European Parliament resolution censures Iran rights violations
Thu. 13 Jan 2005
Iran Focus
Strasbourg, Jan. 13 - The European Parliament adopted a resolution by majority vote today condemning human rights violations in Iran in the second such move over the past six months.
The toughly-worded resolution denounced practices such as execution of juveniles and stoning carried out by the Iranian regime.
Parts of the resolution read, "the European Parliament … strongly condemns death sentences against and/or the execution of juvenile offenders, pregnant women and mentally handicapped persons”.
The EP resolution also expressed deep concern over "the worsening situation with regard to freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of the media, especially the increased persecution for the peaceful expression of political views, including arbitrary arrests and detention without charge or trial".
The European Parliament censured “the campaign by the Judiciary against journalists, cyber journalists and webloggers leading to the closure of publications, imprisonment and according to reports widespread torture and forced false confessions.”
The resolution also pointed to the fact that “Iran is still not a party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and its Parliament recently rejected draft legislation on gender equality,” and called on Iranian authorities to “give evidence that they do implement their declared moratorium on stoning” and demanded “the immediate implementation of the ban on torture.”
The resolution also noted with concern the finding by the United Nations Special Rapporteur Ambeyi Ligabo that “the Iranian Press and Penal Code do not conform to the permissible restrictions listed in the Article 19(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
In an apparent reference to the inclusion of the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran (PMOI) in the European terrorist list, the resolution also called for a review by the EP’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and on Public Liberties of “the way in which the Parliament may become involved in the process of regular updating of the Council’s Common Position relative to the application of specific measures to combat terrorism, taking into account developments from 2001 onwards.”
It is estimated that the Iranian regime has executed over 120,000 PMOI members since the 1979 Islamic revolution, 30,000 of whom were massacred in Iran's prisons in 1988.
During the parliamentary session, a number of Members of the European Parliament, including Struan Stevenson (UK), André Brie (Germany) and Paulo Casaca (Portugal), addressed the parliament calling the tag against the PMOI unjust and emphasizing the need to remove the PMOI from the EU’s terrorist list.
In December, the Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi in a meeting at the European Parliament called on the EP to condemn human rights abuses by the regime and support the Iranian opposition.