Substantial reform is required to improve the protection and advancement of Iranian human rights, according to a newly published report submitted to the UN human rights council, by Javid Rehman, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran.

The report provides a comprehensive overview of the condition of human rights in Iran; highlighting the regime’s incessant attacks on fundamental freedoms and placing a focus on the plight of Iranian women and girls who “continue to be treated as second-class citizens”. However, Rehman has not been granted access to Iran since his last 3 reports to the council. 

In the report, Rehman proposed a set of recommendations aimed at improving the protection of human rights in Iran and putting an end to the rampant attacks on basic freedoms.

The special rapporteur urged the Iranian government to impose an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty, placing particular emphasis on the prohibition of capital punishment against child offenders. The report highlighted that Rehman was

“Deeply concerned at the high rate of death sentences”

Official records show 233 people were executed in Iran in 2020 but the actual figure is believed to be much higher. The Special Rapporteur also demanded the removal of torture as a means of punishment, calling on the regime to ratify the Convention against Torture and introduce mechanisms to effectively investigate deaths in detention.

Rehman condemned the impunity enjoyed by much of the Iranian regime, calling for an  “impartial and transparent inquiry” into the actions of security forces during the 2019 demonstrations. In his presentation to the UN human rights council, the special rapporteur stated that:

“It is beyond belief that almost 18 months since the deadly crackdown against the November 2019 protests in Iran, the government has still not conducted a proper investigation nor held anyone accountable for the lethal force used against protestors, which caused at least 304 deaths”

He decried attacks on Iranian civil society, imploring the regime to discontinue all efforts to threaten and arbitrarily sanction human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists. The importance of protecting freedom of expression and association was also stressed, with the special rapporteur calling on the government to ensure that those arrested for exercising their rights are released.

Rehman highlighted the alarming conditions within prisons – especially during the Covid-19 pandemic – urging the regime to make: 

“substantial investments in all prisons to reduce overcrowding,  improve hygiene and ensure that prisoners receive prompt access to medical treatment”.

According to official sources, over 200,000 people are confined in Iran’s prisons and a 2020 report on their conditions found that many prisoners:

“are executed in the absence of the rule of law and by arbitrary decisions of the judges. Then, their bodies are buried in absolute silence without informing their families.”

Proposals regarding the rights of Iran’s minorities also featured, with the report calling on Iranian authorities to eliminate all forms of discrimination against “ethnic, religious and sexual minorities” and release those detained for exercising their culture or right to freedom of religion.

Additionally, the special rapporteur made several recommendations aimed at improving the human rights of women and girls in Iran. He called on the regime to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, with new legislation targeting gender-based disparities in family law and the criminal justice system deemed necessary.

Measures to prevent violence against women were suggested too, with Rehman urging the government to hold perpetrators of violence against women and girls accountable and introduce mechanisms to support victims of violence. Despite a domestic violence bill currently awaiting parliamentary approval, it has received criticism for its failure to meet international standards on gender-based violence and excessive dependence on judicial interpretation.

Presenting his report to the UN human rights council, Rehman said that:

“egregious gender-based discrimination persists in law, practice and societal attitudes, disempowering women and girls from participating and contributing in society”

In his final recommendations, the special rapporteur called on Iran to continue engagement with the UN and urged states to ensure that all sanctions imposed provide humanitarian exemptions and minimise adverse consequences on human rights.

Both the Iranian government and the international community have an obligation to ensure that these recommendations are implemented – a sovereign, democratic and stable Iran is inconceivable should the special rapporteur’s proposals be neglected.