« At a moment when the human rights situation in Iran is seriously deteriorating, the adoption of this resolution, by such an large majority (1), sends an important signal of support to the Iranian civil society », said Karim Lahidji, President of LDDHI and Vice-President of FIDH.
Over the past year the human rights situation in Iran has deteriorated in all areas. All indicators converge to confirm the persistence of continuous, grave and widespread human rights violations.
The civil society is under extreme repression. Women’s rights activists, students, journalists and trade unionists in particular are constantly victims of arbitrary arrests, torture and imprisonment for the mere exercise of their fundamental freedoms. Among the most recent cases is the condemnation of Delaram Ali, an active member of the One Million Signatures campaign, to two and a half years in prison and ten lashes, and the confirmation of the death sentence against the Kurdish journalist Adnan Hassanpour.
Furthermore, Iran continues to apply the death penalty under conditions that blatantly violate international standards. Juvenile offenders are being executed and executions are often conducted in public. Since January 2007 more than 210 persons have been executed which constitutes an important increase since last year. This is at a time when the international trend is a decreasing use of the death penalty.
In addition, ethnic and religious minorities in Iran are victims of discrimination, in law and in practice. Kurds and Baha’is are increasingly being persecuted and denied their cultural rights.
Now, we strongly urge the UN members states to confirm their votes in favour of the resolution during the plenary session of the General Assembly in December.
– Press contact : Karine Appy + 33 1 43 55 14 12 / + 33 1 43 55 25 18