C Explanatory memorandum by Ms Mariia
Mezentseva-Fedorenko, Rapporteur for opinion
1 Introduction
1. I would like to express my
satisfaction, alongside that of the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination,
for the opportunity to contribute to an important text tackling
the protection of a group of human rights defenders at risk, namely
Iranian human rights defenders in our member States.
2. I would also like to thank the rapporteur, Mr Max Lucks (Germany,
SOC), for his valuable work on this subject. The research in the
report sets out the issues at stake as regards the situation in
Iran, followed by relevant political conclusions and recommendations.
I think that the report should be strengthened as regards its second
focus: the protection of Iranian human rights defenders in the Council
of Europe member States. Reference should be made to the Parliamentary
Assembly’s relevant and extended work on this issue, such as
Resolution 2225 (2018) “Protecting
human rights defenders in Council of Europe member States” and
Resolution 2554 (2024) “Protecting
women human rights defenders in Europe”, as well as
Resolution 2509 (2023) “Transnational
repression as a growing threat to the rule of law and human rights”,
which is also relevant for Iranian human rights defenders in our
member States. Furthermore, I also refer to the declaration unanimously
adopted by the Committee on Equality and Non-Discrimination on 11
October 2022, entitled “Denial of women’s freedoms and repression
of women’s rights protests in Iran – urgent political action is needed”.
3. The proposed amendments aim to strengthen the Assembly’s calls
for measures to protect Iranian human rights defenders in Council
of Europe member States, and to give more visibility to the groups
most affected by human rights violations in Iran, as reflected in
recent reports by international organisations.
4. I truly hope that the rapporteur and the Committee on Political
Affairs and Democracy will recognise the added value of the proposed
amendments and will support them.
2 Systematic discrimination
and attacks on the rights of women and girls in Iran
5. I have focused on the examination
of the latest information on the civil society protests against
the Iranian regime that started in September 2022, under the movement
“Woman, Life, Freedom”, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish
woman, Jina Mahsa Amini, while in the custody of the “morality police”
in Tehran for allegedly wearing the hijab improperly.
6. Protesters oppose the systematic and institutionalised discrimination
against women and girls in Iran, and the enforcement of discriminatory
laws that deprive them of their human rights, while the use of the
death penalty continues to be invoked against women and men activists,
their friends and relatives, and anyone who shows solidarity with
the protesters. The use of the death penalty against women activists
for national security offenses is increasing, including against
those belonging to Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities. Many
women from ethnic minorities felt compelled to protest as the death
of Mahsa Amini illustrated the multiple layers of discrimination
they face as women and members of an ethnic minority.
7. The situation in Iran is worsening, as recent reports have
alerted about the intensification of efforts by the Iranian Government
to suppress the human rights of women and girls, through the “Noor”
Plan launched in April 2024. The Iranian regime aims to eliminate
remaining initiatives of women’s activism in Iran, which continue
even in prisons, including by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges
Mohammadi.
Note Surveillance
of hijab compliance in the public and private spheres, including
in vehicles, and using technology such as drones, is increasing.
A “Hijab and Chastity” Bill is in the final stages of approval by
Iran’s Guardian Council. The Bill provides for harsher penalties
for women who do not wear the mandatory hijab, including high fines,
longer prison sentences, restrictions on work and educational opportunities,
and bans on travel.
Note
8. The independent international fact-finding mission on the
Islamic Republic of Iran, mandated by the United Nations (UN) Human
Rights Council, published its first report in February 2024, stating
that the violent repression of peaceful protests and pervasive institutional
discrimination against women and girls have led to serious human
rights violations in Iran: extra-judicial and unlawful killings
and murder, unnecessary and disproportionate use of force, arbitrary
deprivation of liberty, torture, rape, enforced disappearances,
and gender persecution.
Note The
mission also established a pattern of sexual and gender-based violence
perpetrated by the State authorities in places of detention.
9. I was dismayed to learn that the UN mission reported “credible
figures of up to 551 deaths” of protesters shot by security forces,
including “at least 49 women and 68 children, in 26 out of the 31
provinces in Iran”.
Note Furthermore, the
UN mission reported that at least nine young men charged with protest-related
offences had been arbitrarily executed.
Note
10. The violation of the human rights of women and girls in Iran
becomes compounded when gender-based violence and discrimination
intersect with other grounds of discrimination such as ethnic origin
and religion. Between July and September 2024, the UN mission reported
intensified arrests and detentions of family members of protesters
killed in connection with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, in
particular in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Kurdistan
and West Azerbaijan, with a strong presence of minorities.
Note
11. In March 2024, the report of a parliamentary inquiry into
the situation of women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran
Note was presented in the
UK Parliament. I welcome this initiative of the International Bar
Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI), carried out by a
panel of UK parliamentarians chaired by Baroness Helena Kennedy
of The Shaws KC. I fully support the inquiry’s recommendations to
recognise and publicly condemn the scale and nature of the situation
and treatment of women and girls in Iran, including gender persecution and
gender apartheid, and to “formally support avenues to ensure that
gender apartheid is codified” in the Rome Statute of the International
criminal Court and a possible new convention on crimes against humanity currently
being debated in United Nations, as well as within domestic legislation.
Note
13. In her July 2023 report, the UN Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights defenders welcomed the integration by
some European countries of support for human rights defenders into
their foreign policy, including in the women and peace and security
agenda, which is vital as it recognises not only the important role
that women rights defenders play, but also the risks they face in
doing so.
Note I also fully
share the emphasis that the Special Rapporteur placed in the importance
of promoting and facilitating the participation of women human rights
defenders in discussions, debates and events relating to women and
peace and security at the national, regional and international levels.
Note
3 Discrimination
and attacks against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran
14. There are only three religions
officially recognised in Iran, with representation in the Iranian
Parliament: two seats for Armenian Christians, one for Assyrian
Christians, one for Jewish and one for Zoroastrians (out of the
290 seats). However, the Iranian law imposes Shiite Islamism as
the official religion and access to the highest offices of the State
is forbidden to non-Shiites. Religious minorities in Iran include
Bahá’ís, Christians, Gonabadi Dervishes, Jews, Sunni Muslims and
Yaresan.
15. Ethnic minorities in Iran include Ahwazi Arabs, Azerbaijani
Turks, Baluchis, Kurds and Turkmen. Discriminations and persecutions
are multiple and violence against minorities is widespread. I have
learned that the State’s censuses have not collected data on language
and ethnicity for three decades, so it is difficult to know the
ethnic groups present in Iran.
16. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights
in the Islamic Republic of Iran
published
a report in February 2024 indicating his deep concern about “the discrimination
against religious, ethnic, linguistic and sexual minorities”, which
face institutionalised discrimination and systematic persecution.
I also noted with concern that ethnic and religious minorities are
discriminated and persecuted in the exercise of their cultural rights
and in their access to public services. In particular, the Bahá’í
community faces persistent persecution, arbitrary arrests and harassment,
and the confiscation of their properties and goods.
17. In August 2024, the UN mission reported that ethnic and religious
minorities, in particular Kurd and Baluch minorities, have been
disproportionally impacted by the Government’s crackdown on protesters
since 2022, which is the direct result of long-standing discrimination.
The UN mission also reported human rights violations committed by
security forces against members of minorities, including unlawful
deaths, extrajudicial executions, unnecessary use of lethal force,
arbitrary arrests, torture, rape, enforced disappearances and gender
persecution.
Note
18. I took full note of the emphasis that the UN mission has placed
on the impact of the protests on minorities, as women belonging
to ethnic and religious minorities experience harms that are compounded
by discrimination and violence against them for being women and
members of ethnic and religious minorities. In 2023, ethnic and
religious minorities had the highest participation in the “Woman,
Life, Freedom” movement, while there was a heavy military and security
presence in minority-populated border provinces.
Note
19. In August 2022, a group of
UN
experts called on Iranian authorities to stop persecution of
religious minorities and end the use of religion to curtail the
exercise of human rights. Civil society organisations have also
underscored that a peaceful and prosperous future for minorities
in Iran cannot be secured unless long-standing and structural discrimination
is addressed at all levels.
Note
4 Criminalisation
of LGBTI persons in Iran, tolerance and impunity for violence against
them
20. LGBTI persons in Iran face
institutionalised discrimination through restrictive laws and the
lack of legal protection. The Criminal Code punishes men’s homosexuality
with the death penalty. For women, the punishment is flogging and,
in case of repeat offenses, death penalty as well. Homosexuality
is also considered as a “gender disorder”. LGBTI persons face violence,
which they do not report for fear of being arrested and prosecuted.
Many LGBTI persons in Iran have experienced violence from their
own families due to their sexual orientation.
21. The Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre published a report
entitled
“Denied
Identity: Human Rights Abuses against Iran’s LGBT Community”, which analyses discrimination against LGBT persons
under Iranian laws and in practice, with numerous witness accounts
from persons who faced persecution and discrimination in Iran. According
to a 2020 report published by the UK-based human rights organisation
6Rang (Iranian Lesbian and Transgender Network), LGBTI persons in
Iran experience high levels of violence, as follows: 62% of Iranian
LGBTI experience one or more forms of violence perpetrated by their
immediate family; nearly 30% of them experience sexual violence;
and more than 77% of them experience physical violence; while close
to 38% of them are subject to forced marriages.
Note
22. LGBTI NGOs are in exile, and the LGBTI movement in Iran remains
isolated and marginalised, but still present despite pressures and
arrests of LGBTI activists. The younger generation protests in the
street and through social media, which amplify the visibility of
LGBTI issues. The UN mission found that sexual and gender-based
violence has been carried out on women, men and children in detention,
including LGBTI persons arrested in connection with the protests.
Note
