On 11 April 2017, the EU Member States decided to extend the restrictive measures (asset freeze and visa bans) targeting 82 individuals and one entity responsible for violations of human rights in Iran. The existing ban on exports to Iran of equipment which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications has also been renewed.
In advance of the EU decision, FIDH shared with the relevant EU actors the “updated details on the individuals designated to the EU restrictive measures responding to serious human rights violations in Iran” compiled by its member organisation Justice for Iran. This document contains information which contributed to an informed decision by Member States. It notably highlights how 19 out of the 82 human right violators on the EU list still serve in the same post and how 42 have been assigned to new official posts since the last review.
The current set of human rights sanctions is based on a 2011 decision by EU Member States to target “persons complicit in or responsible for directing or implementing grave human rights violations” in a number of domains, notably freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, the right to due process, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, or the death penalty. The extension is valid until 13 April 2018.