Concluding Observation Human Rights Committee CCPR/C/IRN/CO/3 para 19
Full recommendation
The State party should take immediate steps to establish a system of regular and
genuinely independent monitoring of places of detention, and ensure that conditions
of detention conform to articles 7 and 10 of the Covenant, and to the United Nations
Standard Minimum Rules for Treatment of Prisoners. It should also systematically
include human rights training as a standard component of curricula, covering the
topics of the prohibition of torture, effective interrogation techniques, conditions of
detention and the treatment of detainees, in the training of law enforcement, prison,
and judicial officials.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
A. The Islamic Republic of Iran should take immediate steps to establish a system of
regular and genuinely independent monitoring of places of detention
The Supervision and Inspection Board, established under the Law on Respect for Legitimate
Freedoms and Safeguarding Citizen’s Rights, monitors the compliance of policies and conducts
with the law and confront those in breach. The Board’s activities include that of submitting “the
complaints it receives to the relevant bodies and pursuing the investigation until it yields an
outcome”; “deploying inspection groups to the bodies”; and “preparing reports on the
implementation of laws in the country every three months and making them available to the
public.”2 The Supervision and Inspection Board also has set up a database enabling victims and
witnesses to submit their complaints. On the occasion of its 2019 Universal Periodic Review, the
Islamic Republic of Iran stated that “the prosecutors, through judges stationed in prisons as well
as the Secretariat of the Protection of Citizenship Rights and provincial supervisory boards,
conduct regular inspections and investigate any reports or complaints” with regard to allegations
of torture.3 There is no readily available information that might indicate that complaints have
been properly investigated and adjudicated either by the Board or the Secretariat.
In its 2019 National Report to the Universal Periodic Review, the Government of the Islamic
Republic of Iran reported that the Citizenship Rights Watch Board carries periodic inspections
within prisons and detention centers. According to the Government the body has “received and
handled 3,275 complaints and reports, through the complaint system, in relation with civil rights
1
CCPR.7.1.S.1; CCPR.10.1.S.1
CCPR.7.1.P.1; CCPR.10.3.P.2; CCPR.10.3.P.3
CCPR.7.1.O.1; CCPR.7.1.O.2; CCPR.10.1.O.1; CCPR.10.1.O.2; CCPR.10.1.O.3
2
See Executive By-law of Article 1(15) of the Law on Respect for Legitimate Freedoms and Safeguarding Citizens’ Rights
3
Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, February 2020, https://undocs.org/en/A/HRC/43/12/Add.1
1