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EU-Iran
Dialogue on Human Rights:
One
step forward, two steps back
The
fourth round of talks between Iran and the European Union (EU) on
human rights is scheduled to be held in Tehran on 14-15 June 2004.
Civil society groups, academics and jurists are expected to participate
in the dialogue. The open
session of the third round of dialogue held on 8-9 October 2003
focused on the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the
right to development, “whilst all issues of concern to the EU regarding
the human rights situation in Iran were addressed during the subsequent
officials-only talks”.
Since the third round of talks,
Iran has extended invitation to various Special Procedures of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The United Nations Working
Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Special Rapporteur on the freedom
of expression and Special Rapporteur on the situation of Migrant
Workers have visited Iran and the former two have submitted their
reports to the recently concluded 60th session of the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
This important step of cooperation
with human rights mechanisms of the United Nations by Iran however
has been overshadowed by
disqualification of about 2500 reformist candidates by the Council
of Guardians and subsequent rigged victory of the conservatives
in the general elections held in February 2004 for the Majlis. Iran
has been following “one step forward, two steps backward” reform
programmes. The assessment on the prevailing human rights situation
in Iran by independent experts of the United Nations provides an
excellent opportunity to the EU to engage in substantive dialogue.
Lack
of cooperation with UN mechanisms
Although,
Iran has extended its invitation to the Special Procedures of the
Commission on Human Rights, it failed to provide full cooperation.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention stated that though the
Working Group was provided permission to enter the sector 209
at Evin prison, “the visit and interviews of prisoners were
cut short under the pressure of two unidentified individuals, apparently
belonging to the intelligence service, who, without identifying
themselves, firmly requested the delegation to leave, even though
the authorization for the visit and interviews with a number of
prisoners had just been finally agreed by high‑level ministerial
representatives, who were with the delegation and thus present in
the prison”. A guard of the jail also tried to pass off as a prisoner.
Similarly,
though Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression thanked the Iranian
government for cooperation, Ahmad Batebi disappeared on 8 November
2003 just after the meeting with the Special Rapporteur. Batebi,
who was sentenced in 2000 to a 15-year prison term after his participation
in the July 1999 demonstrations, was in addition charged with "participation
in illegal associations" after his arrest on 8 November 2003.
This is a clear violation of the Commission on Human Rights resolution
2003/9, which "urges Governments to refrain from all acts of
intimidation or reprisal against (a) those who seek to cooperate
or have cooperated with representatives of United Nations human
rights bodies, or who have provided testimony or information to
them and (b) those who avail or have availed themselves of procedures
established".
Assessment
of human rights situation of Iran
Human rights situation in Iran remains deplorable.
Although the Constitution recognises a series of rights such as
freedom of belief (article 23), freedom of the press (article
24), freedom of association (article 26) and freedom of assembly
and association (article 27), almost all the 45 prisoners
on the list given to the Iranian authorities by the Working Group
on Arbitrary Detention were prosecuted or tried for having peacefully
exercised these constitutional rights.
The
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted that situations of arbitrary
detention were essentially related to infringements of freedom of
opinion and expression and many malfunctions in the administration
of justice, in particular concerning due process of law, abuse of
“solitary confinement”, the role of the revolutionary tribunals
and clerical courts, the failure to take account of the principle
of proportionality in passing sentence, and the consequences of
the abolition of prosecutors between 1995 and 2002 on observance
of the right to a fair trial.
Impunity is one of the important factors exacerbating
human rights violations. Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor, Judge Said Mortazavi
who had interrogated Canadian journalist, Ms Zahra Kazemi and allegedly
subjected her to torture is all set to go unpunished. Ms Zahra Kazemi
was detained on 23 June 2003 for taking pictures of Tehran's notorious
Evin prison. She died in hospital in Tehran on 10 July after falling
into a coma having received head injuries during more than three
days of interrogation in judicial and intelligence’s custody. On
28 October 2003, the Article 90 Commission of the Majlis in its
partially censured report concluded that Prosecutor Mortazavi and
other members of the judiciary were directly involved in Ms. Kazemi's
death, having subjected her to violent interrogations in Evin prison.
The Commission also accused them of attempting to cover up the cause
of her death. Not surprisingly, the Special Rapporteur on freedom
of expression (E/CN.4/2004/62/Add.2) stated that Iranian government
was allowing the persons responsible for Mrs. Kazemi's death to
remain unpunished. Only the Interrogator from the
Intelligence Ministry Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi has been charged
and he pleaded not guilty at the trial's first and only session
in October 2003. Chief Prosecutor, Judge Said Mortazavi has
been let off.
There
is little freedom of association and assembly. On 8 March 2004,
members of the vigilante Basij volunteer group beat up women activists
celebrating the International Women's Day in Tehran. Several people
were reportedly arrested.
The
death penalty also continues to be awarded despite the absence of
sufficient procedural safeguards and the recent death sentence to
academic Hashem Aghajari must be raised with the authorities in
Tehran. In November 2002, academic Hashem Aghajari was sentenced
to death at a closed trial for the crime of blasphemy against Islam
during a speech in Hamedan. In addition to the death sentence, he
was sentenced to 74 lashes, exile to a remote desert location, 8
years in jail, and a ban on teaching for 10 years. In February 2003,
the Supreme Court revoked his death sentence, but the case was sent
back to the lower court for retrial. On 3 May 2004, the court in
Hamedan province has upheld its original verdict and sent the case
back to the higher court. Mr Aghajari is currently being held in
Evin prison in Tehran.
As the Islamic religious clergies control the
judiciary, its independence has been greatly hampered. The Islamic
Human Rights Commission also failed to qualify as member of the
Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions because
of its failure to comply with the Paris Principles on National Human
Rights Institutions.
Conclusions
Certainly,
the power struggle between the conservatives and the reformists
need to be borne in mind by the European Union but it should not
be an excuse for initiating substantive dialogue on human rights
especially in the light of the assessment provided by the independent
experts of the UN. Apart from intervening in individual cases such
as prosecution of the killers of Ms Zahra Kazemi, revoking the death
sentence on Hashem Aghajari and providing information about the
whereabouts of Ahmad Batebi, the European Union should, among others,
suggest formation of core group consisting of the representatives
of the European Union, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights and representatives of the government of Iran for
an in-depth study of the recommendations made by the UN Special
Procedures and develop Technical Cooperation projects for overhauling
the systems for administration of justice and ensure respect for
human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran.
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