Impact Iran

Consider a moratorium on capital punishment until the efficacy of judicial safeguards can be meaningfully demonstrated, and stay the execution of individuals who have alleged violations of their due process rights.

Ensure that deaths in custody and allegations of violations of due process and of ill-treatment are promptly, independently, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority with a view to holding perpetrators accountable and in compliance with the right to a fair trial.

Pass the parliamentary bill introduced in September 2019 aimed at ending the recording and broadcasting of confessions on State-funded media prior to trial and ensure punishments for those involved in recording and broadcasting such confessions

Ensure that all persons accused of any crime have access to a lawyer of their choosing during all stages of the judicial process, including during the initial investigation and interrogation stage, and are provided with legal aid as needed;

Amend the Islamic Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure that confessions alone are not sufficient for establishing guilt;

The Special Rapporteur further notes that an independent bar association is vital to the promotion to the rule of law. All executive and judicial interference in management and working of bar associations should be removed and the bar association should be made an autonomous and self- regulatory body.

The Special Rapporteur also reiterates her call upon the Government to ensure that the judiciary is free from interference of any kind and to uphold the integrity of judges, prosecutors and lawyers, through transparent and merit-based appointments, and through protecting them and their families and professional associates against all forms of reprisals as a result of discharging their functions. The judiciary should also be held accountable for ensuring that proceedings are conducted fairly and that the rights of the parties are respected, through a mechanism that is consistent with the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary.

The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran should also ensure that all those sentenced to death can exercise their right to equal access to justice through adequate legal representation, which is an essential component of due process at any stage in criminal proceedings, including the appeal and review process. Adequate and qualified legal representation at the review stage through effective legal aid programmes should be ensured.

Pursuant with commitments made during the special session on the world drug problem, and in order to fully implement the new amendments to the 1998 drug trafficking law, the Government should establish a clear and transparent procedure for reviewing the cases of individuals who have been sentenced to death under the previous drug trafficking law. Such a process should be transparent, accessible, and follow due process and fair trial guarantees, including effective representation of defendants.

The Special Rapporteur welcomes the continued engagement by the Government with her mandate through meetings and written exchanges. The Special Rapporteur further notes some developments including the adoption of amendments to drugtrafficking laws, and the follow-up on the Charter on Citizen's Rights. In particular, the Special Rapporteur noted the positive step taken to grant Baloch citizens with nationality cards and to afford access to education to children in the province. Such developments have taken place amidst ongoing severe reports of the denial of human rights in a number of fundamental areas. As such, small gains are lost in an overall atmosphere where the State denies even very basic rights to its population. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to demonstrate the political will to end the impunity of agents of the State who perpetrate violations of the human rights of individuals in the country

The Special Rapporteur calls upon the Government to fully respect the rights of religious and ethnic minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran and to ensure that all those who reside in the country have equal protection before the law, regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief.

Pending abolition of the death penalty for child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, and other expert bodies called upon to conduct article 91 assessments: Afford the child offender the benefit of the doubt and deliver a finding of uncertainty when absolute certainty cannot be scientifically established, including if the assessment is not conducted immediately after the alleged offence. Establish and publish a methodology to conduct the assessment.

Pending abolition of the death penalty for child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, and other expert bodies called upon to conduct article 91 assessments: (a) Conduct assessments that provide a scientific, evidence-based assessment as to whether there is total certainty about the mental development of the child offender at the time of the offence in line with article 91 of the Penal Code. Ensure that such an assessment reflects the findings of assessments by experts from all relevant fields, including the relevant child development, psychology, psychiatry, and social service fields

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Ensure that detention pending trial is only used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time for children accused of any crime, including qisas and hudud crimes

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Ensure that the court takes into account the circumstances in which the child is living and the conditions in which any offence has allegedly been committed, including through the preparation, introduction and full consideration of pre-sentence reports. Ensure that the court is informed about all relevant facts about the child, such as social and family background, wealth, education and circumstances of marriage. Ensure that adequate social services capacity has been established to be able to provide such reports and is mandated to provide such advice

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Establish specialist and separate child courts to consider cases involving children, for all crimes including qisas and hudud crimes, in the first instance and on appeal, in all provinces. Ensure that the judges who preside over such courts, and the prosecutors who are able to bring cases before such courts, have a minimum level of professional qualifications and expert training in child sociology, child psychology and behavioural sciences;

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Require that all those who deal with children in the criminal justice system, especially judges, prosecutors, medical examiners, police interrogators and other law enforcement professionals, undergo specialist, ongoing and systematic training on the rights of the child. Such training should inform participants about how to take into account the child's physical, psychological, mental and social development in a manner consistent with the obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran under international human rights law;

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: When assessing the quality and veracity of testimony or confession offered by the child, ensure that the judge considers all circumstances of interrogation, especially the age of the child as well as the length of detention and interrogation and the presence of legal or other representatives and parents during questioning;

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Ensure that children who have been detained or arrested are interviewed only in the presence of their chosen lawyer, are immediately granted legal aid if needed, and are granted access to a family member of their choice at all times regardless of the offence they are accused of

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Undertake a prompt, effective and transparent review of all child offenders on death row and ensure that they are afforded legal representation and financial and other needed support to exercise their right to a retrial as provided for by article 91 of the Penal Code;

Pending implementation of the aforementioned recommendations, and without prejudice to the binding obligation enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to not sentence children to death and to not execute child offenders, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: (a) Require courts to comprehensively assess mental development in all cases in line with article 91 of the Penal Code, and to always seek expert advice from the relevant child development, psychology, psychiatry, and social service fields as well as from the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, with a view to ensuring that the child is exempted from the death penalty;

The Special Rapporteur recommends that the judiciary: Pending legislative review, urgently issue a circular which requires all judges not to sentence children to death on the basis of qisas or hudud crimes, and which requires presiding judges to order retrials for all child offenders on death row without recourse to the death penalty.

The Special Rapporteur recommends that Parliament: Amend the Penal Code to increase the age of criminal responsibility for qisas and hudud crimes to 18 years for all children, and ensure that all children are treated equally and without discrimination within the criminal justice system.

The Special Rapporteur recommends that Parliament: Urgently amend legislation to prohibit the execution of persons who committed a hudud or qisas crime while below the age of 18 years and as such are children. Urgently amend the legislation to commute all existing sentences for child offenders on death row;

The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government and Parliament: Ensure that all persons accused of any crime are assured access to a lawyer of their choosing during all stages of the judicial process, including during the initial investigation and interrogation stage, and are provided with legal aid as needed;

The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government and Parliament: Ensure that deaths in custody, and allegations of violations of due process and of ill-treatment are promptly, independently, impartially and effectively investigated by an independent competent authority with a view to bringing those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in compliance with their right to a fair trial;

The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government and Parliament: Amend the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure that confessions alone are not sufficient for admission of guilt;

The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government and Parliament: Ensure that prisoners are protected from all forms of torture and other ill-treatment. Ensure that confessions obtained through such treatment are never admitted as evidence against the accused;

The Special Rapporteur recommends that the Government and Parliament: (a) Pending abolishment, remove from the scope of the death penalty any offence other than the "most serious crimes‚" which are confined to intentional killing, and ensure that all those sentenced to death for other offences have their sentences commuted. Amend legislation to ensure that any person sentenced to death, including on the basis of qisas, can seek pardon or commutation from the State;

The Special Rapporteur urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to refrain from any interference with the judicial process and to uphold the integrity of judges, prosecutors and lawyers, notably by ensuring that appointment of judges are transparent and based on merit and by protecting them, their families and professional associates against all forms of violence, threat, retaliation, intimidation and harassment as a result of discharging their functions. A self-regulating independent bar association or council should be urgently established to oversee the process of admitting candidates to the legal profession, provide for a uniform code of ethics and conduct, and enforce disciplinary measures, including disbarment.