Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran
A/HRC/37/68 para 80
Full recommendation:
The Special Rapporteur accordingly calls upon the Government to ensure prompt, thorough, and
effective investigations by independent and impartial bodies of allegations of violations
documented, and that those responsible are held accountable. The Government could further
consider the use of modern technology to monitor detention centres to deter the torture and other
ill-treatment of those detained, interrogated or imprisoned, whilst ensuring that such monitoring
is conducted in line with international human rights standards.
Assessment using Impact Iran human rights indicators1
The shortcomings of the Iranian legal framework leave members of minorities in the Islamic
Republic of Iran without legal guarantees that would ensure the full enjoyment of their human
rights. The lack of such guarantees goes against Iran's international obligations. As such, Iran’s
legal framework grants wide impunity to agents of the State who perpetrate violations of the
human rights of individuals throughout the country.2 3
Despite the existence of several mechanisms that ostensibly accept complaints regarding
violations of citizens' rights, such as the Parliament’s Article 90 Commission (established under
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 being reviewed and investigated.4 Without mechanisms that are able to
independently and impartially review complaints of human rights violations, perpetrators’
accountability is severely limited -if not made impossible.
1
CCPR.7.1.S.1; CCPR.9.1.S.1; CCPR.9.1.S.2; CCPR.9.1.S.3; CCPR.9.2.S.1; CCPR.9.3.S.2; CCPR.14.1.S.2; CCPR.7.1.P.1;
CCPR.7.1.P.2; CCPR.9.1.P.1; CCPR.9.1.P.2; CCPR.9.1.P.5; CCPR.9.1.P.6; CCPR.9.2.P.1; CCPR.9.3.P.1; CCPR.7.1.O.1;
CCPR.7.1.O.2; CCPR.7.1.O.3; CCPR.9.1.O.1; CCPR.9.1.O.1; CCPR.9.2.O.1; CCPR.9.2.O.4; CCPR.14.1.O.8
2
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
3
See more: ARTICLE 19, Small Media, Human Rights Activists in Iran, Impact Iran, Human Rights Committee, 129th session
(Geneva) 29 June – 24 July 2020,
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%20Documents/IRN/INT_CCPR_ICS_IRN_42315_E.pdf
4
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
1