Mr. President,
We take note of Iran’s participation in the UPR and of its submission of a national report, but we regret that the latter focused almost exclusively on legislation and provisions of the Constitution that supposedly enshrine equal rights for all citizens, but are not upheld in practice. We further deeply regret Iran’s failure to imple¬ment a large majority of the recommendations from its first UPR cycle, its continued rejection of recom¬mendations regarding women’s rights and the execution of minors, among others, as well as the grounds for rejecting recommendations that are listed on page 4 of the Addendum to the Report of the Working Group on its UPR.
Mr. President,
The human rights situation inside Iran has objectively deteriorated over the past year and a half. The repression of basic freedoms, discrimination against women, ethnic and religious minorities, denial of due process, particularly for the many prisoners of conscience, including journalists and human rights defenders, and other human rights violations continue to take place on a daily basis. Executions in Iran are increasing each year, and the death penalty continues to be used against religious and ethnic minorities, political dissidents, and juveniles.
Those who speak out for human rights are targeted with threats and arbitrary arrests, as highlighted in the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh, who continues to be illegally prohibited from practicing the legal profession. The repression of civil society is made clear by the fact that many Iranian human rights defenders who participated in the UPR process are working in exile, since any person within Iran who were to openly engage with UN human rights mechanisms would have put themselves at great risk of reprisals from the government.
Iran continues to refuse to cooperate with special procedures such as the Special Rapporteur on the country, Mr. Shaheed. Cooperation with international human rights mechanisms is essential if Iran wishes to demonstrate a willingness to respect international human rights law and standards, which to date it has largely failed to do.