representative sent to
the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran either in his own name or
jointly with special rapporteurs, a number of urgent communications referring
to individual cases. The Special Representative appealed to the Iranian Government
to ensure that those affected benefited fully from all the internationally
recognized safeguards, particularly those provided for in the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In some cases other international
instruments were involved, including the safeguards guaranteeing protection of
the rights of those facing the death penalty, adopted by the Economic and
Social Council in its resolution 1984/50 of 25 May 1984, the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, adopted by the General Assembly in its resolution 44/25 of
20 November 1989, and the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the
Administration of Juvenile Justice (the Beijing Rules), adopted by the Assembly
in its resolution 40/33 of 29 November 1985.
66. The Special Representative is concerned at the low rate of response by the
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in some cases at the unhelpful
answers. He plans to discuss the problem with the Iranian authorities in the
context of improving cooperation.
X. CONCLUSIONS
67. In the present and previous reports to the General Assembly and to the
Commission on Human Rights, the Special Representative has attempted to
identify at least some of the areas in which improvement was being made or at
least to note the existence of "straws in the wind" suggesting that
improvement could be on the way. He has also attempted to identify some of the
areas in which any sign of improvement was hard to discern; indeed, backsliding
seemed to be an accurate description. He has in the present report noted a
number of the areas falling into the latter category, in each of which he has
made recommendations.
68. Perhaps the most significant development of the period under review was the
election of the new President and the very real prospect that the Islamic
Republic of Iran is now in a position to move forward in matters concerning the
freedom and dignity of its citizens. The areas highlighted in the report would
be an excellent agenda for change - change which is long overdue. The Special Representative
is all too aware, however, that the constraints of power often temper if not
defeat the promises of an election. In the case of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, the people do not deserve to wait any longer. The Special Representative
will watch developments with great interest.
APPENDIX I
Correspondence between the Government of the
Islamic Republic of Iran and the Special Representative
1. On 24 January 1997 the Special Representative and the Special Rapporteur on
torture transmitted to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic
of Iran a joint urgent appeal requesting that the right to physical and mental
integrity of Hojjatoleslam val Muslimin Sheikh Mohammad Amin Ghafoori, his wife
and Hojjatoleslam val Muslimin Sayed Hossein Fali be protected. Both men were
said to be followers of the Grand Ayatollah Shirazi and were arrested on 14
January 1997 in Qom. There has been no reply.
2. On 3 February 1997 the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions and the Special Representative sent to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran a joint urgent appeal on behalf
of Zabihullah Mahrami and Musa Talibi, who were sentenced to death reportedly
on the basis of their religious beliefs, particularly because of their
adherence to the Baha'i faith. There has been no reply. In late January 1997
reports were received that the Supreme Court of the Islamic Republic of Iran
had confirmed their death sentences on charges of apostasy.
3. The Special Representative sent to the Permanent Representative of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, on 11 February
1997, a letter requesting information on the situation of Faraj Sarkouhi,
editor of Adineh, a literary magazine, and his brother Ismail, who were
arrested on 27 January 1997 in Tehran. It was alleged that their arrests were
in connection with a letter from Faraj Sarkouhi dated 3 January 1997 denouncing
his mistreatment during an earlier detention and with their signatures on an
open letter of 1994 addressed to the President of the Republic calling for
greater freedom of expression. On 7 March 1997, the Permanent Representative
replied to the letter of the Special Representative giving information provided
by the relevant authorities in Tehran (the text of the letter is provided in
appendix IV). On 2 July 1997 the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary
or arbitrary executions, on the promotion and protection of the right to
freedom of opinion and expression and on the independence of judges and
lawyers, along with the Special Representative, sent a joint urgent appeal to
the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran requesting a
clarification of the circumstances of the arrest and detention of Mr. Sarkouhi
and for an assurance that his rights would be guaranteed. On 16 July 1997 the
Government replied with information that Mr. Sarkouhi had been arrested on 2
February 1997 on charges of espionage and attempting to leave the country
illegally, that he had neither been tried nor convicted and that he enjoyed and
will enjoy all legal rights in conformity with due process of law, including
the right to a fair trial and to a defence lawyer (the text of the letter is
provided in appendix IV).
4. On 20 February 1997 the Special Representative sent to the Permanent
Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at
Geneva a letter requesting information on the arrest in March and April 1996 of
32 women in the eastern and western provinces of Azerbaijan who were said to
remain in detention without being charged or tried. There has been no reply.
5. On 25 February 1997 the Special Representative sent a new letter to the
Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
Office at Geneva appealing to the Government to ensure that the right to
physical and mental integrity of 13 persons arrested in mid-November 1996 in
eastern and western Azerbaijan would be protected. Those arrested were said to
be sympathetic to the Azeri nationalist cause. There has been no reply.
6. The Special Representative sent to the Permanent Representative of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva a letter dated
12 March 1997 requesting information on the situation of Abbas
Nava'i-Roshandel, the place of his detention and the basis for his arrest. By a
letter dated 20 June 1997, the Permanent Representative advised that the
Iranian police had not found any record of his arrest or detention (the text of
the letter is provided in appendix IV).
7. On 9 April 1997 the Special Representative sent a letter to the Permanent
Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at
Geneva appealing to the Government to consider, in the event that all legal
remedies had been fully exhausted, granting clemency to Mohammad Assadi, a
lawyer at the Tehran bar, aged 68, sentenced to death on charges that appeared
to be political. The Special Representative also requested information as to
the wording of and the exact charges brought against Mr. Assadi and the
conviction entered against him. By a letter dated 20 May 1997, the Special
Representative reiterated his appeal to the Iranian Government to consider
urgently granting clemency to this person and to investigate allegations that
Mr. Assadi had not received any medical treatment during his detention and that
his trial had been unfair. No response was received.
8. On 9 April 1997 the Special Representative requested to be informed of the
results of the investigation into the death of Ebrahim Zalzadeh, a writer and
journalist, aged 49, whose corpse was found on 29 March 1997 with multiple stab
wounds to the chest. Mr. Zalzadeh was the editor of the monthly magazine Me'yar
and the director of the publishing house Ebtekar. By a letter dated 14 August
1997, the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the
United Nations Office at Geneva informed the Special Representative that the
case was under investigation by the police and the judiciary, and that Mr.
Zalzadeh's death had been caused by a sharp-pointed object pierced into his
heart (the text of the letter is provided in appendix IV).
9. The Special Representative sent a letter to the Permanent Representative of
the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva on 16 April
1997 requesting information regarding an incident of poisoning of 60 Iranian
Kurdish refugees in the Bazian camp in Iraq, allegedly committed by Iranian
agents. By a letter dated 5 June 1997, the Permanent Representative of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva stated that his
Government categorically rejected such allegations, adding that since the
alleged incident had occurred in the territory of Iraq, it was impossible to
acquire any information (the text of the letter is provided in appendix IV).
10. The Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
and the Special Representative sent, on 14 July 1997, a joint urgent appeal to
the Iranian Minister for Foreign Affairs requesting the Government to ensure
the right to life and physical integrity of Hossein Dowlatkhah, a 58-year-old
businessman sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran on charges of
swindling investors, corruption and embezzlement, and to flogging for
organizing "lavish parties" with drugs. His appeal to the Supreme
Court had been rejected. There has been no reply.
APPENDIX II
A selection of recent reports illustrating
constraints against
freedom of expression in the Islamic Republic of Iran
1.
In January 1996 Abbas Maroufi, the editor of the magazine Gardoon, was
sentenced to 35 lashes and 6 months' imprisonment after being convicted of
publishing lies, of insulting the leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran and of
publishing poems deemed immoral. Mr. Maroufi subsequently left the Islamic
Republic of Iran, apparently without the sentence being implemented.
2. In March 1996 the newspaper Salam was reported by the Islamic
Republic News Agency to have been banned for two days because of a story it had
published about a member of the leader's office having taken part in the
Guardian Council's session on evaluating eligibility of the candidates.
3. In May 1996 a Farsi-language newspaper in London published an interview with
the screenwriter Bahram Beizaie in which he talked of the difficulty in getting
approval for his scripts. While in the past scripts had been rejected or
approved, the response now was more often no response, or requests for "small
changes", such as changing a leading role from a female to a male part.
Mr. Beizaie said that in some cases he had been obliged to deny that a script
was his work so that a film could be made and others could be employed. Mr.
Beizaie suggested that for every 60 films made in the Islamic Republic of Iran
each year, there were at least 60 prevented from being made.
4. In June 1996 a novelist, Houshang Gholshiri, said in an interview with a
German newspaper that "we writers today live in fear and terror". He
referred to the attack on the Morgh-e-Amin bookstore in August 1995 and the
suspicious death of Ahmad Miralaiee.
5. In August 1996 the editor Abbas Maroufi described in a foreign publication
the pressure that writers and editors were placed under. He described his own
experience with a press jury. He noted that no private claimant had accused him
of a private crime but he found himself facing private complaints of his having
committed public crimes. He noted that of the some 600 journals printed in the
Islamic Republic of Iran, fewer than 10 could be considered to provide
independent coverage of cultural, social and political issues.
6. In November 1996 Salam reported that screening permits had been
cancelled for two films by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Gabbeh and Bread and
Flower Pots (the latter released in English under the title Moment of
Innocence). The films were said to have previously received all necessary
licenses but then to have become "captive to factional dogmas".
7. In November 1996 a Farsi-language newspaper in London reported that Ali
Larijani, head of the radio and television authority, had defended the
television programme "Hoviyat", which had been heavily criticized for
its harsh attacks on Iranian intellectuals. Mr. Larijani was quoted as saying,
"should we in the Islamic Republic sit quietly for you to write whatever
you want to? Are these so-called science, wisdom and freedom and scientific
discussion? These are insults to the whole system. Therefore the main argument
is ... on destruction, destruction of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic
State".
8. In December 1996 an exiled writers' association announced the arrest of
Mehdi Parham, a well-known writer and translator, and the disappearance of
Mohammed Hossein Tahmasbpour, a well-known Azeri-language poet.
9. In January 1997 a foreign media source reported that the Association of
Iranian Writers in Exile had announced the arrest in December 1996 in Mashad of
the writer and researcher Kalimallah Tavahhadi, who was working on a series of
volumes on the Kurds.
10. In March 1997 a foreign radio source reported that a cultural quarterly, Zendeh
Roud, was suspended without explanation.
11. In April 1997 a foreign wire service reported from Tehran that the body had
been found of Abraham Zal Zadeli, the editor of the literary monthly Me'yar,
who had been arrested by security agents the previous month.
12. In April 1997 Salam reported that magazine editor Mohammad Sadeq
Javadi Hessar had been banned from all journalistic work for 10 years after
being convicted of causing public confusion and provoking antagonism between
universities and seminaries. The conviction was to be appealed.
13. In May 1997 the Kayhan daily reported that Aftabgardan, a
children's magazine, had been fined and banned under articles 22 and 514 of the
Islamic Criminal Code for an article critical of television coverage of the
presidential election campaign.
14. In June 1997 a foreign news service published an account by Houshang
Gholshiri of the humiliating conditions under which the signatories of the 1994
petition of 134 writers had been interrogated by Iranian security officials.
15. In July 1997 the Iran daily reported that the press court had found
the publisher of the monthly Sobh guilty of insulting the Minister of Posts
and Telegraphs and had imposed a fine and a one-month suspension.
16. In August 1997 a foreign wire service in Tehran reported new rules
promulgated by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance requiring that
Iranian producers intending to sell international screening rights to foreign
distributors submit their contracts for ministerial approval.
17. In August 1997 a foreign radio service reported that Mr. Gholshiri had been
prevented from leaving for Germany to meet with his publishers and translators.
18. In August 1997 the Tehran offices of the monthly Iran-e Farda were
reported to have been attacked by unidentified individuals. The deputy Minister
for Culture and Islamic Guidance condemned the attack.
APPENDIX III
Information on the situation of the Baha'is
1. The Special Representative was informed that two Baha'is were killed in July
1997. Masha'llah Enayait, a 63-year-old Iranian Baha'i, died on 4 July 1997
after being severely beaten while in custody in prison in Isfahan. He was arrested
under circumstances that are not clear during a visit to his native village of
Ardistan to attend a Baha'i meeting. It was reported that on his death
certificate, under the item "cause of death", the doctor had entered
"will be known later". Another Baha'i, Shahram Reza'i, a conscript in
the army, was shot in the head on 6 July 1997 by his superior officer on a
military base close to Rasht. The officer concerned, who reportedly was
responsible for weapons training, maintained that the bullets were fired in
error and was released after a few days. It was said that because the dead
soldier was a Baha'i, the court excused the officer from paying the blood money
normally required in such cases.
2. The Special Representative was informed that 12 Baha'is continued to be held
in Iranian prisons allegedly because of their beliefs, among them Bihnam
Mithaqi and Kayvan Khalajabadi, who were visited by the Special Representative
in Evin prison in February 1996. The Special Representative was informed that
after his visit the Supreme Court confirmed the death sentences against them.
They are reported to have written to the public prosecutor asking for the
verdict to be rescinded.
3. The death sentences imposed for apostasy against Musa Talibi and Zabihullah
Mahrami were also confirmed by the Supreme Court in January 1997, according to
the information conveyed orally to their relatives during prison visits. The
Special Representative, together with the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,
summary or arbitrary executions, has sent a joint urgent appeal to the
Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning those cases.
4. Arman Damishqi and Kurush Dhabihi, arrested for misconduct in early 1996,
were reportedly told that they must recant their faith in order to be freed.
They refused to recant and were sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. It was
further stated that Muslims who were arrested along with them for the same
offence were later released.
5. The Special Representative was informed that two Baha'is who were serving a
three-year sentence, Mansur Haddadam and Kamyar Ruhi, had been convicted of
being active in the Baha'i community, of gathering for Baha'i meetings in a
private house and of working against the security of the country by organizing
a Baha'i children's art exhibition.
6. Other Baha'is who are being held in Iranian prisons are Jamal Hajipur and
Mansur Mihrabkhani, arrested on 19 May 1997 in Bujnurd, Nasir Iqani, arrested
in August 1997 in Simnan, and Hushang Mazlumian, arrested in August 1997 in
Aliabad Gorgan.
7. The practices of arresting Baha'is and detaining them for short periods and
of summoning Baha'is to Ministry of Intelligence agencies on various pretexts
were also denounced. It was said that during the past three years, nearly 200
Baha'is were arrested and detained for periods ranging from two days to six
months.
8. The Special Representative was informed that a Baha'i holy place in Orumiyeh
was demolished in December 1996 in order to construct a new building. This
property belonged to a Baha'i organization, all of whose properties had been
confiscated. It was in the possession of the Revolutionary Guards.
9. The Special Representative was also informed that the private ownership of
property by Baha'is continued to be generally disregarded. It denounced the
recent attack on two houses owned by Baha'is, who were evicted and had their
furniture and belongings put out on the street. Actions to confiscate the
property of 10 other families were also reported. In addition, it was alleged
that the majority of Baha'is in the city of Yazd were prohibited from
conducting any business transactions.
APPENDIX IV
Letters received from the Permanent
Representative of the Islamic
Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva
1. Pursuant to several requests for information from the Special Representative
concerning individual cases, the Permanent Representative of the Islamic
Republic of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva sent the following
letters to the Special Representative.
2. On 27 February 1997, the Permanent Representative sent a letter to the
Special Representative that read as follows:
"The Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, on
the occasion of the Eid Al-Fitr and the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution,
pardoned 782 prisoners, sentenced by the public, revolutionary and military
courts ..."
3. In response to a letter from the Special Representative dated 11 February
1997 concerning the arrest of Faraj Sarkouhi, the Permanent Representative, by
a letter dated 7 March 1997, informed the Special Representative of the
following:
"Mr. Faraj Sarkouhi, accompanied by his brother Ismail, was arrested on 2
February 1997 while attempting to leave the country illegally.
"Mr. Ismail Sarkouhi was released immediately.
"Mr. Faraj Sarkouhi had been encouraged by foreign agents to write the
letter which he sent abroad. The letter's contents are groundless.
"At present, the investigation is going on and he is in a detention house
with all convenient means of life at his disposal.
"In detention, he has called his wife and children who live in Germany and
his other relatives in Shiraz.
"Soon, a court will examine publicly his charges."
4. By a letter dated 16 July 1997, the Permanent Representative replied to a
joint urgent appeal of the Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom
of opinion and expression and on the independence of judges and lawyers and of
the Special Representative, dated 2 July 1997, concerning Mr. Sarkouhi, as
follows:
"With reference to your joint appeal dated 2 July 1997, I would like to
draw your attention to the following information received from the authorities
in Tehran:
(a) As he had stated in an interview, Mr. Faraj Sarkouhi left Tehran for
Germany in November 1996. Therefore, any allegations about his detention in
this period is baseless;
(b) He had been arrested on 2 February 1997 on charges of espionage and
attempting to leave the country illegally;
(c) He has been neither tried nor convicted. Therefore, any allegation in this
respect is categorically denied;
(d) He enjoys and will enjoy all legal rights in conformity with the due
process of law, including the right to a fair trial and the right to a defence
lawyer."
5. On 5 June 1997, the Permanent Representative replied to a letter from the
Special Representative dated 16 April 1997 concerning the alleged poisoning
with thallium of 60 Iranian Kurdish refugees in the Bazian camp in Iraq,
reportedly carried out by Iranian agents. The letter read as follows:
"With reference to your letter dated 16 April 1997, I would like to
provide you with the following communication received from the relevant
authorities in Tehran:
'The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran categorically rejects such
allegations. Since the alleged incident has occurred in the territory of Iraq,
it was impossible to acquire any information.'"
6. The Permanent Representative, by means of a letter dated 20 June 1997,
replied to a letter from the Special Representative dated 12 March 1997
concerning the unrecognized arrest of Abbas Nava'i-Roshandel. The letter read
as follows:
"Referring to your letter dated 12 March 1997, I would like to provide you
with the following information received from the relevant authorities from
Tehran:
'The Police in their investigations have not found any record on the arrest or
detention of Abbas Nava'i-Roshandel. However, provision of further information
such as his father's name and date and place of detention would facilitate the
investigation.'"
7. In response to a letter from the Special Representative dated 9 April 1997
concerning the death under suspicious circumstances of Ebrahim Zalzadeh, the
Permanent Representative, by a letter dated 14 August 1997, informed the
Special Representative of the following:
"With reference to your letter dated 9 April 1997, I would like to draw
your attention to the following information received from the relevant
authorities:
'Death Certificate No. 10/5/1262, dated 14/02/79 (4 May 1997) issued by the
Forensic Department states that a sharp-pointed object has pierced Mr. Ebrahim
Zalzadeh's heart and has caused his death. The case is under investigation by
the Police and the Judiciary.'"
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