Impact Iran

On imprisonment for debt, the Working Group has noted that destitute individuals, in particular women without resources, are kept in prison for a period which can extend, according to information gathered in situ, for up to five years for non-payment of a fine or diyah. The Working Group recommends that the Government should accelerate the ongoing reform of alternatives to imprisonment to avoid destitute individuals being subjected to lengthy imprisonment in connection with their insolvency.

On the right to due proccess: The immunity of counsel in pleading cases must be reaffirmed and expressly guaranteed in a legislative instrument formulated in cooperation with representatives of the Bar;

On the practice of "solitary confinement". As this practice generates arbitrary situations, plans should be drawn up for the closure of these prisons, retaining only a few punishment cells in each institution for short disciplinary periods of solitary confinement. In addition, the report of the Article 90 Parliamentary Commission on prisons should be made public or at least debated in Parliament. The Commission would then be responsible for publishing a list of prisons each year.

It should be recalled that the Article 90 Parliamentary Commission highlighted, in receiving the Working Group, "the injustices and inconsistencies resulting from the proliferation of judicial decision-making bodies". The revolutionary tribunals, one such group of bodies, as well as the religious courts, should be abolished.

On the situation of prisoners of conscience: These prisoners are punished twice over. Many of them have, on the one hand, simply peacefully exercised their fundamental right to freedom of opinion and expression and, on the other, have been unable to benefit in most cases from the guarantees which are essential to the right to fair trial, as we have emphasized with regard in particular to the abolition of the prosecution service. Solutions must be sought to bring about their release in the near term.

Ratify the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and protect women victims of trafficking, ensure accountability of the traffickers and provide compensation to the victims;

Institute proper investigation procedures for rape cases and ensure that rape victims are not subject to prosecution under adultery provisions where they are unable to prove rape;

Provide special programmes for women from minority groups who suffer multiple forms of discrimination;

Review all cases of women currently being detained for crimes related to sexual and moral conduct who did not have a fair trial or enjoy guarantees of due process with a view to retrying the case or releasing the accused woman.

Ensure that the right to a fair trial is fully respected and that all women detainees are brought to trial, with access to a lawyer and legal aid where necessary, without undue delay;

Ensure that punishments do not discriminate against women, that they are proportionate to the offence, and that they are determined by a court of law in accordance with the principles of equality and non-discrimination;

Investigate publicly all allegations of arbitrary detention and to ensure that victims of arbitrary detention receive compensation;

Abolish requirements that women present eyewitnesses in order to prove that they have been subjected to violence and allow women to prove violence through medical or police reports and other credible evidence;

Implement the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in order to ensure that women human rights defenders are able to carry out their work with full autonomy and without being subjected to retaliation by the State or other actors.

Prevent early and forced marriages

Eliminate all obstruction to justice on the grounds of sex, class and religion emanating from the practice of diyah;

Strengthen the capacity of the Centre for Women's Participation (financially and politically) to develop policies and projects to address violence against women, to support research on the causes and consequences of violence against women, including suicides, and to effectively undertake its important advisory role in directing State policy and action concerning violence against women.

Conduct a full investigation into suicides of young women and their relationship to diverse forms of violence against women, to design preventive and protective measures to address these suicides, and to prevent the development of prejudice in public opinion that would revictimize survivors of suicide attempts and/or their families;

Ensure that all institutions and individuals engaged in law enforcement activities are accountable to the Government and that they respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms as laid out in international human rights instruments;

Ensure full respect for all human rights, as guaranteed in international human rights treaties ratified by Iran, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which, inter alia, guarantee the right to non-discrimination based on sex

Provide effective protection to women who have experienced violence by ensuring that they are able to approach the police, to secure alternative housing and to access medical care;

Establish and support more shelters for women who have been subjected to violence and to ensure that women are able to access information about these shelters through the police, judicial personnel and medical staff as well as women's non-governmental organizations;

Raise the age of majority for girls and boys to 18 in conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child;

Support research on the linkages between discrimination and violence against women and family and societal well-being;

Promote women's participation in the formal labour market by ensuring equality of opportunity and eliminating discriminatory laws and practices related to women's work;

Institute special measures to increase women's political participation and appoint more women to high-level government positions;

Listen to the voices of women.

Prohibit by law cruel corporal punishments such as stoning and flogging;

Implement the provisions of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women

Ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women without reservations as soon as possible, and bring national laws into conformity with the Convention