Oral Statement - Zimbabwe and Iran

Thursday 12 June 2008

ORAL STATEMENT

item 4 General debate

Geneva, 6 June 2008 – The FIDH is very concerned of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe in the context of the second round of the presidential elections. Local independent NGOs already report human rights violations committed by the army, by the government-backed militia known as the "war-veterans" and by ZANU-PF supporters. Anyone that is even perceived to be an MDC supporter, in rural areas as well as in the cities, faces intimidation, beatings, arrest and torture. Moreover, very restrictive domestic laws, which violate the rights provided in international human rights instruments, are used to impede the work of political parties, civil society representatives and NGOs willing to report on the conditions of the electoral process and on the actual and deteriorating human rights situation and thereby undermine efforts to bring these violations to the attention of the international community.

Thus, FIDH condemns the recent selective application of the law and the abuse of criminal prosecution as against both legitimate and perceived political opponents. Of particular concern are the recent arrests, detention and prosecution of, amongst others, Morgan Tsvangirai, candidate for the presidential elections, Ian Kay, MDC MP Elect for Marondera, Arthur Mutambara, leader of the MDC political party, Advocate Eric Matinenga MDC MP Elect for Buhera, West, Jenniffer Williams, Magodonga Mahlangu, Trust Masiwa and 11 other activists of the Women and Men of Zimbabwe Arise (MOZA / WOZA).

FIDH requests the HRC to adopt a resolution

• urging the authorities of Zimbabwe to immedialty acdept the pending request for invitation of UN special rapporteurs, in particular the SR on Human rights defenders, the SR on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, the SR on Torture and the SR on the independence of judges and lawyers,
• further calling upon the authorities to cease all forms of political violence in Zimbabwe; of judicial harassement against opposition party members; and of attacks on civil society organizations and individuals working therein, including media practitioners and all other human rights defenders;
• calling for the immediate deployment of expanded regional and international electoral observer missions; the assurance that all local observers will be allowed to continue with their observation obligations as stipulated by law; the strict compliance by the authorities with the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and international election standards;
• calling for the immediate and equal access by both presidential candidates and theirrepresentatives to the publicly-owned media and immediate cessation of inciting hate speech and propaganda, false information, etc.

FIDH expresses deep concern concern the dramatic increase of the repression of civil society movements in Iran over the past year. The women's rights movement has borne the brunt of this repression, in particular since the launch of the "One Million Signatures" Campaign, in August 2006.

Since the launch of the campaign, 48 activists are being or have been prosecuted for their involvement in the defence of women's rights; 18 have been condemned to prison sentences, some with lashes. Their appeals are still pending. In addition, 2 are currently in prison: Ms. Ronak Safarzadeh and Ms. Hana Abdi, two members of Azar Mehr NGO and active members of the Campaign, are currently detained in Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan. More generally, severe repression against human rights defenders and civil society movements is continuing. Arrests, detention and judicial harassment are common practice, targeting in particular journalists, lawyers, students and trade unionists. To quote just a few of them, Emadeddin Baghi, a journalist and opponent to the death penalty, is currently serving a two-year sentence. Ahmad Ghassaban, Majid Tavakoli and Ehsan Mansouri, students, are arbitrarily detained since May 2007; Mansoor Osanloo, President of a trade union, is in detention since July 2007.

The application of death penalty in the Islamic Republic is on the rise. Last year, more than 310 persons were executed, significant increase from the previous year.

In addition, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to apply the death penalty in conditions that blatantly violate international human rights standards, carrying out public executions; executing child offenders or the mother of dependent children – as was the case of Raheleh Zamani, executed last January; applying the death penalty for crimes not considered as "the most serious" under international law, including adultery, homosexual acts and fornication of a non-Muslim with a Muslim woman; and resorting to execution by stoning.

The death penalty has been pronounced against prisoners of opinion, notably Yaghoub Mehrnehad, a journalist from Iranian Baluchistan, condemned after a blatantly unfair trial. Three Kurdish activists were also condemned to death last February, including, Farzad Kamangar, teacher and member of the Kamyaran teacher's association, and an active member of a local human rights organization banned by the government. He has reportedly been severely tortured. Those death sentences witness the increasing trend of the Iranian authorities to repress opponents and human rights defenders working in minority areas by resorting to accusations of terrorism.

FIDH expresses its deepest concern over the recent arrest of seven leaders of the Baha'i community and calls for their immediate release. The authorities should stop persecution of the minority communities in Iran and respect the right to freedom of religion and belief.

The recent parliamentary election in Iran demonstrated once again the severe restrictions on the right to free and fair elections enshrined in article 25 of the ICCPR. The Council of Guardians, an unelected body composed of clerics and jurists, disqualified nearly 40% of the original 7597 candidates. Most of those who were disqualified were either women candidates or reformists, on the ground that they were insufficiently loyal to Islam or to Iran's 1979 revolution.

FIDH urges the Iranian authorities to abide by their international human rights obligations, and implement recommendations issued by various UN human rights special procedures. Iran has issued a standing invitation to special procedures, but so far the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief, the Rapporteur on summary execution, the Rapporteur on torture, and the Rapporteur on independence judges have not been able to visit, despite requests. There are only a few months left before the UN Secretary General will submit his report on human rights in Iran to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. Those months should best be used to bring forward concrete progress on the ground.