NGOs have reported a pattern of violations to the aforementioned human rights
disproportionately targeting members of minority or marginalised groups. 19 20 21 22 23 24
The authorities have continued to respond to protests with excessive and unlawful force. In
November 2019, authorities violently repressed protests across the country. Around 7,000
persons were arrested and detained according to a spokesperson for Iran’s parliamentary
committee for national security and foreign policy.25 26 Numerous reports show that the
Government continues to arrest individuals solely exercising their rights to freedom of opinion,
expression and association, who remain currently in detention.27 28
Despite the existence of several mechanisms that ostensibly accept complaints regarding violations
of citizens' rights, such as the Article 90 Commission of the parliament (established based on
Article 90 of the Constitution, offering a mechanism to citizens to file complaint against any of
the three branches of power) and the Oversight Bodies for the exercise of Citizenship Rights in the
country's provincial courts, there is no evidence to suggest that complaints to these bodies are
independently reviewed and investigated.29 Additionally, the possibility to submit complaints is
particularly limited as freedom of expression, assembly and association are legally restricted in the
Islamic Republic of Iran.
In light of the above, the Government the judiciary and the parliament of the Islamic Republic of
Iran have not ensured that all those arrested, including those arrested during the November 2019
19
See more: Association for the human rights of the Azerbaijani people in Iran, http://www.ahraz.org/association-for-the-humanrights-of-the-azerbaijani-people-in-iran-ahrazs-repot-regarding-the-current-situation-of-the-azerbaijani-arrestees-that-arearrested-during-the-recent-protests-nove/
20
See more: Kurdistan Human Rights Geneva, https://kmmk-ge.org/sd/annual-report-2020/
21
See more: United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/
22
Center for Human Rights in Iran, https://iranhumanrights.org/2020/10/more-bahais-begin-serving-prison-sentences-in-iransimply-for-their-beliefs/
23
See more: Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee from All Human Rights for All in Iran, Association for Human
Rights in Kurdistan – Geneva, Association for the Human Rights of the Azerbaijani People in Iran, Iran Human Rights
Documentation Center, OutRight International, Siamak Pourzand Foundation, Small Media, Impact Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_NGO_IRN_42317_E.pdf
24
“Iran arrests 29 linked to protests against compulsory hijab laws”, New York Times, 2 February 2018.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/world/middleeast/iran-hijab-protests-arrests.html
25
“November Protests; the details of the case of three prisoners who were sentenced to death,” HRANA.5 March 2020.
https://www.enhrana.
org/november-protests-the-details-of-the-case-of-three-prisoners-who-were-sentenced-to-death
26
See more : Article 19, Small Media, Human Rights Activists in Iran, Impact Iran
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42315
&Lang=en
27
See more: United For Iran, https://ipa.united4iran.org/en/prisoner/
28
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, July 2020, https://documentsdds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N20/190/27/PDF/N2019027.pdf?OpenElement
29
Joint submission to the Human Rights Committee, Abdorrahman Center, Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC),
Impact Iran and Human Rights Activists in Iran, 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=INT%2fCCPR%2fICS%2fIRN%2f42313
&Lang=en
3