Site icon Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

Summary Record of the 364th Meeting

          
          ___
          — ___
          INTERNATiONAL ________________
          COVENANT Distr UL 2 7 19u2
          ON CIVIL AND : ,. ... .... . . . GENERAL
          POLITICAL RiGHTS CCPR/C/SR. 364
          19 July 1982
          Original: ENGLISH .
          HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE . . . ..
          Sixtet nth eession ,, ,.. .-..... ,
          SUI'4MARY RECORD OF THE 364th MEETING . . :‘
          Held at the Palais d .s Nations, Geneva,
          on Thursday, 15 July 1982, at 10.30 a.m. .
          Chairman : Mr. MAVRPMfflIATIS . : ‘
          CONTENTS . .
          Consideration of reports submitted by States partie8 under article 40 of the
          Covenant . .. . .
          This record is subject to correction.
          Corrections should be submitted in on of the working languages. They should
          be s t forth in a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of th record. OEey
          should be s nt within one week of th. dnt of this document to the Official Records
          Editing Section, room E.6108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
          Any corrections to the records of the Public meetings of the Committea at
          this session will be connolidated in a single corrigendum to be issued shortly
          after tha and - th sassion.
          (;r . )‘: .. 11 r: , 1 , , .
          BP000670
        
          
          ‘‘• ‘ • , .
          . cCPR/C./S 3 .4 . . . .
          e2
          ——. — . —;. ,
          .. . . . . . . ‘ •:‘‘ .“,‘ ‘ ‘
          The meetin r was called to o der,a't 10.40 a.m . .. . ‘ ..‘ .
          : ‘. ‘ ...
          CON IDERA.TION OF R P3RT dUBMITTLJ) BY TJ Tfl:3 PA PIE UNDER PJ TIOLE ‘40. ‘OF. 1' “ ‘, ‘ .‘
          COVENkWI' (agenda item 4) . . . . . . .
          Iran.(ccPR/c/l/Add,5 ) : . . . .
          . 1. J.t the invitation of the Chairman in'. Khosroshahi (Iran) took a place at the
          Committee table . .. ‘:.. . .
          2. Mr. 1' IOhR0SH .BI said that the dynamic dog rine of Islam was the ideological
          foundation of the Islamic Eevolution in Iran, in,which complete submission to
          God Almighty was the fundamental basis for II . preserva' i op ofhurnanity and human ‘
          freedom from all forms of human exploitation and domination. Islam and the Koran
          recognized that people were distinguished by. II i'r colour, race and language, but
          those superficial differences were never allowed to be used as a basis for
          inequality in the enjoyment of human rights. The superficial differences were in
          fact, according to the Holy Koran, divine signs and symbols, to enable men to know
          each other and increase their knowledge. In Islam, there was only one criterion
          for human superiority namely, “Taghwa” which might be translated as “virtues or
          moral and spiritual values”. man was judged for his virtues and knowledge; he
          acquired praise or blame oniy on the basis of hi.s acts. According to Islam and the
          words of the Prophet, non—Moslena living in Moslem societies were to be treated as
          fellow human ‘Leings and their lives and intere ts prhte ted. It followed in all ‘
          logic that even if there was no religious bond between peoples, their common human
          dignity dictated that they should he alluwed to enjoy their legitimate rights.
          3. Before referring to individual articles of the Covenant, he wished to draw the
          Committee's attention to thr e general points. . irst , in spite of the formidable
          obstacles and difficulties, both internal and external, placed in the way of laying
          the foundations of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Government had at no time
          suspended the freedc-na and liberties, enshrined in the Covenant and in the
          Iranian Conatitut' on. No state of emerge' cy had been impos' d, nor had martial law
          been declared. e second point tc> note j o that the rcguh tionS and laws in force
          in Iran at the present time fell into two distinct categories: (a) post—
          revolutionary regulations arid laws, approveLl by the Islamic Consultative i ssembly of
          Iran; and (b) re u1aticns extant in the pre_revolutioflarY era, which were still in
          force and had been accepted as in accordance with Islamic practice. The
          Islamic Consultative Assembly was at present examining laws and regulations in
          ‘ relation to criminal acts, thc-' Code of Criminal Procedure, the i alitary Penal Code
          and other instruments. The third point to emphasize was the absolute independence
          of the judiciary. To safeguard that important principle of the Iranian Constitution,
          steps had bee taken to incorporate military and revolutionary courts within the
          framework of the Ministry of Justice.
          4. )uring the rest of his statement 1 i .w uld provide further information on ‘the
          ways in which Parts I, II and III of the Covenant were implemented in Iran. A more
          comprehensive report would be furnished, as soon as the present session of the
          Islamic ConsUltdt1 Jssembly h d completod its task of approving the 1av and
        
          
          --
          CCPR/C/SR. 364
          page 3
          regulations he had referred to. He felt bound to emphasize that although many
          articles of the Covenant were in conformity with the teachings of Islam, there
          could be no doubt that the tenets of Islam would prevail whenever the two sets of
          laws were in conflict. .
          Article 6 . .
          5. The right set forth in article 6 was guaranteed by articles 4 and 22 of the
          Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whigh provided: .
          Article 4: “All civil, penal, financial, economic, administrative, military and
          political laws, etc., shall-be b8sed on Islamic tenets. This
          art icle shall generally govern l1 the articles of the Constitution
          and also other laws and regulations t th discretion of the ‘
          religious jurists, members of the Council ‘of' Custodians of
          Islamic precept an the Constitutions' . .
          Article 22: “The prestige, lives, propexty, rights, dwelling places and
          occupations of people shall be immune against unauthorized entry,
          unless oIIerwise provided by the law”. . .
          6. The death penalty was imposed in Iran for very serio .is offences such as murder
          or armed operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sentence of d ath was
          only carried out after a final judgeutent, repdered by a competent court and
          article 110 of the Constitution concerning the duties and authority of leadership
          provided for the pardoning of convicts or mitigationd punishment within Islamic
          criteria on a proposal by the Court of Cassation.
          Article 7 .
          7. The .basic provisions on the protection of persons from torture or cruel,
          inhuman or degrading treatments or punishment were to be found in articles 36 and 39
          of the Constitution; which provideds .
          Article 36: “ .ny torture whatsoever to induce persons to confess or to obtain
          information shall be forbidden. To oblige a person to witness,
          confess or swear an oath shall not be allowed, nor shall such
          witness, confession or oath be valid. The party violating this
          article shall be punished according to the law”.
          Article 39: “ . spersions on the honour and reputation of a person arrested,
          imprisoned or exiled accor ing to the law shall not be allowed
          under any circumstances and shall render the. offender lia ble to
          punishment”. .
          Article 8 . ,
          8. Iranian legislation contained no reference to slavery, since slavery was
          never practised in Iran. However, article 43 paragraph 4, of the Constitution made
          provision for safeguarding the freedom of choosing occupations, preventing persons
          from being forced to accept particular jobs and preventing their exploitation.
          .
        
          
          c( n,.'c/ R. 334
          page 4 .
          Article 9
          9. The right in article 9 was guaranteed by artic1e 22 and 32 of the
          Constitution, which provided:
          Article 22: “The prestige, lives, property, rights, dwelling places and
          occupation of people shall be immune against unauthorized
          entry, unless otherwise provided by the law
          Article 32: “No person shall be arrested, unless otherwise ordered by
          the law. If a person is arrested, he shall be notified .
          in writing of the accusation against him and. within
          . . 24 hours he shall be brought before a oqrnpetent court,
          ‘ which shall enquire into the •oase at its earliest convenience.
          An r person violating' the provisions of this article shall
          be punished according to the law' :. . ,: . ..
          10. A further safeguard was contained in articles 87 to90 of the CriTninal Code
          and. in article 171 of the Constitution. ‘
          ‘ ‘ . , , . .
          A tiole 10 . . .
          11. The right in article 10 of the Covenant was guaranteed by article 39 of the
          Constitution, cited earlier. Further protection was afforded by clauses 39 to ‘
          . 45 of the Prison R gulations, in conjunction with clause 29, which required the ‘
          separation of those detained prior to trial from convicted persons, and also by
          the regulations governing the implementation of article 29 of the Act establishing
          juvenile courts. ‘
          Article 11
          12. Neither detention nor imprisonment were to be ordered for defaulting on
          purely ivil obligations. An act promulgated in 1973 pxohbited detention or
          imprisonment for inability to fulfil contractual obligations.
          Article 12
          13. Article 33 of the Constitution provided that no person should be exiled from
          his place of domicile or be forbidden to reside where he desired or forced to
          reside in a certain place, unless otherwise provided, by. the law.
          Article 13
          14. Under article 15 of the Executive Instructions governing the entry into the
          country of foreign iationals, appeals from deoisions by the immi 'ation authorities
          in regard to the issue, extension or renewal of residence permits might be submitted,
          within 15 da ys of nctiffication, to the I anistry of the Interior. The relevant
          . commission of the Ministry would then adjudicate on the request and communicate . ‘
          its decision to the imrnigTation authorities.
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR. 364
          page5 ‘
          Article 14
          15. ‘In Iran all persons were equal before the court,s and tribunals, in accordance
          with article 34 of the Constitution:
          Article 34: “It shall be the indisputable right qf every person to seek
          to obtain justice and, to this end, all persons shall be
          entitled to plead before the c.ornpeten courts. Such courts
          shall be open to all the people .rLd no person shall be
          forbidden recourse to legal remedies to which he is entitled , . ..
          in accordance with the law”.
          l . Article 140 of the Constitution was also, applicable: . , ,
          Article 140: “Charges brought against the President, Prime Minister and
          ministers, as far as ordinary offences are concerned, shall ,. ..
          be investigated at ordinary courts of justice with prior ‘ “ ‘ .
          notification of the I'4ajlis” .
          17. Article 165 of the Constitution provided:
          Article 165: “Trials shall be held in sessions with the public admitted.,
          , except where the court decides that open sessions would be
          contrary to public decency or order, or when in private
          litigation the parties thereto request that trial sessions
          shall not be held in open court”.
          18. Article 37 of the Constitution provided: . .
          Article 37: “ .kcqi J.ttal shall be the main and. valid aim and no person
          shall be deemed. guilty by law, unless his guilt has been
          . established by a competent court”.
          19. Article 35 of the Constitution provided: .
          Article 35: “In all courts, the parties to a case shall be entitled to
          appoint an attorney and, if they cannot afford a retainer,
          they shall be provided with the means to appoint and retain
          . an attorney”. .
          20. In addition, articles 6, 7 and 8 and Notes 8, 9 and 11 of the Revolutionary
          Tribunals Procedure, paragraph D, made explicit reference to the subject. Decisions
          by revolutionary tribunals were covered by article 14 of the Act setting up special
          courts to deal with counter—revolutionary offences, which was worded as follows:
          Article 14: “Court decisions under the aforementioned Act arc final except
          in the case of death and life imprisonment, where the condemned
          person ma ,y submit an appeal within 5 days. Such appeals are
          to ‘be proccss .d a.s a priority task and out of the normal ‘
          schedule. Should previous court decisions be overruled, the
          case shall be referred to another court'S .
        
          
          .,
          cCPi 1 'C/SR.364
          : page 6
          21. Article 171 of the Constitution provided as follows:
          Article 171: “If the judge fails to consider rightly the merits of the case
          “ “ or makes an error in his judgement or in reconcilis.tion of the
          verdict with a particular case and thus causes someone to
          sustain material and non—material losses, he Bhall ‘be responsible
          for his failure in accordance with lalamic practice; otherwise
          the Government shall pay for the lossec inci rred and in any case
          the: accused shall be rc-ha'bi1itatod .' ‘
          Article 15 ‘ , . .
          22. In accord.ance with the Civil Code of the Islamic Republic of Iran, no pe son
          could be condemned for actions which are not rec6 ized ‘as offences Sentencec far”
          which provision is made •in the law, might not be imposed retrospeQtively. ... .‘ . ,
          Article 16 . . . . ‘‘‘ , .
          23. Article 20 of the Corictitu'Lion provided: . .
          Article 20: “All persons, both men and women, shall be equal under ‘the ‘
          protection of the law and shall enjoy all human, political,
          . . economic, social and cultural rights, with due observance of
          Islamic precepts'. ‘. . .‘ .
          Article 17 .
          24. Article 25 of the Constitution provided:
          Article 5: Inspection of or failure to deliver letters, tapping telephones
          ‘ end disclosing telephone conversations, divulging telegrams and
          ‘ telexes, censoring or failure to send or deliver such messages,
          overhearing or enquiry into other people's business shall be
          prohibited, unless otherwise provided by IIe law”. , ‘ ..
          Article 18
          25. Article 1 of the Covenant being concerned with IIe freedom of conscience,
          thought and religion was in anne wa rs siL lar to articles 12 13, 14, 23 and. 26 of
          the Constitution, dealing with the State religion of Iran, with recognized religious
          minorities in Iran,. with relations between lioslems and non—r'Ioslems, with freedom of
          opinion ana with the freedom of Islamic or recognized religious minorities to form ‘
          parties, associati is, political aroups and trade unions, in /IIich any person was to ‘
          be permitted to participate. ‘ ‘ .
          Article 19 . .
          26. Freedom of exjression was covered in article 24 of the Constitution:
          Article 24: OEe press and publications shall be free to write what they will,
          unless the matter is detrimental to the principles of Islam or
          the rights of the people. The courts shall decide on the
          application of this articli .' .
        
          
          ‘ CCPR/C/Srt. 364
          page 7
          Article 20
          27. In accordance with the Act regarding punishment of racial agitators, the
          publication of material aimed at the promotion of racial prejudic;e and hatred and
          also IIe.instigation of racial segregation, exercised against any race, colour or
          ethnic group, were prohibited. Such offencec ie e punishable by imprisonment for
          six mox ths o ,r fi e of up to .50,000 rials.
          Articles 21 and 22
          23. The right of assembly ‘ ias recognized in articles 26 and 27 of the Constituti n:
          . .Art cle 26,: “Parties, associations, political groups and trade urlion8 and
          slamic or recognizec religious minorities' societies shall be
          free, provided that they do not violate IIe prinpiple of
          independence, liberty, national unity and Islamic standards and
          the foundations of the Islamic R public. 1 To person shall be
          forbidden or forced to participate in any of these”.
          Article 27: t Ral1ies and marches should be free, provided that they are
          unarmed and do not damage the foundations of Islam”
          Article 23
          29. Since the family was the fundamental unit in Islamic society, all laws and
          regulations were aimed at facilitating the formation of the family on the basis
          of Islamic morals arid values. In accordance wiII clause 1670 of the Iranian Civil Code,
          a marriage cc ntract could only be concluded with the consent of the parties concerned.
          Clauses 1168 and 1179 of the Iranian Civil Code, regarding the wellbeing and education
          of children, were broadly equivalent to t1 rights stipulated in article 23,.. .
          paragraph 4 of the Covenant, .
          Article 24
          30. Article 21 of the Constitution provided:
          Article 21: ‘OEe Gov rnmcnt shall proceed to protect mothers, especially
          during pregnancy and nursing and prcvide the necessary care
          . for orphaned children ... and entrust worthy mothers with the
          guardianship of children, with a view to ensu ing IIc latter
          a happy future, where there is no legal guardian”. .
          Article 25
          31. Article 25 covered sonic of the same ground as article 58 of the Constitution:
          Article 58; “The legislative power shall be exercised through the Najlis ,
          which shall be a consultative assembly of representatives elected
          by the people”. .
        
          
          CCFr /C/E. 364
          pageC
          In addition article 20 of the Constitution provided;
          Article 28: ‘Every person has the right to choose, as he desires, an
          : : occupation that is not contrary to Isla m, to the public
          .interest and. to the rights of thers. The Government shaft
          prbvide all IIe people with means of employment •unde.r equal
          conditions and with duo consideration to the requirement of
          society for different professions '
          Article 26 ‘: - —
          32. All Iranians of any ethnic, racial or tribal origin were entitled to enjoy
          equal rights without disciir iination in iegard to race, oolour of skin or 1en uage.
          Article 3, paragraph 14 of the Constitution provided as follows:
          Article 3: “14. The Govdrnment of the Islamic Republic of Iran must ‘
          ensure equal rights in every respect and equitable legal
          security for men and women alike and equality of all the
          . people bc-fore the law '. . . . .
          Article 27
          33. The right in article 27 was guaranteed in Iran in articles 12 and 13 of IIe
          Constitution, referred to earlier in conriecti n with article 10 of the Covenant. .
          34• The CHAD WdT thaniced the head. of the Iranian delegation for hi statement.
          j :j j the Cemmittec to ask qucetions if they so wished.
          35. Nr. SADI thanked the Iranian delegation for the information provided and its
          wi1lin ess to answer questions. lie had read the report ofiran with interest but
          regretted that it did. not fully conform with the guidelines provided by the
          Committee (ccPR,'cj'5). He was pleased, however, to note that IIe delegatiqn iad
          said that it would send a lengthier report at a later date.
          36. laining his own position, he said II t in April 1979, inmediately after the
          Iranian Revolution, it had been suggested that the Committee should press Iran to
          submit a report. lIe had opposed the request as he had considered it would not be
          fair to ask for a report so soon. At the Committee's October 1981 session, however,
          he hadbeen the first to ask that the condition of human rights in Iran be given
          priority, particularly in view of the media reports of conditions in that country.
          He had. been appalled by the reports ho had hoard and read of mass executions and
          : systematic torture. Such reports could not all be dismissed as exaggerations, .
          37. Above all otner human rights, he placod the right to life, without which all
          . other rights were null and void, lie did not, therefore, intend to ask questions
          about the implementation of the many other rights mentioned in the Covenant, but
          to concentrate-on that single vital right. :
        
          
          CC?R/ /bH .364
          page 9
          38. In the first place, he inquired how many executions had been carried out in
          Iran after the Revolution and what were the charges against those who had been
          executed. He had been gratified to hear that the death penalty was only
          applicable in cases of murder and armed operations, but there had ‘been reports that
          it was inflicted for other offences. }ioreove ', in that context, what as weant ,
          by armed operations? Was a person carrying a weapon and contempla ing a military
          operatidn ‘ch .rgeable with a capital ‘offence?
          39. Above all, he wonder d how the mass executions which had been widely reported
          could possibly be considered compatible with th? Koran. He, too, was a Moslem,
          but failed to see any justification in the Kan for mass execut .ons for crioees ,
          not involving murder. The Koran preached tolerance, forgiveness, under8t dIIg
          and love. He could understand that certain countiiee c nsidered the .des.tb penalty
          justified in cases of niur er — though the philosophy of the Covenant aimed at
          convincing countries to abolish capital puflishment — but he could not believe .tha
          all the people who.had been executed in Iran had been murderers. H h ,ad beard ,
          IIat the death penalty had even been inflicted for minor sexual offe c,ee,j..,A ve,
          all, was'it true that thousands of children h d b en ex cuted? ‘ . . ,,‘ . .,: .
          40. He realized that any revolution:!.ry government would be confronte by II rt
          but there were reasonable ways of fighting such threats, those of the Koran and
          of the Covenant. He therefore inquired whether torture, which was not acceptable
          under the Covenant, ‘ a practi d in Iran during interrogations of alleged ,
          terrorists. In that ‘connection, he asked the Chairman if the secretariat had e ny
          documentary evidence or information on torture and executions in Iran.
          41. Finally, he inquired OEether', in ‘Iran, the Covenant had precedence over
          domestic laws or, in other words, whether an individual could have recourse to the
          Covenant in a court of law in support of hie human rights. ‘
          42. The CHAIRMAN asked the m mbers of the Committee and the representatives of
          Iran simply to ask questions t the present stage.' The Iranian delegation would
          be afforded time to -reply at a date convenient to them. .
          43. The secretariat had no information on tox ture and executions in Iran.
          44. Mr. 0PSA said that the ‘fact th t representatives of Iran were today before
          the Committeewas worthy of note. Irati had accepted that it was sti.1 bound by
          the Covenant and had sent an important delegation to t ie meeting as it had ec1 red
          it would' do. ‘ . ‘ .
          45. In April 1979, a few months after the Revolution, when the question of asking
          for a new repcrt from Iran had been raised, he had himself been in favour of
          making such a request. It had not, however, been necessary, since the .
          charg d'affaires of Iran h ,..d come to the Committee at his own request and had made
          a statemer t which withdrew the earlier reports (C R/C/l/ ud.1o and 26) as nor.
          reflecting the reality of the situation in his country and had said that a new
          report would •te submitted in due course. For various reasons the Committee
          had had to wait a considerable time for that report and it was therefore particularly
          welcome. . .
        
          
          : ( cPR/C/Sh.364
          page )O
          46. He reminded the Iranian delegation that the members of the Commit ee p ved' ‘
          in their personal capacity, as experts on the Covenant, and nQta representatirves
          of Governments.
          47.: As a State Party Iran had undertaken to r spect'and secure to everyone in' .
          the country — without distinction of sex, religi6n or po1it ca1 opinion he
          rights, inter alia , to life, hunune treatment, liberty and security, as well as
          to the due process of law, to privacy, freedom of thought, conscience and
          religion and, further, to freedom of expression, assembly, association, family
          , rights and poiitioal rights, ‘to mention only some of the key terms of the , , ,
          Covenant. . The report was required to show how those rights and obligationp w,ere,
          1n lemented, by what remedies they were enforr d a d what factors and diffficulties,
          fariy,' eifected IIeir implementation. . , . . , ., ,,,.
          48. When Iran's earlier report had been considered four years ago, mar y . ,.
          critical que ti ns had been asked on all those points of those who at that ii e ‘ ..
          had”repres nted the country. Well—known problems had been referred to and it ,,
          had been hoped that the next report would demonstrate, in terms of the Covenant,
          the measures adopted and the progress made in the enjoyment of civil and political
          righta in Iran. ‘ , . ,
          49. At that time, he had been one of those who believed that great changes were :
          needed in Iran arid that the people of Iran itself would have to carry them oqt.
          OEat was still his firm belief. All were aware o1 the enor nous difficulties that
          the Revolution' had had to cope with and understood that stability and progress in
          human rights would not come at once or easily. However, now as before, the
          Committee had to be critical and to ask whether IIe report submitted prpvided ai .
          true picture. .
          50. The people of Iran had brought foreign domination and earlier domestic ,
          oppression to an end and the new Constitution denounced those evils. It'”opened
          the' way towards achievement not only of real self—determination, as foreseen by.
          article 1 of the Covenant, but also the general principles and individual rights
          laid down in the following provisions. ‘ .
          51. The report before IIe Committee did not, however, enable members to see,
          whether those aspirations had been fulfilled. The brief written report”a'pp ared
          to a large degree to be a statement of principles rather than of facts. It did
          not relate its comments to the provisions of the Covenant and, in particular, did
          not report on measures adopted and progress made as required by article 40 of the
          Covenant. . ‘
          52. The oral information provided by the Iranian representative was useful in ‘
          informing the Committee about the Constitution and other rules and regulations,
          “but it was to ‘be regretted that it had not been provided in writing. He had been
          particularly interested' in the reference to the law concerning the entry of
          , aliens. Ue inquired whether it was a new law or an earlIer one arid would like
          ‘more details of how it was, implemented in the new conditions.
          53. In making that treliminary assessment, he did not propose any conclusion at
          the present stage. In October 1981, sonic members had agreed that a less than
          perfect report would have to be accepted and that what mattered was to get one, so
          that the dialogue ‘between Iran's Government and the Committee could continue after
          the interruption. Tne present repcrt said so little, however, about the facts of
          the situation that it became necessary to look elsewhere for a basis on which to make
          observations and put questions.
        
          
          a ‘ ccPR/C/SR.364
          page 11
          54.' It was, of course, always possible to ask the questions which usually arose
          when State Party's report was oonsidered, taking the Covenant article by
          art'l.cle and recalling, the Committee's guidelines. Or, as had often been done,
          the text of the Constitution' as submitted could be examined and related to the
          provisions of the Covenant. But at the present time, dealing'with a country of
          war and at a very serious moment in history, it was the Committee's task to
          apply the Covenant as a yardstick on th legal and social system and the ‘ acts
          of the situation in Iran. If the last. examination of that situation had been
          based on a report which did not reflect reality, as th Committee had been told,
          then the present ‘examination should not suffer from the same defect. Yet,
          regrettably, the Committee appeared to be faced with a similar problem of
          unreality unless a ‘number of questions of law and fact could be answered. The
          ‘last sentence of the report, which stated that certain unavoidable disorders and
          discords resulting from the Revolution had been considerably reduced did not
          provide sufficient enlightenment, ‘ . ... .‘
          55. ‘ In the first place, therefor, the Committee should b further enllg t.ened
          on w iat the fundamental role of Islamic law really meant in the context of II . ,
          Covenant, especially since the Constitution so often referred to that concept,
          Was Islamic law a body of rules appropriate for the government of a moderfl State?
          The ‘Iranian representative had implied that II the case of a conflict between the
          Covenant'and Islamiclaw, it was a foregone conclusion that the latter wou .d
          pr evai'l whereas it was the Committee's view IIat'in the context of international
          law the Covenant should prevail. ‘
          56. Ha had heard it stated tha,t the Koran proclaimed “mischief through the land”
          oras commonly translated in English corrup ion'on carth ' ‘a capital offence.
          I s it true that capita]. punishment had been based on that concept and what did
          It mean? Moreover, was it in accordance with articles 6 and 14 of the Covenant?
          57. The next fundamental question to which answers were required concerned the
          emergency so eloquently described in the' second half of page of the repprt,
          The ‘influence of'the emergency on the o eration of law and order was only
          implicitly commented upon For the purposes of the Committee and of the
          Covenant,' much more information should be provided ab9ut the nature of the
          emergency, whether ri hts under th Covenant had been derogated from, how, and.
          the reasons thorefor. ‘On that point, the Committee required information not
          only in the light of art c1e 4 of the Covenant Put also under the general . ‘
          comment ‘5/13 set out in'the Committee's last report to the United Natlon
          G nera1 Assembly (Official records: Thirty—sixth session, Supplement No. 40
          (A/36I4 , ,annex VII)). ‘ ‘ , . ‘‘ ‘
          j 5C. Since other members of the Comnii tee were waiting to speak, he would only
          briefly mention a number of other points on which he felt information was .
          needed. In addition to the use of'the death penalty information should be
          provided on the nature and procedure of trials, the use of imprisonment or ,,
          ‘ arrest, detention awaiting trial, and the treatment of prisoners. Many other
          Issues might be raised such as the position of women and of groups such as the
          Bahal, propaganda for warand such punsihmentas flogging. ‘
          S
        
          
          GCPF /C/SH.364
          page 12
          59. In conclusion, he reiterated his view of the importance of the presence of
          IIe Iranian delegation at the meeting and expressed the hope that a dial gu
          would be established as regards the system underlying the Iranian Coristitu .pn..•
          vis-&-vls the values expressed in the Covenant, which he hQped wpuld pr va.il
          in Iran under whatever forn of govcrnmcnt
          - 60. Mr. PRADO VALLE JO said that he welcomed the presence of the Iranian
          delegation. As a citizen of a third world country he sympathized with t e ‘,
          Iranianpeople in their struggle to assert their political rights and escape
          - from the economic oppression they had endured for many years. He was glad o. ,
          learn that the Iranian Government would submit a' new report since t} e z eport ..
          before the Committee did not follow the guidelines regarding the form and
          content. He hoped the new report would deal with certain aspects of the
          in Iran concerning the protection of human rights which disturbed him.
          61. As a non—Moslem he had difficulty in understandinghow a c nstitut n j
          Law based on the principles of the Koran could be compatible n very resp t
          withthe Covenant. How could a legal system based onIIe precepts of a ir le
          religion protect all the human rights enshrined in the Covenant? Iran had
          experienced a profoundly religious r?volution,the ob ect ve of'which was tQ,
          change the legal structure of the country and break away from colonialisni and
          economic-dependency. But the Committee was bound to ask whether the iran ar)
          revolution had improved the situation with regard to the exercise ‘of human rig.hf s.
          Was there better respect for human rights in Iran now than before the revolution
          62. In the constitutional Law a number of articles relating to human rights ,
          contained restrictions. For example, article 20 stated that all persons were ‘
          equal-under the protection of the law and enjoyed all human, political, economic,
          social and cultural rights “with due observance of Islamic precepts”. Article ‘21
          guaranteed women's rights but “with due observance of Islamic precepts”. He ‘
          wished to know how Islamic precepts guaranteed equality of the sexes. In
          article 22 the prestige, lives, property, rights, dwelling places and occupat ans
          of people were immune against encroachment ‘unless o'therwis ' provided by lat ”. ,‘
          He would like more information on what was “provided by law”. Article 24 stated ,
          that the press and publications were fr .e with the proviec; unless such writings
          were “detrjmenta]. to the foundations of Islam or the rights ‘of the people”. Who ‘,
          decided on the rights of the people? Article 26 was concerned with the right of ,
          association whicti was guaranteed provided it did not “violate the pripc,ip es of,
          independence, liberty national unity and Islamic standards and the' fouiidatjpn
          of the Islamic epublic”. The proviso implied a certain restriction. A siIIi1 r ‘
          proviso appeared in article 27 guaranteeing freedom for rallies and marches .“ ‘
          “provided that they are unarmed arid do not damage the foundations of Islam”. He ‘
          would welcome clarification on all those matters. ‘ . ‘
          63. He was concerned at the concentration of power implied in article 107 and; -
          wondered how it affected the exercise of human rights'; In particular, he qi8h d ‘
          to know whether ‘the constitutional Law guaranteed an independent judiciary , . ‘
          capable of ensuring that the Iranian people enjoyed full human rights. The'..:
          reference in artidle 110 to thc appointment of the highest—ra kjnq offici l ,
          of the judicial bench cast some doubt upon the impartiality of the judIciary. ‘
          He would also like more information concerning the “Supreme Judicial Council”
          mentioned In article 157 and its effect on the independence of the judiciary.
          S
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR 364
          page 13
          64. In page 4 of thc Iranian report (CCPfl/C/l/Add.58), paragraph (b) 3 mentionei
          that article 173 of the Constitution provided for investigation of litigations,
          complaints and protests of the public against government officials by a tribunal
          known as the “Administrative Court of Justice”. . He wished to know what injustices
          or oppressions had been committed by government employees or units which had led to
          the establishment of that tribunal. . .. . . .
          65. There appeared to be a distinction between principles and practice regarding
          the exercise of human rights in Iran. Information was required regarding the
          existence of special tribunals in Iran. In all countries. special tribunals posed
          a threat to human rights. It had been alleged that 4,000 judgements had been mde
          by special tribunals in Iran. The Committee would like more information regarding
          f alleged summary executions.. It had been reported that many members of the Bahai ..
          f j j had been tried by special tribunals. Article 15 of the Oonstitu ibna1 law
          guaranteed freedom i or three religious minorities but did not appear to include
          freedom for the Bahai faith.
          66, The Iranian report laid down certain principles which he accepted,but' did riot
          give a complete picture of the situation regarding human rights in Iran. OEe head
          of IIe Iranian delegation had provided an interesting verbal report which did not
          clarify the situation. What were the legal channels open to an Iranian citizen who
          felt he had been deprived of his rights? He appreciated that in a country undergoing
          a total change of system of government there might be abuses by people in authority
          and that it might be necessary to establish tribu.nalB to deal with them. When a .
          State Party submitted a report it should provide information in relation to each
          article of the Covenant. Members would like to know what difficulties the Iranian
          ; Government had experienced in implementing those articles.
          67. Sir Vincent EVANS welcomed the presence of the representetives of Iran and
          thanked the authorities of that country for the report they had submitted. The ‘
          willingness to furnish additional particulars was also greatly appreciated, . since
          the report did not contain the detailed information concerning the measures taken
          to implement the Covenant which the Committee normally expected. However, the
          Committee had to recognize that there had been a revolutionary situation in Iran
          and that the process of reviewing and changing the laws to give effect to the
          principles of the Revolution was still under way. In any event, the report and the
          Constitution, taken together, provided at least a basis on which the Committee could
          proceed in accordance with article 40 of the Covenant. .
          68, Iran had one of the oldest civilizations in the world. It was also one of the
          most important Islamic States in the modern world. It was therefore not surprising
          that events in Iran were followed with a great deal of attention in other countries.
          It was the Committee's duty to raise matters which it considered to be of concern
          regarding the implementation of the Covenant and, by elucidating the issues, to try
          to promote the due observance of the rights contLined in it,
          69. One important question was the status of the Covenant itself within the new
          constitutional framework. The Covenant was treaty or international agreement, and
          every State Party to it had the obligation, as a matter of international law, to
          ensure that its laws and practices gave effect to the rights sot forth in the
          Covenant. In many countries such treaties became an integral part of the domestic
          legal system and their provisiona became directly applicable by the courts and
          administrative authorities of the State, OEe actual provisions of the Covenant
          could be invoked by the individual in proceedings before the courts and in his
          relations with the administrative authorities. That was probably the most direct
          and effective way of giving effect to the provisions of the Covenant in the domestic
          legal system of the State concerned. It would be interesting to know what the
          position was in that respect in Iran.
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR. 364
          page 14
          70. Article 170 of the Constitution provided that judges of justice c6urts should
          refrain from administering government decrees and regulations in so far as they were
          contrary to Islamic laws. Likewise, the Council of Custodians, under chapter 6 of the
          Constitution, had the responsibility to ensure that enactments of the hajlis were
          consistent with Islamic tenets. The Covenant reflected what the international
          . community, including many States with an Islamic tradition, considered to be
          universally applicable minimum standards of human rights. It would therefore be .
          interesting to know whether there were any provisions of the Covenant which might
          ‘ be considered to be contrary to Islamic laws or tenets., However, that was unlikely
          to be the case., since the seinir ar sponsored by the Univ a'sity f ‘Kuwait in December
          1980 had concluded that Islam was the first to recognize, ‘basic human rights and
          almest 14 centuries ago had set up guarantees and safeguard.s that had only recently
          been incorporated in universal declarations of uxnan rights. That was probably'a ‘
          preference- to the Uriversal Declaration of Human .r ight nd the International Covenant
          on Civil and Politicd Rights. The seminar had gone on tp conclude that ifl the IS1a Llc,
          concept, human rights and freedoms were not attributed to Nature but were considered
          to be gifts of God in accordance with the Islamic faith. That confers on them an
          ‘ add.ed. measure of veneration, prestige and sanctity, to protect them from inroads by
          the ruling saithorities, lent them the qualities of.pompleteness and universality,
          them inalienab1 and irrevocable. . . . ‘ ‘
          ‘ 71. ‘Since the courts of a country had an essential role to pla r in safeguarding the
          rights of the, inaividual by ensuring remedies in the event of alleged violations of
          those rights, it wculd be helpful If' the Committee could be given much fuller
          information on the judicial system of Iran than was t l found in the report or in
          the Constitution. It could be deduced front the Constitution that there was a
          Supreme Judicial Council responsible for the creation of appropriate judicial
          . organiz tjon , a Supreme Court of Cassation and an Administrative Justice Tribunal•;
          . Furthermore, article 159 of the Constitution provided that there should be ,
          “justice courts” to deal with litigation and complaipte. Presumably, in addition to
          the Adminj tratjve Justice Tribunal, there were civil courts and criminal courts.
          What courts, were there, and had there been, since the Revolution? Who were the
          judges, and what qualificatibns must they have? How were they appointed? Had any
          members of the former judiciary been appointed or had, they been replaced, possibly
          , by judges with spocia qualifications in Islamic law?. Had there been, and. were there,
          any, special courts to deal with the emergency situation created by the Revolution,
          and in particular to deal with political or security offences?
          72. Article 14 of the Covenant laid down the rules of due process of law designed'
          to ensure tha.t the individual was given a fair trial. They were, in a sense, obvious
          . and. elementary. b'evertheless, they were of great importance in the administration
          of any system of justice. They guaranteed a fair and public hearing by a competent,
          independent and impartial tribunal; the presumption that a person was innocent
          until he was f und guilty; adequate time arid facilities for an accused person to
          prepare his defence; the assistance of a freely chosen lawyer; the right to have
          witnesses heard and examined; and also the right of anyone convicted of a crime to
          have his conviction and sentence reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law. ‘
          Had those requirements been duly observed in the courts since the Revolution?
          u re, irnr in I r n . ., , ‘i-i-- -‘“ - ,
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR .364
          page 15
          73. Article 6 of the Covenant dealt iith IIe right to life, which bad been
          described as the supreme right. OEc representative of Iran, in his ppon2 ng.
          comments, had drawn attention to a number of requirements lai4 do m. in the
          Constitution which gave effect to that right. Article 6 of the Covenant prov2.ded,
          inter alia,'that no one should be arhitrai i1y deprived of his life and lajd down
          a n ber' of conditions for the usc of the death penalty, stating that it should be
          imposed only for IIe most serious crimes, that it might not be imposed on persons
          under the age of 1 or on pregeant women. FurIIerrnoro, in addition to the ri t
          of appea 1 or review required by article 14, para. aph 5, of the Covenants
          article 6, paragraph 4 rcquircd that anyone sentence to death shou .d have IIe
          right ‘to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. People ,in other. countries :
          had been profoundly concerned at the number of executions — sometimes mass - : “ , .
          exocut bns— reported to have been carried out in Iran since the Revolution. ‘‘
          Nc reover, ‘ IIose executio is had taken place in a summary manner and wiIIout any.,. .
          real opportunity foI appeal or review of the ponviction and sentence, required ,. :
          by the Covenant. The concern felt had been all the greater because IIe executiop.s
          had been taking place at & time when the trend in other countries was to a o -t b , ,
          the death penalty. Indeed, many countries'had lready abolished th d.ea.t . pal ,ty.
          even for the most serious offen eti. The Kuwait scmlnar to which he had re 'erre .
          earlier had found that capital crimes were limited .nd carefully defined in Ie an'ic
          law.' Political offences that were punishable by” death in zome St&te ierc dealt . . ,
          with differently under Islamic law, which did not al1o z tbe death penalty. for ich
          o fences. Was that so? If it was, how were the hundreds of exe ut ons which h d
          been reported since the Revolution to be justified? For what offences was the
          death penalty applied in Iran? Jas it over applied in the case of persons under
          the age of 18? Had all the trials been conducted wi -tb the necessary guarantees
          and safeguards, including the ri ht of z ppeal or review?
          74. Article 7 of the Covenant prohibited the use of torture or of cruel, inhuman
          or degrading treatment or punishment, and article 10, paragraph 1 required that all
          persons deprived cf their liberty should be treated with humanity and with respect
          for the inherent dignity of the human person. One of the serious charges against
          the previous r gimo in Iran had been the use of torture by the police and security
          services. Article 38 of the Constitution provided that any torture whatsoever to
          make people confess or to obtain information should be forbidden. Such a straight
          prohibition was necessary, but even a constitutional provision was not enough and
          in that connection a number of nuestions arose. For example, what measures was IIc
          Government of Iran no i taking to c:nsure IIat detained persons were not tortured or
          ill—treated? .fl-iat regulations vere there concerning the trea ient of detained
          persons and how was the enforcement of those regulations supervised? Were there
          any arrangements for prisons and other detention centres to be visited by persons
          who were independent of the prison authorities and who were empowered to receive
          any complaints and to have them investigated? What procedures were available for
          those purposes? How effective were they? Had any arrangements been made for
          prisons and detention centres in Iran to ‘be visited by representatives of the
          International Coumittee of the fled Cross. Those questions were questions which he
          had put to the representatives of all reporting States who had appeared before the
          Committee.
          75. Article 9 of the Covenant contained a number of safeguards against arbitrary
          arrest and detention. The report gave no information regarding the implementation
          of those provisions, and it was important for the Committee to leiow how they were
          complied with in Iran. The Committee's attention had been drawn to article 32 of
        
          
          ( :)‘ /C/ ..
          r: . lC
          II: Cor t tution ,hich containo I rtant provisions regarding personr who were
          ccucd of criminal offenccs, but were there any persons detained for political or
          scc.uri ty reasons without being brought to trial? l3ow many such persons were IIcro?
          For how long had they been in custody? Under ‘ ihat legal authority were they
          detained? Jere persons deprived of their libcrt2,' for what oever reason entitled
          to take proceedings before the courts to have the lawfulness of their detention
          determined, as required by article 9, paragraph 4 of the Covenant?
          76. Article 18 of the Covenant required that everyone should have the ri t to
          freedom of thought, conscience and religion, that no one should be subject to
          coercion which would impair his freedom to have! or to adc t a religion or belief
          of his choice, and that freedon to manifest one's religion or belief siight be
          uLject only to such limitations cc were prc -ocr .bed h la't•; and were necessary to
          protect r ublic safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental ri ts d
          freedoms of others. Article 27 of the Covenant also protected IIe ri ts 9!' .‘ :.
          religious ninorities. The ri its of certain named minorities ‘ ;ere recognized by
          article 13 of the Constitution. However, what was the position of other religious
          minorities, including the BaJ .iais? A resolutiofl'adopted earlier in 1982 byIIe
          United Hations Commission on Ilusnan flights contained a reference to the perilous
          situation facing the Lahais in Iran, and it was known that a number of the leaders
          of the Lahal faith in Iran had been executed, although it was one of the tenets of
          their faith that they should not engngo in politics. That matter was of profound
          inten tiona1 concern, and it would be appreciated if the representatives of Iran
          could comnent on it. . ..
          The oec-ctin rose at 1.5 .. .
        
          
          g7 ..d' T 4':' i 1 —
          L L LL 1 //-4J; r 1
          7 ‘ T A !V'
          OPI C ViL AND
          ‘ A 5 T(' !‘OE
          ;uttll 1
          =-=—,- .- - ;= _ .-_= -.— • - ;:. -
          - :r k,y:7 L) - ‘ C -) ::
          Di st r.
          GEi EP.AL : 1 2 iPL
          ENGLISH
          Original: FRENCH
          CCPR/C/SR.365
          19 July 1982
          iPLA N PLIGHTS COM/TTRE
          Sixteenth session
          SIOEB RY RECORD OF TRE 3 65TH I TING
          Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva,
          on Thursday, 15 July 1982, at 3 p.m.
          Chairman :
          Mr. IiAVROlfl iATIS
          later: Iir. C-RAEFRATH
          CONTENTS
          Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 40 of the
          Covenant ( pntinued )
          Iran ( pntinued )
          This record is subject to cori'ection.
          Coi'rections should be submitted in one of the working 1a.n a.ges. OEey should
          be set forth in a menDrandum and also incoi orated in a copy of the record. They
          should be sent within one week of the date of this docunent to the Official Records
          Editing Section, room E.6108, Pala.is des Nations, Geneva.
          Ar.y correctio to the records of the public meetings of the Committee at this
          session will be consolidated in a single corrigendum to be issued shortly after the
          end of the session.
          CE.82--.1 1527
        
          
          . 365
          p•ei 2 . :.
          Th meetirje was called -to order at 5.25 fl.m .
          COS EF &TION OP REPORTS SL BI• ITT BY STLTE ?ART S TJ7 ER ARTICI 40 OF T}
          CO EN 1TT (a zenda i.tem 4) ( continued )
          Iran (CCPR/0J1/ dc .56) (con jnue ) . .
          1. 1•: . T WcpCLS f wes retjfied that the' Iranian representative had confince
          his c ening stetecacnt that a more detailed report would be submitted later. He was
          aware of the difficulties Iran had faced in recent years and realized that after
          any revolution tjj j was needed to enact legislation in every fi&ld. It was one cf
          th duties of members cf the Committee -to assist States Per-ties to present their
          reports and. it was with that in mind that he wished to ask a number of questions
          concerning the ar licatic.n cf the Covenant in Iran.
          2. With regard to article 1 of the Ccvenant concerning self—dete nination, he
          asked whether information could be given in a future report on the Govera ent's
          position with regard to certain minorities and the opportunities particularly legal
          opportunities, cren to -them to achieve self—determination. With regard to article 2,
          “a ‘orcared t e e act os tion of tne Cc ena”t was ir aonestic la Pros his
          reading of the Constitution he gathered that in the event of conflict the Constitution
          would prevail.
          3. Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Covenant concerned the principle of
          non—discrimination, which seemed -to •be the subject of article 19 of the Constitution.
          He noted that the prohibited grounds for discrSmjnaticn listed did not include se: ,
          religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or
          ‘ otoer status, all cf which were of great imoortance. the same connection, he
          pointed cut that article 20 of the Constitution provided that all persons, both men
          and women were ecual “under the protection of the law”, and not “before the law” as
          was provided in article 26 of the Constitution which, with article 3, should be roa
          in conjunction with article 2, paragraph 1. He would be grateful to know the
          sigaificance of toe te ri equal under the protection of the law”, with particuie.r
          reference to wcmer.'s rights, which were according to article 21 of the Constitutio—.
          gcaranteed wi-ti-. due regard to Islamic precepts. Did the latter expression imply
          some restricticn and did women have access on an equal basis with men to all forms
          cf employment (toe civil service, -the judiciary, the ic-gal professions, the polica)?
          Could they dress as they wj had and were they able to ra:'-ticipats in public life?
          Finally, what iezislatjorj had been enacted to guarantee the a plication of article
          of the Covenant. under which States Parties undertook to. ensure -the equal right of
          man and women -to toe enjoyment of all civil and political rights?
          4. With further reference to discrimination, he had some misgivings about re1igio :
          discrimiratior , which was the subject of article 18 of tho Covenant and seemed to be
          deal-t wito in articles 13 and 14 of the Constitution which referred to Zcroasffl aii, .
          Jewish and Chrj tLan Iranians. He wondered whether that meant that -the aha'i w•c:c
          not reccgaized under the Constitution and what their position was. He wondered aloe
          whether a Muslim .:uld renounce his religion and become a cbnvert to another reli icn
          or cease to have ny religious faith and whether the laws, which were said to he
        
          
          ccPh/c/sR .365
          page 3
          based on the teachir s of the Koran, i rovidcd for the repression of renegades and
          Baha'is. J cccrding to article 1 of the Constitution, the prinoi ie that Nuslims
          should respoct the rights of non—I uslims tpli d to non—Muslims who did. not “r 1 ot
          against Islam and the Islamic Rcpuhlic of Iran. He would like to know what the
          :or5. “riot” meant in that ccntext since refusing to be a Muslim or being a missionary
          might be considered as plotting against Islam.
          5. Turning to the question of romedies (article 2, perag aph 3) he said. that he
          would he arateful for further infri ation rogarding the jurisdiction of the Sta-te
          Inspectorata General and. the i d cinistrative Court of Justice mentioned in the report
          (Cc.PR/C/i/Ada.55). The relations of the two organs with other courts and their
          legal status and functions were not made clear. Moreover, there was no reference
          to remedies, which were essential in ensuring respect for human rights. It would
          be helpful if the next report included information on the legal status of the
          revolutionary guards, the revolutionary and the re;-elutionary courts and
          their relationship with the ordinary courts. What was their jurisdiction and with
          which offences did. they deal? What was their relationship with the ordinary poli ce
          force and the ordinary courts? The .report referred to the proclamation of the
          “Year of the Law” and the reduction of “the unavciiable disorders and discords
          resulting from the ravolution”. The statement implied that there had. been disorders,
          some of which mieht reasonably he surposed. to have been the fault of State officials..
          ,‘ Had suc.h cases ceen brought before the courts and if so what had been the outcome?
          . Turning t article 4 of the Covenant, he had been glad to learn that article 79
          of the Constitution had. n ver been invoked, a remarkable achievement in view of the
          dafficuities Iran naa e oeriencoe. tates were of course entitled to. derogate from
          some articles of the Covenant even in normal times (articles 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and
          12 and 14) but in the case cf articles 6 and. 7 icroga tion was never permissible.
          He would. like to believe that the Iranian Govermoent had. never derogated from those
          articles.
          7. J rticle 6 of the Covenant called for a number of comments. There had been
          reports in official Iranian newspapers and broadcasts cf executions, the number cf
          which was unknc - •oo and. which had created anxiety throughout the human rights movement.
          The internaticna community had. been ir ormed of ste tements by high ranking members
          of the Iranian judiciary the authonticity of which ice would like to verify. For.
          examcle, a senior judge had suggectcd that the organizers cf a particular demonstration
          should rot be hrourht before the courts but should be put against a w 1l and shot.
          he wonacrad wneo:oer statements. of tn t i ind re:.Lect oa the official position of the
          Goverrr'ert aro not otner th l ac er of t 'c e i tion ‘ca 1 a
          
          COPE/C/SR. 365
          page 4
          tho death ponelty imposed in Iran exclusiv ly for crimes wider the anel code? Were
          th s provisions a. simple prolongation of the code in force under the fomoe?r r gime
          or had. they been enacted by -the present r gime and were they ccu hed in sufficiently
          explicit terms to enable everyone to know what he had to face?
          9. Other members of the Ccmmitte: had. stressc-d the rtance of enabling anyone
          sentenced to death to seek ardon. Commenting on article 110, Paragraph 6 of the
          Cons tj-t -tjcp under which the leadership was empowered to rardon c nvict 5 or mitigate
          their punishment, he asi:ed whether it was certain that each end every case was
          submitted to the lead sr-ip. Ha was disturbed ‘by reports ‘that children under
          16 years of aga had been executed. He wondered also .4 et v article 6, paragraph 5
          of the Covenant prchib!-tiflE the execution of pregnant women was respected in Iran.
          Finally ha asked whether steps had ‘been taken to abolish the death penalty or at
          least to reduce the number of crimes for which sentence of death mieht be imposed.
          10. Turning to article 7, : noted. that article 36 of the Iranian Constitution
          forbade the use of torture to induce persons to confess or to obtain information and
          asked whather those were the only cases in which torture was prohibited. H&d there
          for example been instances in which torture had ‘been inflicted on persons regarded
          as renegades? Did. citizens have to choose ‘between renouncing their faith ana death?
          Had allegations cf torture been in/restigated and if so what had the results of the
          investigation tean? If capital punishment was retained, the very least that could
          ‘be done was tc minimize the sufferings of persons put to death. In that connection
          he asked whether stoning and. floggin - were still practised. He asked also whether
          the right hands cf thieves were' still amputated', which was a penalty akin to torture
          and thus contrary to article 7 of the Covenant'. . Finally he came to a question which
          he asked the repres rt 4ves o a1l States Parties with regard to article 7 read in
          conjui ction with articles 10 and 23. Were persons deprived of liberty able to
          freely contact their families and. were there measures or laws prohibiting the holding
          of prisoners incc'mmun1cac .c. and guaranteeing the right of detained persons to: have a
          la rar? .
          11. Turning to article 9 of the Covenant, which was to some extent covered by
          rticle 32 of the Ccnstitutjon, he asked whether the revolutionary courts were
          required to observe that article and whether all the recuirements of the article
          (obligation t inform the accused. of the chargas against him, release on ‘bail and the
          remedy f corrus ) were respected in all cases.
          12. Turning to article 10 of the Covenant he asked whether Iranian law satisfied all
          the requirei ents of paragraph 2 (a) and (b) and paragraph 3. ‘
          13. Article 33 of the Constitution, like article 12 of the Covenan , prohibited ‘
          exile but. the roviso “unless othe ise provided by law” called for e lanation in
          vi w of its restrictive character. Ioreover, article 39 of th Constit tjcc-j rlainly
          envisaged exile. There aeairi some explanataon was necessary.
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR. 365
          page 5
          l! .. rtic1e 14 of -the Coveoant was subject to no restriction' exccDt in the case of
          t 1'lic emergency. J s the report of Iran did. not give information or. the subject, he
          asked how the inde end.ence of the judiciary, a rrinciple embodied in article 14,
          ara ranh 1, was fc-g a-rded in Iran. He noted. that under certain circur. stances ‘.
          jud os could 1 DO d zmissed (article 157). Hero there laws and re u1ations oVc-rning
          such dismissals? lie noted that aoder article 163 cf the Constitution the ..
          ualiicatiens of a judge were rcscri c d by law in acccrdance with ICoranic r cep s.
          He wondered whether it was ossi'o1e for a Christian or Jew or a member of the eha'i
          community to become a judge or whether it was essential to be a fluslim. . Vlith
          reference to the right to a public hearing he inonired in what circumstances the
          families of accused.' -oersons were entitled. to be present in c urt what o nortunities
          accused. persons had in practice to see their la ers and the position of the .
          bar association. it had ‘been reported that the president of the Tehran oa
          association and a number of magistrates had. been arrested. rurther infois aticn /-iould
          be welcome on the laws and measures adopted. to ensure that the accused's advocate and
          near relatives could be present in court. Paragia h 3 (d) of the same article
          referred to the accused's right to free leEal assistance if he had. insufficient means.
          . Legal assistance seemed to be provided for in article 35 of the Constitution but
          further information on the way in which the rule was apiDliod would be welcome.
          Information, would. also be welcome on ractices n regard. to the examination of
          witnossos and, with regard to article 14, para a h 5, the right to have, convictions .
          and. s ntences reviewed, esPecially in the case of serious offences. Finally with
          regard to comaensation in the event of a miscarriage of justice or the reversal of
          conviction . (article 14, paragraph 6) he aslced whether it was true, s article 171 of
          the Constitution seemed to suggest that compensation was only envisaged in cases
          i iere e dge had. failed to corcader )ie rents of tne case nag'tly or had. made en
          error. He wondered who decided whether a judge was at fault and what sig ificance
          ‘ was to be attached. to the phrase “responsjble in accordance with Islamic ractjce”?
          15. Tu ning to article 15 of the Covenant, he asked under what laws persons were
          tried for offences committed under the previous- government, having regard to the fact
          that the Islamic Re ublic had not been able to enact many laws since taking power.
          Turning to articleJ7, he asked. fcr further information on the application of
          article 25 of the Constitution which prohibited. inspection of mail, the disclosure of
          telephone conversation end. tele r s, teleuhone tapping, etc. eferning to
          a ticle 23 of the Constitution, he asl:ed whether parents could determine the , ‘
          education of their children in accordance with their opinions or whether they had no
          such choice. P eiigious minorities in Iran did not appear to possess the religious
          rlgJts mertiored _n a bicle 13 t e Coi .ena ,t. The suo eci —rat er of article 19 of
          “ the Covenant was dealt with in articles 23 and 2it of the Constitution. Article 24
          provided that the nress ‘ as free provided the matter written was not detrimental to
          the inincip es cf Islam. The terms used were vague and. it woulcL he ameresting to
          know what was meant. ‘ ‘
          16. Hith regard to artic.l 20 it had already been mentioned that one law enacted
          under the old r ime was still in f6rce but it scope should. be explained. The
          rights set out im article 24 of the Covenant ere dealt within article 21 of the
          Corst1t tiori : ould like to i no i /hot peragrapl 5 of tnst articlc rca .
          Turning to article 25 of the Covenant, he wondered how the ni hts set out in that
          article were saf ardecl in a state foi nd.ecl on religion. In that connection
        
          
          co /c/sR.365
          PaGe 6
          article 64 of the Constituticii guaranteed the rights of a nurber of minorities,
          Zoroastrians, Jews, Assyrian and Chaldean Christians, and north and outh Armenian
          Chr st ans, but it might be asked why there was no provision for the Baha'i.
          Finally with regard to the minority rights set out in article 27 of the Covenant, he
          would like details on the situation in Iran. The information provided earlier by
          Iran mentioned a eat many ethnic, linguistic, religious and other i ino iti 5 He
          would like to know whether th e rinomities had schools and could use their own
          lan ua a. In enera1 terms, he hoped that a frnitful dialcgue would be initiated
          with the representatives of Iran so that the Comaittee could be proPerly informed of
          the situation in Iran with regard to the rights set out in the Covenant.
          17. Ur. DIEYE said that in view of the changes resulting from the change of r gime
          in Iran the Conni tee had asked for a report so that it could consider whether
          Iranian legislatic.n now confo1 ed to the requirements of the International Covenant on
          Civil and Political Rights. . At the time the request had been made, there had been
          many alai ing retorts concerning Iran. some of them from reliable sources. The
          Iranian Government's response had. been positive, In New York the Iranian
          Charg4 d'Affaires had appeared before the Committee to make a statement regarding the
          Situation in Iran and in Bonn the Iranian Ambassado in the Federal Republic of
          Germany had come to answer the Committee's ouestions. Unfortunately. th report
          (CCPR/c/1/Ada.55) Iran had finally submitted, which was now before the Committee, was
          not satisfacto -. The report, which had been very long awaited, was not / itten in
          accordance with th guidelines conce ni g form and content set out in . ‘
          document CCPR/C/20. He welcomed the collaboration which was being established with
          the Government cf iran'but considered that the Committee would have to request
          another more satisfactory and more detailed reoort.
          18. He noted that in Iran Is1 was invoked to justify the revolutionary situation
          and said that as a tracticing lIuslim he believed that religion should not enter into
          the application of the Covenant. , Islam was undoubtedly a comprehensive reli on
          governing all human activities but religion had. to be set aside when a country
          acceded to an internatic)ial instrument. He regretted that a religion as pure as
          I slam was being misrepresented and that the imression was being given that Islam
          was not ada ted to the twe tjeth century. At the previous meeting it had even been
          asked whether Islam was consistent with the International Covenant on Civil and
          Political Rights z ii prece ts in conflict with the Covenant, such as for example a
          denial of the caracity of women to bear witness, had been attributed to Islam. He
          assured tho Ccmmi - ee that that interpretation of Islam was incorrect. Islam
          respected human ri hts. civil, political, economic, social and cultural. Reports in
          the media in Iran seemed to show however that the Iranian Government had little
          res - ct for human rights. Observers began to wonder what human rights were not being
          ‘ violc ,ted in Iran. He hoped that information would be trovided to show that the
          provisions of the Covenant were in fact respected in Iran.
          19. He had two s ecjfic questions. The first related to minorities, whose right to
          freedom of expression should be safeguarded by the Constitution even if they were not
          Huslims. In thc Coamission on Human Rights, the Iranian Delegation had. disqualified
          some minorities on the grounds that they had had connections with Savak under the
          previous r gime. owever that night be, the Committee should os tola whether all
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR. 365
          : ac 7
          minorities had freedom of exnrecsicn in Iran. The second dcn 1ate: . to
          and triaL He /Tis!led to know whether th assistance of counsel was T ar ced from
          the moment of arrest and whether hoarinrrs were p .1:1ic. vc-n in closed nrcoee•
          counsel for the defence nust he entitled to be rresent. Some i ‘orm tion received
          s ggcste IIat &hcce yraciel sac' aias -i—nb not h ocserve i - 11r
          opinion might however ‘cc nisinfoied anti in that cese the Iranian rerrc-sent.atives
          should indicate whether the facts were different and whether the :rocc-d'ure were in
          conformity with the Covenant He hoped the Committee would receivr 1 1 -
          raulic-s an t woulo. estaolish fru t u1 cc—onera ion wa h the Government of Ir .:.
          20. i:r, LRiIACORA expressed ri'ot that tile report (cCP /c/1/; t1d. ) did net reflect
          the difficulties of imi lementation of the Covenant in Iran. OEe re ort should skew
          how far a system of human rights was incorporated in the Iranian Constitution. In
          Iran, religion was interpreted in a succific way and the legislation was entirely
          based on Islamic standards, which migk cause problems, parti :ularly with regar . to
          the implementation of articles 2 to 5 of tile Coven nt. The principle of
          ‘ or—cliscii- ination embodied i' e Cov rant rcqulrec' a oe .'lti—relig ouc reg e
          idthough article l . of the Iranian Constituticn referred to Islamic eruity, the
          article was only valid in the case of those who did not engage “in any. plottin
          whatsoever against Islam and the Islamic ilepublic of Iran”. It was necessary to
          know what that provision metnt in relation to article 5 of the Covenant. .. .
          21. He requested clarification on the relationship between articles 22, 24, 27, 32,
          33, 34 and 38 of the Iranian Constitution and the provisions of the Covenant.
          Article 22, for example, stated that the prestige, lives, propercy, rights, dwelling
          places and occupations of the people should be immune against encroachment “unless
          otherwise provided by law”. That proviso, like the provisos in the other articles he
          had referred to, gave rise to misgivings about the possibility of interprct ng the
          Constitution in cor.fomity with the Covenant • Article 38 forbade ‘ 1 any torture
          whatsoever to induce people to confess or to obtain information”. The article was
          not in conformity with th no—torture clause in the Covenant, which was general and
          unrestricted. .
          22. Article 150 stated that tile Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps would continue
          to perform its role in safe arding the revolution and its outcome. He wished to
          know whether the guards observed State orders and hOw their actions related to the
          rights embodied in the Covenant. He would welcome clarification of the way in
          which the provisions concerning the administration of justice in article 156 were
          anpliecl by the military courts. He hoped tile representatives of Iran would
          understand the misgivings of members concerning the application of the Covenant in
          Iran id would remove those misgivings by answering the many questiohs asked.
          23. Hr. AGUILJ noted that States which became Parties to the Covenant had to make
          a number of commitments, including those under article 2, aragraphs 1 and 2. The
          drafters of the Covenant had estal)llShOd a system to elcenre observance of the
          Covenant, including the Human Rights Committee, which was composed of rersons of
          high moral character with recognized com letence in the field of human rights, and
          rerresentative of the various geographical regions and forms of civilization and the
          principal legal systems. The Committee's main function was to cei oidc r the- reports
          of States Parties, which were intended to review factors affecting the implementation
          of the Covenant, as well as progress made. It would have been useful therefcre to
          receive inforn:aticzi concerning the difficulties encountered in Iran following the
          revolution, since the difficulties would have exulained any violations of hunan
          . rights tb t might have taJ e' lac.e although they wculd riot justify ]1c1: . .
        
          
          cCPR/c/.365 .
          page E
          24. A dialogue between the Committee and the representatives of reDorting
          States was helpful to other States Parties and was designed to promote uniform
          lmplenentation of the provisions of the Covenant in all States Parties. Given
          the fact that the dialogue was useful to all, the relevance or othcn-,ise of the
          questions asked was a secondary issue. The questions or comments of members
          could not be interpreted as reflecting political or other positions, still less
          as condemnations. The Committee was not a court bc-fore which States had to
          appear. The sole purpose of the questions addressed to the Iranian delegation
          was to provide the Committee •ith information about the situation in Iran so
          that it could help Iran to make progress in the observance of h an rights.
          25. He noted t: at the Covenant was in the last analysis a subsidiary instrument
          for ensuring the Drotectioi of human rights in a country when domestic machinery
          for that purpose did. not work. He was thinking in particular of the guarantees
          provided in article 14. The absence of an independent and competent judiciary
          shielded from pressures and the lack of appeals procedures were likely to encourage
          violations of human rights. .
          26. Nr. Graefrath took the Chair . , .
          27. 1 ir. JANCA observed that most of the questions addressed to the Iranian
          delegation would not have been asked if the re crt had fo11ow d the Committee's
          guidelines for the submission of reports and showed that Iran should provide the .
          Committee with additional information. .
          28. om the documents communicated by Iran, it was difficult to see which
          legislative or other measures guaranteed the implementation of the Covenant.
          Although the Constitution made many references -to human rights, it was worded in
          such general terms that it did not answer the Committee's -questions. Was everyone
          arrested in Iran informed of the reasons for his arrest? In a trial did the
          accused have the' free assistance of an interpreter if he did not speak Persian?
          29. The Committee had no information on the relationship between inter atjonal
          treaties and Iranian legislation and between the Covenant and the legal system,
          since the relevant provisions of the Constitution were not clear on that point.
          Could a court base its decision directly on the Covenant or had it to rely
          exclusiyely on national legislation? . .
          30. Article 19 of the Constitution stated that the people of ffla whatever ethnic
          or tribal group the - might belong to should enjoy equal rights and complexion,
          race, language and the like should not be considered as a privilege. Although
          the article listed many prohibited grounds for discrimination, it was more limited
          in scope than article 2 of the Covenant. Were there laws forbidding discrimination
          on grounds other than those referred to in the Constitution? . .
          31. Had any progress been made in regard to women's rights? iat was the
          proportion of women in legislativ and judicial bodies and other organs of the
          State? Were they allowed to teach or practise medicine? .
          32. The Committee would require clarification on some of the terms used in the
          I Constitution, such as “Islamic precepts” (article 2(i).
          33. Lastly, referring to article 27 of the Covenant, which concerned minorities,
          he said that it would be interesting to know, inter alia , which minorities .
          existed in Iran, how many people belonged to minorities, and what their rights were.
        
          
          ccPH/c/ .365
          page 9
          34. -. ECUZIRI endorsed 1r. Itguilar's comments on thc composition of the
          Committee and. the individual character of its membErs' statements, which resulted
          from the diversity of their backgrounds. He believed that he himself was a
          “third wor1der ' with very vivid memories of colonization. H noted that in
          introducjn the r - ort the representative of Iran had fuxnis:ed new and u eful
          material. .
          35. After drawing attention tc articlel, paragrarh 3, henoted. that reports
          submitted to the Committee frequently gave the impression that States considered
          article 1 to be merely general, whereas in fact it was a fundamental and extremely
          speeiffi 'prcvj j 0 on which all the rights e:. bodied in the Covenant were based.
          Since Stat s Pa ties were supposed to take steps to ‘ nsure implementation of the
          Covenant, they hould encourage implementation of the right of peoples to
          self—determ nat cn. That being so, he was distressed by the situation in Lebanon,
          which had been invaded without justific tion by the zionist, colonialist and .
          ex-cansionis army which was in the process of committing genocide there. What was
          the Iranian Government doing to promote the right of the Palestinian and Lebanese
          peoples to self—determination? Why had the Iranian Government not accepted the
          cease—fire proposed by Iraq, so that Iraq ould go and fight the Israelis? Why
          had Iranian troops not come to the aid of the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples
          now that the Iraci army had withdrawn fi om Iran?
          36. Tur ing to t1 e report submitted by Iran under article 40 of the Covenant, .
          he noted that it was not drafted in accordance with the idelines published by
          the Coomittee in document CCPR/C/20 of 19 August 1981. There was no specific
          informatjon on theimpleIIentation of human rights in Iran,' from either the
          legislative, re .ilatory r practical point of view. The Iranian Constitution'
          contained prdv5sos' hich appeared t coi travene the provisions of the Covenant,
          but without knowledge of the laws enacted ‘to' apply the constitutional provisions
          ‘ it was impossible to judge whether that was the case or not.
          37. The IIfo -ma- jon received from other sources was most alarming. There were
          reports of persecution, hurried trials and summary executions. In the circumstances
          members anxiously awaited the Iranian de1e atio answers t their questions.
          The Iranian people had id itself of a monarchy which had trampled human rights
          underfoot. ‘ogressive people had hailed the Iranian revolution as the harbinger
          of a new era. They were now waiting for assurances that would remove their
          misgivings and information that /• ould give them a better understanding of what
          was happening.
          38. I . HAHGA endorsed the questions already asked by members and said that he
          wished to add some of his own. .
          39. Article 19 of the Iranian Constitution referred to “ethnic or tribal groups' t .
          Those so ial rou s obviously had ‘special customs. He wondered whether there was
          ‘ any system of cu omary law in Iran and, if so, what was the relationship bet 'een
          traditional 1a : and human rights. . . .
          40. Youth was a :-eal unifying force in a divided world. Young people had civil
          and political rdmh-ts and should be helped to be :r ade aware of them. 1985 was to
          be International Youth Year according to a General ! ssenbly decision. Iran would
          undoubtedly be ra.rticinating in the events plar.ned for that occasion, and he
          would like to knc- 4 : what the Government was doing currently to make young people
          aware of their rizhts. .
          ‘-,.. -‘ — L LL.LU U
        
          
          CcP /C/SR . 365
          page lb
          41. Article 23, paragraph 4 of the Covenant provided for the equality of spouses
          in marriage. .Sir ce the Iranian family was based cm parental authority, it. ould
          be helpful to know whether the husband, the wife or both spouses exercised
          parental auth rity ‘ ?id whet principles goi erned the custody of childrpn in the
          event of dissolution of a m rria 'o' . Article .2 of the Covenant provided that
          every child shouj.d be registered immediately after bi th and should hav a name.
          There had been a law in Iran which met that obligation. He wished to know
          whether it was still extant and what the current, regulations governing civil
          status were. . .. . .
          42. In its report the Govcrnmdnt of Iran rofe 'red to the recent establishment
          . of an administrative court of justice. It appeared to be an administrative
          tribunal but he would like to know the procedure for a plaintiff to bring his
          case before the court and what kind of cases were admissible. The Govei nmant
          al o referred to an act establishing judiciary pplice. Further inf rn ation .
          concerning the technical, political and moral criteria governing the recruitment
          of police p onnel would be welcome. ,
          43. At the end of the report, reference was made to bills aimed at the just
          distribution of ‘wealth and the prevention of exploitation in general. Since
          they were only bills, he askdd what steps the Government had already taken to
          eliminate the e; ploitation of man by man. What legislative or administrative
          measures had it taken to encourage, for example, narticipation by the general
          public in major productive enterprises? , . .‘
          44. lastly, the report referred to a new social and political order. In its
          external.aspocts, that nowstate of,affairs :JCS certainly linked to the ‘ ‘
          international order. From that point of view, what role did Iran intend to ‘
          play in'. the establishment of a ‘new international economic order? . .
          . 45. Hr. L DO'JRI said that although he sat in the Committee in a personal
          capacity and not as a representative of the Government of Iraq, he felt bound
          ‘ to protest strongly against the fact that the reoort submitted by th Government ‘
          of Iran cast a slur on'his country and.more specifically its President. Before
          , a State was accused, it should be.given the pos ibility pf answering the charge
          as was the cas in other international organs, Differences of opinion between
          States Parties were covered by article 41 of th Covenant, the provisions of
          ‘ which had to be ratified separately. H wever, neither Iraq nor Iran had done SO.
          46. Article 1 of the Covenant embodied the right of peoples to self . ..deternination.
          However, several statements by. religious nr politicel leaders in Iran advocated
          the export of the revolution, which appeared to be contrary to article. l.and:.the
          closely related principle of non interferencc in ‘the internal affairs of States.
          47. Article 27, which referred to ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities was'
          also related.to article 1. It was well known thot there were Kurdish, Turkonan,
          ,‘ Ealuchi and Arab graups in Iran who could claim to be recognized as special .
          , minorities under Iranian law. If the pres nt Government r cognizcd minorities,
          he would like to know how their rights, were impl ment d. .
        
          
          ‘ . ‘ ,.
          CCPRIC/SR 365
          pat, 11
          48. Articl s 3 and 25 of th Covenant laid thL foundations for tha principlu
          of oquality. Article 12 of the Iranian Constitution, howov r, laid down that
          the State religion of iran was Islam, Jafari Ithna Ashari s ct, and article 115,
          ! which rcforr,.,d to thiL ,loction to the prusLdency, provided that the Prdsidnt
          of' the Rupubli: must follow the Statu religion of thu country, in other words
          . the Jafari Ithna Ashen sect. OEos., provisions waru contrary to IIi articles
          ho had referred to.
          49. Ru endorsed all the questionj asked by his colleagua in the Comittee, but
          uould like to asic somc, himself. With rdgard to equality betw on men and women,
          particularly from IIu point of view of articles 3, 25 and 26 of the Covenant,
          ho asked whether women could occupy political or jurisdictional posts and, if
          so, in what proportion. Similarly, he would like to know the p ircentage of
          . girls in educational institutions at the various levels. In that context, the
          . npresentativc 4 s of the Government of Iran might confirm that Iranian universities
          had been closed for three years, which was obviously contrary to thu provisions
          . of thu Covencnt.
          : 50. Articles 6 and 14, which concerned the right to life and justice, were, so
          to speak, the cornerstone of the Covenant. OEure were, howavur, extremely
          : alarming rumours concerning Iran. Earlier in the year, the Comoission on
          ; Human Rights had already expressed its profound concern regarding p:rsistont
          ruports of serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran
          . and had urged tije Iranian Government to guarantee the rights recognized in the
          Covenant to everyone in its territory. It was true that Iran was in a state of
          revolution arid in an acrgency situation with problems of all kinds, but its
          official reprosc ntatives had every opportunity to provide II:j necessary explanations.
          If the rumours concerning the internal situation in Iran uere false, they could
          sot the record straight and explain exactly what was happening in their country.
          . 7$ meeting rose at 6 p.m .
          .
          ..
        
          
          INTERNATIONAL
          CVVEN4NT
          ON f VJL AND
          POLITICAL RIGHTS
          Distr.
          GENERAL JUL 2 7 ? ?
          CCPR/C/SR.366
          19 July 1982
          — -. .- . - -: - - — - -: —:• :-. - -—.
          HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE — •. . -: - - -
          Sixteenth session
          SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 366th MEETING
          Held at the Palais des .Nations, Geneva,
          on Friday, i6 July 1982, at 10.30 a.m.
          Chairman : Mr. FIAVROMMATIS
          later :
          PRADO VALLEJO
          CONTENTS
          Consideration of reports
          Covenant ( continued )
          submitted by States parties under artic1e
          Organizational and other matters lc.ontinued ) ..
          This record is subject to correction.
          40 f the
          Corrections should be submitted in one of the working languages. They
          should be sot forth In a memorandum and also incorporated in a copy of the record.
          They should be sent within one week of the date of this document to the Official
          Records Editing Section, room E—6108, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
          Any corrections to the records of th public meetings of the Committee at
          this session wfli be consolidated in a single corrigendum to be issued shortly
          after the end of the session.
          Original: ENGLISH
          GE . 2—1 1534
        
          
          —
          The meetiri was cal1 d to ordcr at 10.40 a.m .
          CONSIDERATION F PORTS SDBMITTED BY LkTDS P h . IDS U1 DER kRTICL :40
          OP TJ C0/E! ij! T (agenaa item 4) (continue ).--. .
          Iran . (cpptinued ) (ccpn/c/l/i dci.5s) . .
          1. At the invitation of the Chairman, Mr. IIosroshaki, Ni'. Mahallati ,
          - Mr. Enayat, Mr. Jalali, Mr. Givi and Mr. Nikain (Iran) took tlaces at the
          Committee table . -
          2. Mr. B0D2 I said that in shortening his statement at the previous meeting in
          order to save time, he had inadvertently omitted a sentence, which he wished to place
          on the record to avoid misunderstanding. .
          3. As regards the obligation of States Parties under article .1, para raph 3, the
          fact that certain countries, MheIIer or not they were Parties to the Covenant, such
          as some Arab countries, had-been unwillin or unable to comply with their duty of
          solidarity towards the Lebanese or Palestinian peoples should not prevent or excuse
          other States Parties from fulffihlinE theiT obligations mder the article to promote
          the realization of the right of the Lebanese and P .J stiniab peoples of self—
          determination. . . . - .,
          4. Mr. T L SCHAT welcomed the delegation which the Iranian Govei ment had sent to
          the Committee, thus demonstrating its interest in the proceedings, and hoped the
          spirit of co—operation thus manifested would extend to the substantive issues.
          5. Previous speakers had stressed were speaking as delegates of ..
          their countries, but members of the Committee were not simply act •i • their .
          personal capacity. The Committee had been established by all, the Sta tes Parties. t,o .
          the Covenant and, as such, its members were . ot representing specific partial aims of
          their own but aiming at fulfilling their duty to the international community by
          upholding the tenets of the Covenant.
          6. in considering the Iranian report, he started from a basic premise that, in the
          field of human rights more than elsewhere, it was deeds and not words that mattered.
          OEe previous day, the Iranian delegation had. drawn the Committee's attention to
          various articles of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran but nothing had
          been said about actual practices. The Committee needed to 1 iow whether the principles
          of the Constitution found reflection in reality. The Committee was not an academic
          body whose interests were confined to legaltexta. Its duty under the Covenant was
          to inquire into relevant facts which would enable a judgement to be made as to
          whether the obligations of the Covenant had been observed or breached.
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR. 366
          page 3
          7. Like most of his col1ee ues, he had received.reports from outaide.aources. ....In
          general, they did not make comfortable reading. ne such i-sport, which he would make
          available to the Iranian delegation, had been prepared by an association for the
          protection of minority rights and soberly set out., article by article, ‘alleged. .
          inconsistencies between the articles of the Covenant and the prevailing situation in
          Iran. . .
          8. The impression that the Covenant was an instrument which would i mpede. a y kind
          of revolutionary transformation of society would be entirely false. The Covenant
          did net prescribe or preclude the r ginie of property. Nor did it run counter to
          religious conviction. C the contrary, it offered protection for any kind of
          relielon or faith. It was thereforefully compatible with a constitution stating
          that religion should be upheld in all sec:tors of public life provided that members
          : of other religious communities were not discriminated against. In such matters, the
          Covenant allowed a wide margin of political d4scretion and merely provided a
          framework of basic human rights which must be respected in any event.
          9. Be himself did not believe that the secular ethic of the Moslem !aith could not
          be reconciled with the Covenant: the Covenant reflected convictions and beliefs held
          in common by all the major forms of civilization and that view had been confirmed
          by the conclusions of a recent seminar, held in Italy, on human rights and the
          Islamic civil justice System. . . . .
          10. The Preamble to the Covenant stated that its tenets were based on recognition
          of inherent human dignity. That meant IIat co one forfeited his human dignity by
          cormiittir g criminal deeds, even less by opposing his Government. He had bee i .
          comforted to hear that Iran considered itself bound -by the Covenant and. had noted
          that it had not avaii.ed. itself under article 4 bf the opportunity to proclaim any
          derogations from the normal r gime. lie had gathered, however, from the Iranian
          representatives! statement, that in case of confliot -between the Covenant .and domestic
          Iranian law, Iranian law would prevail. It was the view of the Co nittee, however, .
          that the principles of the Covenant were paramount arid any inconsistency between the
          two should be remedied. Was there —any kind of body in the Iranian Government which
          bad examined the Covenant in ‘relation to the rules in force in Iran to see if there
          were inconsistencies and recommend what should be done if there were?
          11. Morecver. the Covenant should be publicized in every country so as to become
          its living constitution. Every ‘citizen should be provided with a copy. Ee
          therefore wondered if efforts had been made by the lranian Government to publicize the
          Covenant. In particular, was there a version in the Farsi language? Bad the
          Government undertaken a process of .ad -ueat.i'on in-human rights involving all levels of
          government, including the Bead of -State himself? : .
          12. Of the basic pillars supporting hum nri ht ,- tb? oeost important were the courts
          or tribunals. The relevant articles of “the Zranian Constitution (articles 156 to 174)
          were impressive, but he would like information ‘as to what extent the operating
        
          
          CCP / /S .3(6
          pa . :.
          tribunals in Iran wer: based on those provisions. What organic laws had..translated. .
          the provisions tf the O r tit tion into• b.r&inary rules?. In particular, w iat was ;he
          legal basis for thc revolutionary tribunals? During the first months after the
          revolution, acc .crd.ing to reports,. they hid seemed. mc 2ikc spont neou ath rin s ..
          in ‘the street. ‘He was conffident that t oh was not now the case,. but the Cormaittee
          would like to be sure. Had a new code of criminal procedure been issued and., if .
          so, could the Coc ittee have the text? How were the courts manned? With trained ‘
          lawyers nd judges, or did they .many laymen? , . , . .
          13. The position cf the legal profession was of par ount importance in ... .
          safeguarding human rights. J ticle 14, paragraph 3 (t) stated that an accused:persc'n
          should have adequate time and faciliti s' for the preparation of his defence and to
          cornIIunicate with counsel of his own IIoosin -. Was .that right available in Iran? :
          He would also like infc ation on the organization of the legal rcfession. Did. .
          defence lawyers need a special authorization by .the• Government? Bad the Teheran Bar
          Association ‘been suspended.? He had heard. that lawyers were reluctant to defend
          opponents of the Government and inquired whether that was true. Ho therefore wondered
          whether ‘there were sufficient lawyers, in Teheran in particular, ‘to whom a person .,
          could have recourse for the defence of his rights. . .
          14. The effective enjo ent of political and civil ri ht.s rested on several other ‘
          factors, one of which was a free press. He asked how many newspapers existed in Iran
          and in Teheran. Was it possible for anyone to establish a newspaper and. would a person
          wishing to express views opposed to those f the Government obtain authorization to
          establish a newspsmer if authorization was he essary'? Would. ‘it :be possible ‘for a
          ‘ person to join a political party or association whose aim as to voice ‘dissent nd ‘
          advocate guiding rrinciples for o1itioal'.actioriother -than those held by the present
          Government? . : ‘ ‘ : ‘ , ;
          i5. ‘ nother pillar of h nian rights ene'bri ed in ‘the Oovenarrt' was the principle . f
          rule of law.' That meant, in addition to legal precepts, ‘that ‘ the individual ci i'z?n
          should feel certainty and security. ‘ Be would like ‘Turthe enii htenment as to how
          the precepts of the Islamic faith were reflected..'in ‘law. Was it possible for an
          Iranian citizen to disagree i ith what ‘tho Nosl.e :ethic ‘theme prescribed as law? ,
          ‘ Be doubted whether the ordinary citizen was able to interpret ‘the ‘Koran in that way
          and considered that there should ‘be a written code available to all citizens. For
          ‘ instance, he had heard that capital pnnishmant'had been imposed'.f or very vaue offenoes
          such as “corruption on earth”, ‘war on God”, 11 war on God.' a property”. Without an
          e lanation, the cndinary citizen would ‘.not ‘ a ow what such cffenoes meant. ‘
          ‘ 16. rtic1es 7 and 10 of the Covenant ref er ed o the treatment of'arrested persons
          , and those in prison. In view of the repo 'tsbfil1—treatrneflt ‘in Iranian. prisons, he
          suggested that the Government should establish.a prison inspection service. Prison
          inspectlon boaras need not necessarily ‘oonsist n1 r' f DLaclals and-the assistanCe
          of private citi e -s could be enlisted.
        
          
          CCPR/C/SR. 366
          page 5
          17. rticle 150 cf the Iranian C tjtutj 0 referred to the Isla mic Revolution y
          Guards and stated that IIeir functions nd responsibilities would be determ.ined by law.
          In view of the recorts of arbitrary arrests by the evolutionary Guards, he would
          like information as to whether such a. law had been enacted ahd wheIIer the
          Revolutionary Guards had authority to ‘ rrest citizens. v/ho ensured the d1sci line
          of the Guards and what, in fact, was their precise'status? . “ . ‘ . .
          - -. . ..,., ‘‘ .
          1 16. Of the many other reports which had reached the outer world from Iran hewo ld
          mention just one more. It had been alleged that Bahai marriages were nQt reco -iized
          in Iran and that birth certificates had been denied to children of Bahais,. Such
          treatment, if true, would appear to be contrary to the provisions of article 23 of the
          ( Covenant and he would like the Iranian representatives to co ent upon the allegations.
          10 In conclusion, he hoped the representatives of Iran would not.consider their task
          -‘.
          to be merely to reject as many of the charges as possible. Obviously, to the extent
          that unfounded suspicions had been expressed, such allegations should he denied. But
          there would certainly remain many elements of doubt. It seemed to him that the
          concern expressed in the Committee ehould be reported to the highest authorities in
          Iran and, in particular, to the Bead of State himself, since under article 107 of the
          Constitution his powers were extremely wide and •he was therefore co etent to taize
          action to remedy some of the shortcomings and deficiencies mentioned. OEe dialogue
          which ha.d been started was not an -end in itself but should lead .to progress being made.
          20. Mr. Prado Vallejo took the Chair . , . . . .
          21. lIr. GRb R.L remarked that it was three years since the representative of''Iran
          had informed the Committee that the repo ts ‘subIItted by the ‘ormer ‘ r gime :did not
          reflect the reality of IIe situation in Iran regarding the status of civil ‘and
          political rights, and that his -cotintry -‘was paas'ing”tbrough a revol'utionary rocess .
          which was laying the foundations ‘of a riew oci t . OEe structure of that society
          ‘ was reflected in the -Constitutional -Law cf-khetslamic Republic.' ree' rears' aE ‘a
          long time to wait fcr a report -but ;‘as a short eri6d ‘for affecting a revolutionary
          change in a society. It was not the first time the Conm'iittee ‘had had to wait for
          three or more years for a report even in situations where there were no reasons,
          certainly no ‘evolutionary change, justifying the delay. ,
          22. OEe Iranian report was narrower in scope than article 40 of the Covenant envisaged.
          Reports should not be copiined -to laws and re ulations but should also describe the
          measures adopted to give effect to the ‘rights ‘reco iized in the Covenant arid -the
          progress made in their enjoyment. OEey should provide information relating to the
          actual situation. The Committee had on a ‘number of occasions had to draw the ‘
          attention of States Parties to the fact that their reports were limited to a ‘
          description of laws and regulations and in ‘the ,se of a country undergoing a
          revolutionary process it was particularly 0 1 th2t the report should not be so
        
          
          cc H/c/sR. 366
          race 6
          circumscribed. linch factual iaforrLation was required for a proper understanding .‘
          of what was going on in Iron; unfortunately, the report did. not contain enough
          of ouch informbtion and even the reference to the newly -enacted ‘basic 1a -rs ns —
          very general. He woo, sure that following its delegation's meeting iith the ..:.
          Conunittee, the Covernment would provide a more detailed picture of the extent to
          which the ideas contained in the Constitution were reflected in the daily life of
          the Iranian people. . - . -
          23. It was more difficult to consider the Iranian report than those of ether
          States Par-ti s because it was impossible to ignore the fact that there had been
          a revolution in Iron. ‘He would like to im cv ho' i far the revolutionary' process :
          ‘had influenced the human ri - ts situation in the country and what were its effects
          in relation to the Covenant. He accoc'iated himself with other members who had
          asked ouesticns designed tc obtain more detailed information regarding newly ,
          enacted laws and their enforcement. . . . .
          24. For the first time the Committee was considering a report submitted by a -.
          country undergcin a rerciutionary process; the relationship between revolution ,
          arid law had re ccuDiei lawyers for centuries .becaus in all oases ‘revolutions .
          had created their own law. The Iranian report referred to the particular ,
          characterjstjc of the Iranian revolution and he would be glad if the --Iranian
          ‘delegation could. explain their understanding of the relationship between the
          revolution and the Covenant. Livery revolution had its own laws. It was -at--on ‘
          and the same time an instrument for destroying-
          establishing- another ‘ -riII its own values and ideas of legality, It was a,. ..
          manifestation of the exercise of a-people ‘ right to self—deter netio.; e , -.
          people would enforce its will with such means -as it -had at its disposal or wh .ich ‘ ...
          were necessary or unavoidable in IIe circumstances in- o 'c1er to overthrow the -..
          old system, hone f the great revolutions, had een acbieved :ai ly by
          of declarations. The Declaration of fluman Rights of the - Fr ch Bevoluti on .:.:
          had not prevented the establishment of revolutionary -tribunals. . It was clear -‘--: ‘ -
          from history tha.t a revolution necessarily -hal ta influence on :the , content -of: ‘
          a legal order and the administration -of justice. In-.a - -ay, end at certain times,
          the revolution itself might be the administration of justice. , - It was inevitable
          therefore that a revolution i-;ould influence the-. i 1ementation of such an
          instrument as the Covenant. It was difficult .to imagine how a revolution could
          ‘be carried cut by following the legal procedures b.f the Covenant. For those : ‘
          reasons, -he would Jike more detailed information from the Iranian Government on ,
          the revolutionary -oz'ocess itself. - ‘ .-‘. - .
        
          
          ..
          4 .
          CCPR/C/SR.366
          pegs 7
          25. The Covenant did not explcitly refer to revolution, as it. did for example to
          emergenoy situ tio s, but a revolutionary process which gave rise to considerable
          cha.nge could be understood as .IIe exercise of the right -cf self—determination, a
          right which the Covenant recognized as a, Tight of all people. In •tha.t aense
          revolution would be. recognized by the Covenant -as a. law—creating proce s. • Anv
          revolution would be bound to create its ‘own law and . - .egal order, :‘out it-.reguired time
          to establish that order. ,‘ . . . . . - . , . . .,
          26. The Iranian reDort (CCP /c/1/. cici.58) raised the question of the relationship :
          between the Cbvenan and' the ravol tf ria.ry piocess ‘ . Ti'eve
          that the Covenant was ever intended to put the right of
          straitjacket of individual rights or that it could ever succeed in doing so. .
          Article 1 might ir a sense be unde sfE da.s servat lbn.
          27. Commenting on the statement on page 3 of the re o'rt” t1 t ‘re oOEtio Ir and
          the newly established Islamic Republic were t .rgetsIrom all sides and IIe. ieroic
          nation was bent on defending ts h nour and existence, he said that such a. situation
          might be regarded as justification for a state of emergency, a. decla.ra.tion under ‘
          article 4 of the Covenant and a possible derogation fro cer 'ri s. ‘No u'dh “
          declaration of a state of emergency ha.d however been made. That might ‘lead on to ‘
          consideration of the relations between article 1, the process ‘ f revdlutionazjdhange,
          and the possible suspension of rights in connection with emergency measures. What
          was possible for a Government under a. state of emergency should -be at least equall.y
          possible for. a people in the process of revolution. The Covenant wa-s su e ,y not
          intended as en instrument to be used against the constitution of a State .— or age.in
          as an inst iment to preserve the status quo. .
          28. It would appear that the report. was referring on page 4 to exa.ctly that point,.
          when it explained that a. general review of old laws had been ,necessary bec use 11 the
          laws which for long years had governed the deprived people of the country had been
          enacted in such a way. as .to bu ng about the domination of a. ;small group. ‘ .iie :5 e4
          whether the Government of Iran had ever envisaged making a. declarati6 id ticle 4
          of the Covenant and why such a step ha.d never been taken in spite of the revolutionary
          process and in spite of the ‘atate nf war. . . .
          29. Mr. ?I3VCF LN said that he associated himself with members who had welcomed the..
          Iranian delegation. The Iranian report indicated tha.t its authors were well
          acquainted with the Covenant. Part of articie .40, paragraph 1, was quoted on page 2
          of, the report, but paragraph 2 required •-re orts to indicate -the factort and' ‘.
          difficulties affecting the implementation of the, Covenant. Members had referred . q
          the internal difficulties d irg. -a- -revolutiona.ryproc.ess that might lead to
          difficulty in submitting a report. There.might.a.lso be external difficulties .
          affectiri,g the preparation of a report s had -been seen in the case of Jordan. OEe
          ‘, purpose ‘of submitting reports was not cnl r:.: o. assist ‘States Parties in the
          implementation of their obligations under the..C venant but also to enable the
          Committee to ct-tam an accurate picture of the ‘way the provisions of the Covenant
          were ‘being implemented not only by legislation but also by other measures as
          indicated in article 2, paregraDh 2.
          .
        
          
          •
          CCPR/C/SR.366
          page 8
          30. The Iranian representative had conveyed additional information in his statement.
          However, without more detailed information he felt unable to ask questiora without •the
          risk of misunderstanding. He did not wish to base questions on hearsa.y -or v.n.fo nded
          allegations because it was understood that the Committee .ehould !base it questions on
          the report of e State Party or on United I ations ocumentatinn. OEe comprehensive
          report promised by the Iranian delegation would provide the occasion for questions,
          and he was anxious to know when that report would be submitted. . :
          31. Kr. O osroshahi, Mr. Mahallati, Mr. Enayat, Mr. Tala i, Kr. Givi and
          ilr. Nikein (Iran) withdrew . . . . . , .
          . .
          OEe meeting was suanended a.t 11.50 a.m. arid resumed a.t 12.20 -p.m . .
          ‘ 32. Mr. Tornuschat took -the chair . . .
          ORGAETZATIONAL A1 D OT} R IL&TT RS (agenda item 2) ( 6ontinued ) . .
          The introduction cf Arabic as ‘a workin 1a.ngua. e
          33. Mr. AL DOUPI referred to the General Assembly and .Economic ‘and Social Councfi
          commendetions concerning the introduction of Arabic as a. .vorking lang iage in .
          subsidiary organs cf the United Nations end said -that it was important that the
          ‘ Committee s work ohculd he made known in the 20 or more countries which made up the
          Arabic—speaking world. OEat could only be done through the dissemination of the
          Committee's ‘basic docune ts and of records in Arabic. ‘ There would, of course, be
          financial implications, but they were a matter for the States Parties rather then
          for the Committee. All the Committee needed to do was to make a simrle
          ‘ recommendation; it would then be for the General .Assembly or for the “States Parties
          to take a final decision. . ‘ ‘ . ‘ ‘ . ‘
          . ‘ ‘ ‘ . . .S ..
          ‘ 34. OEe CHkIRNU inquired whether there was a.n s.greed rabic :tra.n lation of the
          Covenant. . ‘ . .. . . ‘ ‘ .
          35. Mr. HOUS It .i i (Representative of the Secretary eneral) replied that an Arabic
          translation of the Covenant had been made and had been published in Cairo. The
          document needed to be reprinted. : ‘ ‘ ‘ . . ‘ —
          36, Mr. ANkBT, W : (Secretary of the Committee) said ‘that ie himself had translated
          the Inteniational Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Bights and the IrrternationaJ.
          Covenant on Civil and Political Ri te into Ara io at the req'iest of the ‘ ‘
          United Nations and that the transla.tinns had be ub1ie ed by the OEii.ted Natiohe ‘ ‘
          Office at Beirut.
        
          
          - - - -- OEn
          . . . —
          United Nations Human Rights Committee
          19 July 1982
          Iran (interpretation from Farsi): (Mr. Xhosroshahi)
          Nr. President, distinguished members of the Human Rights
          Committee, as the Head of the delegation of the Islamic Republic
          of Iran, I thank the Human Rights Committee for the opportunity
          given to me to clarify certain questions and explain a few matters
          of some importance. I also thank the Committee members who made
          kind remarks in their speeches with reference to the Head of this
          . delegation.
          On the other hand, some of the gentlemen only repeated cer-
          tain lies and accusations originating from imperialist quarters
          which were afterwards reflected in the Western mass media. In
          fact they voiced as a loudspeaker does what the enemies of the in-
          dependent and free Islamic Republic of Iran have been saying, and
          this is of course greatly regrettable. In view of the fact that
          the Human Rights Committee in its eleventh session has decided
          upon its own obligations and authority, which is included in its
          article 14 O of the Covenant, the delegation of the Islamic Republic
          of Iran wishes to register its strong protests for the violation
          of the same by some of the. members of the Human Rights Committee
          and would like to declare that such a behaviour goes a long way
          towards discrediting the Committee in the eyes of our people and
          the oppressed nations of the world, and would question its claim
          for fairness and impartiality.
          Paragraph D of Annex IV says: “OEe Committee confirmed its
          aim of engaging in a constructive dialogue with each reporting
          State.” But unfortunately statements made by some members,
          especially the Human Rights experts from Jordan and Canada, fell
          completely outside limitations set for their obligations and the
          necessary impartiality and objectivity required for the performance
          of their duty. OEe fact that the imperialist press and radio and
          television networks have put their facilities at their disposal
          confirms our suspicions of such a unison in spreading baseless
          accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
          We came here out of our genuine respect for human rights. But
          the attitudes of some members in statements made by them were so
          unfair and illogical that we think it will once again confirm our
          people's suspicions of all Western phenomena even if it appears in
          the guise of human rights.
          We ‘explicitly declared in our five-page report and our 14 5.. .
          ‘ minute oral statement that our complete and detailed report will
          be submitted after our Najlis, the first consultative assembly of
          the Islamic Republic of Iran, completes its legal duties. But'
          Nessrs. Sadi and Tarnopolsky, ignoring this fact deliberately,
          read out their groundless indictments against the Islamic Republic
          of Iran. Nr. Sadi, as the first expert to read his statement,
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 2
          set the theme and others followed him in throwing all unjusti-
          fied and baseless obligations in the book at us. Of course the
          only experts who seem to understand our revolutionary situation,
          that is, Mr. Anatoly Movchan and Mr. Bernhard G-raefrath, would
          have to appear at the end of the show. For us, the statements
          read out by most experts reminded us very much of the indictments
          read by the Shah's military prosecu tors against Muslim revolution-
          aries. It once again reminds us of the time when the Shah's
          notorious sister, Ashraf, headed the U.N. Human Rights Commission.
          During those long years when a whole nation was suppressed arid op-
          pressed by a brutal dictatorship on no occasion did Human Rights
          experts venture to cross—examine the Iranian delegation as they
          did the true delegation of our revolutionary nation, that keep
          their beloved Islamic regime in power through her incredible
          sacrifices and at the cost of their precious blood.
          Mr. Sadi of; Jordan sees himself as the president of a mili-
          tary tr .bunal, whereas if they were to hold an international tri-
          bunal, it should try those who massacred some 20,000 Palestinians
          during Black September and have so far escaped the hand of jus-
          tice. But, of course, the people in the Third World and other
          fair—minded people in other countries shall never forget this
          human tragedy. :
          Mr. President, distinguished members: do you know of any
          revolution which, in its most critical initial stages when fighting
          against internal and external enemies, has managed to stage a few
          national referendums and elections for peop e 5 approval of the
          new order, for the election of successive presidents, for election
          of representatives to a constituent assembly, for election of
          deputies to parliament, to abolish the revolutionary council —
          which could linger on for many years, to form governments and
          cabinets, to create many peoples' institutions throughout the
          country, to declare the third year of its victory as the year of
          war by the suggestion of its wise leader, to approve in its parlia-
          ment hundreds of legal bills for the improvement of the social, .
          political, cultural, economic and judicial life of the people,
          to wrestle with back—breaking problems left over from the dark
          period of the previous despotic monarchy, to combat internal
          organized terrorism, to fight a well—equipped aggression by a
          neighbour ruled by blood—thirsty beasts called “Baathists ' — rather
          “blood—bathists” — to neutralize many a conspiracy and invasion
          instigated by the greatest monster of human history which goes by
          the name of “Yankee and at the same time, and while
          performing all these Herculean tasks, prepared a detailed report
          about the most minute aspects of law and order for the Human Rights
          Committee of the United Nations?
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 3
          Your attitude towards our people's revolution shall remain in
          history as one of the most shameful violations of the true rights
          of the people that have purchased freedom,-independence, integrity
          and honour for themselves (with) the precious blood of hundreds of
          thousands of martyrs. .
          . .
          While consolidating the foundations of the rule of law in
          our country, we presented a short report to the Human Rights Corn—
          mittee out of our absolute faith in the rights of humanity, We
          could, like some other countries, have postponed this for many
          : years to come — postponed the coming to this session — and if we
          were convinced that imperialist quarters would take advantage of
          our good intentions and would attribute it to international pros—
          sure we would have never made a presence at such gatherings and
          would continue with our well—founded suspicion of everything the .
          West says and does. Our people staged a victorious revolution
          through Islamic prInciples and divine guidance, and not through
          ‘ the provisions of the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations.
          If our people trusted such Western creations as the United Nations
          or its Human Rights Committee, today the infernal Shah, his mur-
          derous generals, and some 14 .5,000 American advisers would still be
          ruling Iran. OEat is why Mr. Sadi of Jordan in our eyes looks
          like one of the Shah's military prosecutors, in one of his anti—
          : Human Rights trials, Of course, we shall not be asking him why
          his government could send military forces to aid Iraq in its ag—
          gression against Islamic Iran and its young revolution,
          Mr. Sadi (Jordan) : .
          According to law of procedure, this is not an occasion to go
          into political aspects. We spoke about Jordan, about the Pales-
          tinians In Jordan — these questions, Mr. Chairman, we have not
          raised, and I think, Mr. Chairman, that it is incumbent upon you
          to remind the distinguished head of the delegation of Iran to
          respond to the questions and not to go into issues not related to
          the questions. We have his angry accusations about me as member
          of the Shah's military; I can tell him now that I have never been
          ‘ for the Shah of Iran; I have never supported the Shah of Iran;
          I was very happy when the revolution took place. So to make these
          accusations at this stage merely because I raised questions which
          I wanted him to give us an occasion to respond to; therefore If
          he thinks our Commission is wrong this is the occasion for him to
          respond'— this is why we askedhim to respond. But to'make ac-
          cusations against my person, about my loyalty to the Shah, about
          my support to the Shah and about the massacre of Palestinians,
          Mr. Chairman, these are all wrong. And I would like to tell him
          first and foremost that I have never been a supporter of the Shah
          of Iran, the reason I was angry when I heard the reports
          about the tortures, about the executions, because I was against
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 1
          the same kind of reports which I have heard during the Shah 1 s
          regime. So please, Mr. Chairman, it is incumbent on you to re-
          mind the distinguished delegation from Iran to limit themselves
          to the questions and to reply — and not to make any references
          against my person — this is my position — and about issues not
          related to the questions we have raised. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
          Chai rman :
          OEank you, Mr. Sadi. I very strongly plead to the distinguished
          head of the delegation of Iran to avoid personal attacks against
          members of this Committee, and to avoid implications from govern-
          ments not represented here because here we have people appearing,
          members appearing in their personal capacity.
          Iran (interpretation from Farsi): (Mr. Khosroshahi)
          But we shall not ask him this question because we think that
          such questions shall be answered, if God will, on the scenes of
          further battlegrounds, but we certainly can ask Mr. Nejib Bouziri
          what has his government done to protect the rights of Palestinian
          nation and safeguard the independence and integrity of Lebanon;
          you are both Muslim and Arab. Why doesn't any of you send any
          volunteers to fight the Israeli Nazi occupiers and war criminals?
          Arab Tunisian brother dare question us as to what we ha-ye
          done for Lebanon and Palestine. If your monstrous Baathists of
          Iraq had not pre—occupied us for almost two years, the world would
          witness to what extremes we would go to liberate Jerusalem. It
          is not without any grounds that the international terrorist that
          goes under the name of Menahem Begin is threatening nowadays that
          if Iran steps forward they will do this and that. Moreover the
          question of our support for Palestinians and the Lebanese must be
          put to these people themselves; they are the ones who will supply
          you with the proper answer. OEe fact that these heroic people
          have been able to withstand the war machinery of the Zionist
          enemy could not have come about without preparations, and maybe
          revolutionary Iran did have a small share in this, and we are
          certain you'll agree that Egypt, Jordan or Tunisia never raised a
          finger to help the Palestinians. At any rate, we declare to those
          Committee members who voiced our enemies' allegations, and to all
          those who are still dreaming of the defeat of the Islamic revolu-
          tion in Iran, that our people have decided to remain free, inde-
          pendent and Islamic, and not to be fooled by imperialist myths of
          human rights, etc. Our people have a half a century of experience.
          of domination by Western imperialism and shall not easily give up
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN BIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 5
          their newly acquired freedom, independence and Islamic Republic
          which was won at the price of some 70,000 martyrs at the very last
          stage of their s trugg1e against the dictatorship of the Shah,
          If the members of the Human Rights Committee of the United
          Nations had after the revolution only once condemned the counter-
          revolutionary wave of terrorism in Iran which has claimed the
          lives of hundreds of men and women and children, the clergy,
          scholars, workers and peasants; if the Human Rights Committee had
          only once declared that it was a bad thing that Iraqis was bom-
          barding or slaughtering civilians including many Arabs in non-
          military zones in Southern and Western parts of Iran, then they
          could justify questioning ustoday, as to the exact number of
          prisoners or the number of criminals, people butchers, SAVAK
          torturers, spies, terrorists, murderers and similar God—forsaken
          “corrupt—of—the—earth” we have executed. What on earth gives you
          the right to ask us any question? Where were you on that famous
          Black Friday — that is, during one single day, when the Shah's
          henchmen massacred some 3,000 people in Teheran? What is the record
          of the U.N. Human Rights Committee during those black years of the
          Shah's rule, when human rights were most shamelessly trampled upon?
          And those of you who talk about tolerance and clemency in Islam
          would better first take a look at other revolutions — for example,
          the figure of 150,000 killed after the French Revolution — and
          find out for themselves that if it were not for Islamic clemency
          and tolerance how many agents of the former regimes would have
          been executed. If our people were of a revenging type, having
          offered the revolution some 70,000 martyrs and 100,000 crippled,
          they would have run rivers of blood. What was it that prevented
          them this? It was only because of Islamic tolerance and mercy,
          and because of the general amnesty declared by our beloved and
          kind—hearted leader of the Islamic revolution. But we could not
          have possibly given SAVAK agents, and top officials, “legion
          d'honneur” medals of the former regime. .
          Distinguished members of the Committee who happen to be both
          legal experts and Islamologists do remember Article 18 of the
          Covenant according to which Muslims could manage their affairs in
          accordance with Islamic principles, and should agree that this in-
          cludes political, economic and social and judicial matters and
          relevant laws and regulations. Otherwise it would be ludicrous
          to tell the Muslim people of the world “you may do your prayers
          according to Islamic tradition, but you're not allowed to practice
          Islamic penal or criminal CO 5•f
          Mr. President, distinguished members of the Committee: I
          declare once again that baseless allegations raised by some of the
          gentlemen did not even conform with the criteria set by the Committee
        
          
          4 “.
          U.N. HUflAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 6
          itself, and therefore are of no value. OEey.were boring repeti-
          tions of cliches employed in a vast conspiracy against the Islamic
          Republic of Iran throughout the West—dominated world. Otherwise
          it would be unbelievingly irratipnal and unfair that certain mern-
          bers, who are supposed to be legal experts and are presumably im-
          partial, without access to any independent and authoritative re-
          ports from Iran, without proper inquiries and without any reliable
          documents and evidence at their disposal, should base their judge-
          ments or comments and questions merely and purely on adverse
          publicity material, information provided by imperialist mass media,
          which has all along revealed its animosity and hatred towards the
          Islamic Republic of Iran, and pamphlets, booklets and publications
          put out by counter—revolutionary.elements such as the families of
          Iranian capitalists, embezzlers and thieves, fugitive criminals
          and butchers of the former regime, servants and cronies of
          capitalist regimes of the Uest and terrorist organizations whose
          agents are daily murdering innocent people in Iran. The propagation
          and repetition of these malicious lies and groundless accusations
          through the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations is one of
          the most unethical and immoral means of executing and continuing
          the anti—Iran policy of Zionism, imperialism and reactionary Arab
          regimes, for discrediting the international appeal of the Iranian
          Islamic Revolution.
          That accusation that topped the list of most memberst ac—
          cusaticns was the ridiculous Saha'i question. It seems that this
          matter was the most critical problem that the world community was
          facing.
          We will therefore try to explain this matter once and for
          all, and we hope that our statement in this regard will reach the
          eyes and ears of fair—minded people in the world. Baha'is leaders
          apparently claim that some sixty to seventy Baha'is have been
          executed in Iran, and that the Baha'i population in Iran is
          either sixty or seventy thousand.
          The very first question that springs to mind is: “t hy out
          of some 70,000 people only seventy have been executed?tt and the
          question which follows the first is: “Have these seventy people
          then been executed because of their Faith or beliefs, or the total
          Baha'i population in Iran was only sixty or seventy persons?”
          And now tell you gentlemen why some so—called tt3ahatistt have
          been executed, and while others are living in Iran like the rest
          of the Iranian people. Baha'i leaders claim hypocritically and
          shamelessly that they do not interfere in political affairs; but
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 7
          during the long black night of Pahiavi regime in Iran they worked
          hand—in-hand withZjonjsm and maintained closest organic relation
          with the Shah's oppressive and mass—murdering regime. They never
          hesitated a moment to help the former Iranian regime in its acts
          of suppressjon oppression of freedom, liberty, human rights and
          the freedom—loving opponents of the regime. Undeniable, authentic
          documents captured by our revolutionary people from SAVAK head—
          quarters and centers throughout Iran and official, confidential
          and secret papers and documents — hundreds of actual authoritative
          evidence point to one direction only: the Baha'i hypocritical,
          criminal leaders were the key figures and most important policy—
          makers of the God—forsaken regime of the Shah. Known murderers
          and traitors such as General the Shah's personal physician;
          General Khadenii; the Shah's brother—in—law; General Samii, the
          Shah's Minister of 1 rar; Hoveida, the Shah's Premier for thirty
          years; mark you — are non—intervention in politics? Mansour
          Rouhani, the Shah's Minister of Agriculture for twelve years;
          Mrs. Parsa, the Shah t s Minister of Education; Sabeti, the second
          high ranking official in SAVAK hierarchy; General Nassiri, Head of
          SAVAX — to name but a few — were all key figures in controlling and
          maintaining the Shah t s regime. OEis kind of collaboration between
          the Baha'i ring—leaders and the Shah's regime — was so close that
          according to Document No. 1 in the collection of secret documents —
          : these documents will be translated and, together with copies of the
          originals, submitted to the Committee — concerning Rouhani's circle
          of Baha'i. granted the butcher Shah of Iran the title “the Great
          Saviour of Iran”. According to Document No. 9 in this series, the
          Baha'j leaders received secret information on the Iranian army,
          /- their weapons and trengthwhich were not used, of course, as
          religious recitations in Baha'l circles, but were kindly dispatched
          to Israel — marked again non—interference in politics?
          According to Document No. 11, Baha'j' leaders once sent
          120 billion rials to Haifa as a donation to the Zionist army.
          That's why the late President Nasser accused them of being Israeli
          spies. According to another document, the Zionist government
          granted Mr. Hoveida a very large piece of land in occupied Palestine
          as a sign of gratitude for his most friendly ... regarding ...
          Zionist non—entity, and It is very interesting that SAVAK agents
          write in Mr. Hoveida's file: “Beware, he has such a such land in
          Israel” etc. And such those Baha'js were either agents of Israel
          or accomplices in the killing of people — and Hoveida took part in
          the leadership of such — were condemned and executed like many
          Muslims, and that have no relation to the aith and beliefs of
          the criminals.
          Therefore, it is obvious where such' propaganda originates.
          To demonstrate more clearly the alliance between the Baha'i and
          Israeli we make reference to what a Baha'i leader in America has
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMNITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 8
          once said in their official magazine called Akbar Aniin' , issue 10,
          page 60i, ‘Our religion should grow in the youngest of the coun-
          tries: Israel. We completely depend on this country. In fact,
          we shall say that the future of Israel and our future Is inter-
          locked together like a chain.tt OEe traitor Baha'is, like traitor
          Muslims, were executed in Iran and that nobody in Iran who would
          be executed or penalized because of his Faith or religion and to
          show the proof in this respect is the lives of tens of thousand
          Baha'is who, the !3aha'is claim, who have a good life in Iran.
          Well, putting these general issues aside, we reach as to how
          to conform the Islamic laws with the solution of any disputes or
          bottlenecks that may arise and the views of the Islamic Republic
          of Iran in this conjunction. In our reports we (state) that what-
          ever the divine rules in which we strongly believe should come into
          conflict with human law, we will select and choose the divine laws.
          When a nation — as to its Islamic movement — realizes and accepts
          the principles of Islam for its existence, they would always follow
          as a result the Islamic precepts and Islamic guidance in resolving
          all their problems. OEe essence and the basis of the values in
          Islamic laws are all derived from God and divine inspiration, and
          certainly the criteria for the validity of any law and any other
          ideas to us are the proximity and the coordination of them with
          the fixed values of God which have been transmitted to earth. How .
          ever, since we consider the human traits as coordinated and in
          line with the values inspired therefore the possibility of con-
          forming the values derived from human civilizations which are de-
          rived from human reason and logic, we consider them close to
          Islamic values and criteria, especially in view of the canon law
          in our Shi'ite theology, has given us this possibility that the
          legal necessities for the continuation of our community's life 1
          should be considered in relation to the needs of the period and
          considered them clear and that the implementation of the divine
          rules should be always viewed in conjunction with these laws.
          Although the conspiracies after the revolution against Iran did
          not give us enough time to develop and set such laws and rules,
          nevertheless our efforts are towards the rapid establishment of
          three powers —— that is, judicial, executive and legislative —— in
          conformity with Islamic laws and this demonstrates our interest to
          present a clear picture of our legal revolutionary laws. Certain-
          ly after the legislative power of the Islamic Republic of Iran
          has been set aside and established, then we could clearly realize
          its conformity or lack of conformity or its relative conformity of
          each one of those laws and articles with what we have in mind.
          Certainly in our detailed report as we understood from the confor-
          mity of all such laws with Islamic precepts, and where we make
          reference and detail some of these laws in conjuncti ri with our
          newly—established rules, we will be very glad to finalize these
        
          
          RIGHTS COHMITTEE
          19 July .., Iran ... Page 9
          and present them, Should there be any lack of conformity or inter .-
          ference or disputes, we will have no fear in bringing them up and
          explaining them here, Not only will we have no fear in this regard
          but explicit1y e will try to convince the Humanflights Committee
          as to our preference for the Islamic laws. Some of the distjn—
          guished members asked us as to whether or not it would be possible
          to include and put the human rights laws in the Islamic laws, In
          response to that, I should say that if the merge or inclusion of
          these laws are to compliment and complete the Islamic laws in such
          a way that these two laws be married together, of course the res-
          ponse would be a negative one because we consider the Islamic laws
          as universal and that the canon law in our theology will take into
          consideration the needs of our community in view of the univer-
          sality of Islamic law. However, if the merge and such a marriage
          would mean an effort toward understanding and exploring the common
          aspects of these two laws together, this would be accepted by us
          with pleasure and we will follow it up with pleasure.
          As to responding to another question raised by one of the dis-
          tinguished members here, as to whether or not Islam can govern, I
          should say that Is].arn is not summarized only in a set of laws and
          regulations, so that would,., the individual to think only about
          the moral values. This is strange that some of the distinguished
          members of the Committee, where they claim to be Moslem and are
          familiar with the Qu'ran, have forgotten that this Holy Book —
          from moral teachings to historical analysis, from penal codes to
          distribution of wealth and economic possibilities, and a model for
          the economic growth of the community, together with the spiritual
          development and growth, and in relation also to the criteria for
          making use of the nature's gifts, teachings as to the spiritual
          and moral values of human beings, also in order to prevent ex-
          ploitation of man by man — all of these things have been included
          in this Holy Book, They are all covered there, OEis is not only
          a slogan; our Islamic Revolution which effectively attained victory
          and our resistance' toward conspiracy and also our new legal frame-
          work will be in future a good criteria to prove the claim, There-
          fore, our response to the question of the possibilities of Islamic
          government as a system is strongly a positive one. .
          It was asked that: How could non—religious laws be consis-
          tent with Islamic laws? In this respect, I must submit to the
          distinguished Committee that any non—religious law cannot necessar-
          ily be anti—Moslem or anti—Islamic. What is definitely not ac-
          ceptable. by us are the laws. which are against Islam. In this
          respect at the end I would like to refer to the only logical ques-
          tion which was raised here by some of the distinguished members;
          and that would be:as to the fact that when we would be able to
          offer our final report. I would like to tell them very explicitly
          and frankly that the extensive, detailed and complete report of
          ours will be presented to the distinguished Committee when the
          period of our constituent assembly has approved all the laws and
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMNITTE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 10
          communicated to the executive power in the country. And now, I
          would like to draw your attention to a small response in regard to
          judicial and legal issues, and I would ask my distinguished
          colleague to read the report in this regard because I feel tired.
          Iran (Interpretation from Farsi): (Mr. Enayat) .
          A very summary and brief study of the judicial system of Iran
          would help us to recognize as to how individual rights in Iran are
          guaranteed. OEe separation of the judicial power in Iran in the
          constitution from Article 156 on, has been foreseen and on the
          basis of Article 158, the Supreme Judicial Council consists of
          five members, two of whom are the State General Attorney and the
          Supreme Court Chief Justice. OEe three other members are selected
          from among the well—qualified Iranian jurists by Iranian jurists.
          Per Article 157 of the Constitution, the Supreme Judicial Council,
          which is the highest institution in our judicial system, has the
          following functions: establishment of proper organization in the
          , Ministry of Justice; preparation of the judicial bills; and third-
          ly, employment of religious judges vested in Islamic, theological
          and canon law, and their appointment and dismissal and the ...
          of the arrangement of all the administrative affairs in accordance
          with the procedures governing the employment of the judges.
          Presently there are 14 1 provincial and criminal courts in twelve
          provinces and that 121 courts of first instance in 52 towns exist.
          Also, there are other, independent and local courts in 60 towns
          and townships. Right now, there are several systems of legal and
          judicial system which exist in Iran and I'll go into detail into
          them. .
          OEe Special Civil Court: Since a family is considered as a
          family unit of an Islamic community, and as rules, laws and
          plannings should be made in the direction of promoting family life
          on the basis of Islamic laws and morality, and the guarding of its
          sacred nature, the Revolutionary Council of the Islamic Republic
          of Iran ratified the law in 1979 establishing the Special Civi1-
          Court the Revolutionary Court, Prom February 1979 on, an Islamic
          Revolutionary Tribunal was formed in the central province, the
          capital, to deal with the post—.., or pre—... offences' committed
          against the revolution. Per Article 2 of the Revolutionary Tri-
          bunal's rules, ratified by the Revolutionary Council in 1979, the
          Islamic Revolutionary Courts are competent to deal with the fol—
          lowing offences:
          1, Murder and massacre.
          2. To reinforce the Pahiavi regime and the systematic
          military repression of the Iranian people's struggle;
          imprisonment and torture of the people per order or
          individually according to their own initiatives,
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 11
          3. Economic crimes — that is, plunder of the community
          treasury or misuse of the State's., wealth for the bene-
          fit of the foreigners.
          1 . Conspiracy against the Islamic Republic of Iran through
          sabotage, terrorism and espionage for foreign powers.,
          5. Armed robbery, rape, production and importation of
          intoxicating drugs.
          Note — all offences other than the foregoing are not within
          the jurisdiction of the Islamic Republic and the Islamic revolu-
          tionary courts and that they fall within the competence of the jus-
          tice or the military courts. Pursuant to Article 1 of the same
          ratification a revolutionary court is composed of three principal
          and two alternate members. OEe three principal judges are:
          (a) a community judge, per recommendation of the Provisionary
          Revolutionary and now the Supreme Judicial Council; (b) a judge
          : from the Ministry of Justice; Cc) a trusted personality by the
          people who is aware of the Islamic revolution and conditions. Per
          Article 17, the revolutionary prosecutor per recommendation of the
          Revolutionary Council and approved by the Imam. According to
          Article 31, the revolutionary guards have no right to arrest any
          individual without a written authorization of the revolutionary
          prosecutor. Without such an authorization they have no right to
          enter anybody's household nor can they seize any p 5 fl s assets.
          Any violation in this regard would result in the guard's dismissal
          per prosecutor's order. Should this violation be repeated, the
          guard would be apprehended by the revolution court. (Note: should
          the accused be in the employment o the army or the armed forces,
          . d or be the holder of an important political or administrative
          7 position, his summonsor arrest is to be carried out with the
          prior approval of a committee on behalf of the revolutionary court
          ‘ and keeping his superior so informed.) Should there be a concern
          as to the escape of the accused and that he might be of the type
          where no negligence or minimum security treatment should be con-
          sidered, such individuals, after having been definitely recognized
          as such, may be arrested without the prosecutor's authorization.
          However, the matter should immediately be communicated to the pro-
          secutor. For the purpose of organizational coordination and
          consistency of the implementation of the rules, as well as main-
          taining their independence from the State Court, the State organi-
          zations, it was necessary that the revolutionary court should be
          integrated in the Ministry of Justice, and as such, the laws supple-
          menting the Ministry of Justice with the revolutionary court was
          approved by the.Isla'niC Parliament in 1981.
          Military courts: Under Article 172 of the Constitution — to
          investigate the offences relating to special military or security
          duties — of the personnel of the armed forces, gendarmerie,
          police and. the revolutionary guards corps, military tribunals
          shall be held according to the law. As far as ordinary offences
          of such personnel where their offences in the capacity of justice
          officers are concerned, such offences shall be investigated at
          justice court.
        
          
          i .
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 12
          Conditions for the employment of a judge: since most of the
          members have this question here I would like to respond to this.
          Recently the bill providing the conditions for the employment of
          judges has been approved in the Parliament last spring. Pursuant
          to this law, a judge is to be just, religious and faithful to the
          order of the Islamic Republic. He must be a reputable one and an
          authority on the canon law or be appointed by such an authority —
          that is, the Supreme Judicial Council. As to the Bar Association,
          the continuation of the Bar Association in the old form was no
          longer feasible and therefore a new bill was introduced and approved
          by the committee for the review of the bills in 1980. OEe commit-
          tee is composed of legal experts, provincial judges and Supreme
          Court judges assigned by the High Judicial Council. OEus the inde-
          pendence of the Bar Association is secured.
          As to the Justice Arbitral Tribunal: OEe scope of this tn—
          bunal's jurisdiction and competence comparable to the • rench
          Conseil d t Etat” is foreseen in Article 173 of the Constitution.
          According to Article 11 approved by the Parliament and the Council
          of the Custodians, this deals with the complaints and protests
          against the actions of the government units — be it ministries,
          government entities, instrumentalities or agencies, and the revolu-
          tionary units, or rules and procedures related to them, as well
          as unconstitutionality orrnisus.e .. .and violation of such; also pro-
          cessing complaints and protests as to the courts' awards and
          rulings are among such functions. Ministries, governmental
          entities, agencies and instrumentalities as well as their af-
          filiates and revolutionary units are obliged to carry out the
          Tribunal's rulings where they relate to them. In the event of
          failure or non—adherence to the foregoing, such an authority shall
          be removed from office and will be subject to legal prosecution.
          Per Article 22: Disputes as to the jurisdiction of the ad-
          ministrative justice and the ministries of courts, it shall be re-
          solved by the Supreme Court. Article 25 stipulates that in the
          carrying out Article 170 of the Constitution the administrative
          tribunal shall refer to the Council of Custodians any complaints
          as to the governmental rules and regulations. Should the Council
          render its award as to the non—legitimacy of any rule or regula-
          tion, the administrative justice will issue a nullification ruling
          to such an effect. OEe state inspectorate organization, on the
          basis of Article l71 of the Constitution, on the strength of the
          right of judicial power, to control over the satisfactory cir—
          >. culation of affairs and a sound administration of laws in the
          government units, and an organization named “State Inspectorate”
          shall be formed under the control of the Supreme Judicial Council.
          The Inspectorate has 27 administrative personnel, 32 judicial
          personnel and aides. OEeir activities fall into three areas. I
          don't go into detail in this respect, and I'll explain the mechanism
          as to guaranteeing the individual rights, and I will explain the
          Committee on Article 90 in the Constitution.
          .
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ...Iran ... Page 13
          Pursuant to Article 90, any person having a complaint as to
          the run of affairs and the Majlis — the Parliament - or by the
          executive or judicial powers, he can lodge his complaint in
          writing with the Majlis. OEe Majlis shall consider the complaint
          and give adequate reply thereto. If, however, such complaints
          relate to the executive or judicial power, the Majlis shall con-
          sider the case and call upon the executive or judicial power to
          adequately clarify'that. ... OEe Committee on Article 90, which is
          composed of a few members of Parliament and some legal experts,
          in accordance with the law authorizing the direct communication
          of the Najlis with the outsideworld and the direct investigation
          of Majlis approved in 1980; as to the three powers in Islamic
          Republic of Iran and all thebureaus and ministries as well as
          foundations and the revolutionary units, they have the right to
          enter into direct communication with these and demand explana-
          tions in this respect.
          There was another question as to the judicial policy — and
          the mechanisms as well as their terms of reference, OEe necessity
          for establishment of the judicial police and their separation from
          > ‘ the military policp, and training the special cadres” for this
          respect, was felt from the beginning of the revolution. OEe bill
          for establishing judicial police was approved by the Parliament in
          1980, and its amendment in five articles was approved last year;
          and their duties are as follows: communication of the legal and
          judicial documents; implementation of the penal and civil rulings;
          judgements; pursuit of the accused; forming and establishing the
          introductory files for them; safeguarding their archives; and
          affairs related to the coroners office — their identity and also.
          >. investigation. OEe organization for judicial police is a part of
          the judicial power and is independent from executive power. The
          chief of the judicial police is the deputy to the state prosecutor
          and they have their own special uniforms, and they have their own
          rankings. In the selection, training and their award we pay atten-
          tion to two important elements of faith and moral cleanliness, as
          well as order and discipline in their work. It may be very tiring
          if I go into detail inexplaining the judicial police organization
          any further.
          I would like a small explanation as to the Iranian prisons and
          the recent changes that have been effected in regard to the laws .
          and implementation of those lawsvis avis the prisons. In ac-
          cordance with the law giving the affairs of the prisons to the
          Minister of Justice, approved in 1979 by the Council of Revolution,
          the organization of all the state prisons and the industrial units
          as well as agricultural ones related to these prisons are all given
          to the Minister of Justice. In its supplementary bill to this law
          approved in 1980, it was ordained that the Minister of Justice in
          forming a Council composed of one judge, a police officer and one
          political prisoner belonging to the old regime; and the members of
          this council are elected by the Supreme Judicial Council and they
        
          
          . •—
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page l 1 J
          function under the supervision of the state prosecutor. What
          they have achieved so far are the following: preparation of laws;
          preparation of procedures and operating manuals for the prisons,
          as well as other institutions related to the prisons; and training;
          preparation of the statutes for the Associations for the Protection
          of the Prisoners which was approved last year (four months ago
          actually). It was approved by the Supreme Judicial Council, which,
          according to Article 1 of that Association, such an association is
          composed of a certain jurist and other members of the prison in
          relation to each prison. According to Article 3, this association
          is supposed to help the families of the prisoners, re—institution
          of their personality and integrity, their reformation and their
          guidance, aiding them in learning a craft, aiding them in finding
          a job after release from the prison by giving them either financial
          aid or providing them with a new opportunity, in aiding them in
          improving their health and other aspects, encouragement of artistic
          and cultural activities, sports, crafts and educational activities,
          creating units for self—aid, a reformation centre for the children —
          juveniles, centres for the supervision of the juveniles after re-
          lease as well as other schools to train such juveniles. These pro-
          cedures were approved four months ago. OEe procedures for the pro-
          tection of the prisoners which was approved in 1981, approved by
          the Supreme Judicial Council and in its Article 12 they ordained
          that the social workers are obliged to provide for the families
          >. of the prisoners which are under the protection cover of this :;,.
          Association; that the Association should provide separate files;
          and these social workers' files should include the specifications
          and all the aspects of the family life of the prisoner, number of
          his family household, report as to the regular visits of the house-
          hold of the prisoners and the actions taken toward improving their
          lot and guidance of the prisoner. OEese all must be prepared and
          submitted. In the budget law dated 1981 adequate budget, in ac-
          cordance with Article 35, was set aside and put at the disposition
          of the Supreme Judicial Council in order to implement all these
          projects. Other activities which have been effected in this regard
          include a procedure as to the violations of the prisoner guards,
          ‘ preparation of a statute related to the cooperative of the priso-ners
          in the capital and the industries related to them, a procedure for
          taking care of their families, health insurance of the prisoners,
          as well as implementation of religious ceremonies should it be
          requested by the prisoners. OEe occupation of the prisoners as
          well as the open prisons — we have two examples in this regard:
          one is the prison called “Qawzahesar” where some of the prisoners
          ar.e constantly working on agricultural projects and farming, and
          the other group would be occupied in learning industrial activities,
          both of which are being conducted in a free atmosphere; moreover,
          many of the industrial units where the prisoners are working there
          voluntarily and where they receive their salaries. One of these
          institutions is occupied with the training and educating the
          children of the prisoners which according to a law passed last year
          all aspects foreseen in order to prevent that such offences be
          repeated; and that in the Islamic penal code — this story has been
          reported from the Prophet — that the penal responsibility has been
          removed from three groups: the youngster until the age of maturity —
          .
          ..
        
          
          U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE
          19 July .. Iran ... Page 15
          that's the first group; and those who don't have mental capacity —
          the mad ones, the crazy ones; and the one who is sick, The fore-
          going was in response to questions as to whether or not children
          and juveniles w u1d be prosecuted. . .
          As to the clemency for the prisoners: a procedure has been
          prepared in this regard by, the Parliament the last of which was
          ratified in 1981 and that a committee has been formed composed of
          the president of this Association for the Protection of Prisoners,
          the chief legal officer of the Ministry of Justice, the Teheran
          prosecutors, Identity Bureau's chief, and also a judge selected
          by the Supreme Court of Iran,- This committee reviews the recom-
          mendation for clemency and, according to Paragraph 1 of Article 3,
          the implementation of an execution, should there be a request for
          clemency by the accused, the acceptance of such arequest or re-
          jection of it would be communicated to the prisoner within 15 days,
          and until the response from this Commission, the execution will
          be delayed.
          OEe collection of the penal codes, to which many of the dis-
          tinguished members have made queries here: I must inform you that
          during the past two months ‘several important bills have been passed
          by the Supreme Judicial Council, including more than 2,800 articles,
          and they have been given to the Parliament so that it would be
          reviewed, studied and approved. And they would be divided into
          six parts: one is the legal affairs, the civil law procedures,
          the penal law procedures, and the general punishment laws, the
          improvement of some of the commercial codes, and the registration
          : laws, The details of all these articles may become very tiring,
          especially when the translation is being made. I really deleted
          a great deal because they could' not be easily translated here.
          Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the Committee: the
          fact that you listened to us with patience — I would like to thank
          you very sincerely, and we hope that in the first opportunity that
          we may have to prepare the complete report for this Committee and
          present it here. And we hope that the distinguished members of the
          : Human Rights Committee in their judgement and arbitrations and
          even in quoting would rely on the documents and proofs. Otherwise
          the repetition and quoting of rumours and accusations not only
          will not solve any problems, but our Muslim people and other Muslim
          people of the world would become pessimistic towards certain -
          phr'nornena.. e do hope that in future, which will be the recon—
          structirig part of our country, we hope that during this period we
          will' attain a more complete objective and that the problems be
          removed and solved and that there will be no place for allegations
          and rumours which are foundless and which may be derived from our
          enemies. Once again, I would sincerely appreciate your presence
          here and I thank you. . .
          S ‘
        
          
          U • N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMNITTEE
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 16
          Iran (Interpretation from Farsi): (Mr. Khosroshahi)
          In the Name of God.
          Our Tunisian friend remarked as to what kind of aid Iran
          has given to Lebanon and Palestine. I don't know whether this
          was among the duties of this Committee to be brought up — the
          gentlemen here must be better aware of this. It is natural that
          when such an issue is brought up I am forced to bring up such a
          question and pose it at him. Therefore, it was first brought up
          to the gentleman and it was from you this came. He said as to
          why instead of fighting another Islamic government, why don't you
          instead go and help Palestihe? Well, it's very interesting. Why
          did you not pose this question during the past 22 months when
          our country was invaded by the Baathists? Why, after ten cities
          of ours were completely destroyed and ruined, and that 300 villages
          in ICurdistan were completely razed, where in all these villages
          the population consisted of Arab populations — why did you not
          pose this questio i then? Now, that we are after our own rights,
          you think of Muslims and the Muslim brotherhood? If the Tunisian
          government has taken a step in this direction and we are not aware
          of (it) — we are very grateful and this is their Islamic duty to
          extend such an aid, and that they could not expect anybody to be
          indebted to them. In.:.fact and in action we observe that Baghdad
          and the Shah united together in Algiers. They signed a treaty;
          but, after the Iranian victory of the revolution, when Shah and
          America left Iran, then Iraq nullified and abrogated one-sidedly,
          unilaterally such a treaty, and then attacked us by ground, air
          and sea. It is our Islamic duty to defend our own country; there-
          fore, it is surprising that he asks — after 22 months he asks —
          why two Islamic countries are fighting each other. It would have
          been better if he would have posed this question to Baghdad. The
          distinguished delegate from Canada stated that we have attacked
          some of the members here. Our intention was attacking nobody;
          but, the point is that the discussion and what is wrote up here
          is different from introducing an indictment. I sit, for instance,
          for two hours with Imam Khomeini to discuss a theological point,
          and nobody is hurt, because this is the specification of us —
          we students of theology — to discuss, to talk. However, our
          problem here is that we have been invited here for talks, but
          instead of talking all the rumours and the lies belonging to our
          enemies are brought up here. OEat BBC, Guardian and other
          imperialistic sources quote the gentlemen from Jordan, and they
          attack us and they say that the Iranians are being tried. So if
          the tone of the questions from the gentlemen from Canada and
          Jordan had assumed the character of a discussion it would not have
          been logical that the imperialistic sources would take advantage
          of this. We notice here that the question as to the Baha'is are
          raised here by five different people. Why are you wasting our
          L
        
          
          
          U, N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMI'1 j'
          19 July ... Iran .., Page 17
          time and their own time? One question is raised by one person,
          Is this committee not a one committee, not a United One? The
          repetition of such questions would give us such a suspicion that
          there might be a conspiracy,
          Moreover, we observed that at night the EEC on the following
          : morning, the Guardian and the French papers and the American papers
          are reporting that tian is under the international pressure and as a
          result of such pressure has come to this Committee. We go to
          nowhere under any international pressure. We felt that out of re-
          spect for the human rights to present our, short report, but unfor-
          tunately we did not understand that the meeting was not for a
          talk, for a dia1o e, Some friends said that they have fought
          against the regime of the Shah; well, this was their duty as a
          human being and nobody should be indebted to them, Of course, we
          are very grateful to them,
          We hope that in our massive report the important legal
          issues which have been referred to by the Canadian and the Jor-
          danian members will be responded to. However, it is interesting
          that the gentleman from Canada says that “we obtain the informa-
          tion from any source Apparently this from the Com-
          mittee's point of view may not be correct that the gentlemen who
          are jurists, who are legal :experts, who are independent and impar-
          tial should . obtain the information fro.m Iran and from bona fide
          sources, Now, that you think the second part of our reportwas
          interesting to you, well, we're very glad; but certainly the first
          part of my submission will be much more interesting for my own
          nation, .
          Our.Iraqi friend to which I purposely did not respond to his
          question so that it would not be interpreted as anything spicial
          or particular — he says that he is not representing his govern-
          ment — and everybody would claim such. And we hope that this
          is a fact, The gentleman states that...Iraq had announced a ease-
          fire - a.fe.w times they have donethat —and that Iran did not
          accept this. Well, this is a very interesting human rightshero,
          Iraq has attacked us; had sent hundred thousand soldiers into
          Iran, 5,OOO of which are prisoners of war here in Iran, Tens of
          thousands have been massacred, mostly are among Arabs, Arab popula-
          tion. Two million people have been displaced, homeless; they have
          destroyed their cities, their towns andthen from the position of
          power they want us to cease fire, Hitler had the same hopes and
          aspirations. We just defended our own rights. We threw out the
          enemy. And not at all glad that even one Iraqi soldier should
          have died because they are human beings and they; .were Muslims,
          However, from Qur'an's point of view and perspective, whoever
          attacks us we respond, and we defend. ordains us and tells
          us that if someone attacks you we should counter—attack him, We
          are not such that if we are slapped on the right part of our face
        
          
          ;
          . A. RIGH COM EE :
          19 July ... Iran ... Page 18
          to turn our face toward the left so that another slap is- done to
          us and this is the teaching of Qur'an. The gentleman states that
          Iran is in Iraq right now. Yes, this is the fact and this must be
          so, If we give a medal of honour to the aggressor then tomorrow
          he'll repeat his aggression again. The leaders of the Iraqi
          regime must in an international court of justice respond to this ‘
          aggression and to this massacre. OEey must..pay the 150 billion
          dollars price of reparation. This is not logical that an enemy
          attacks us, inflicts damages on us, undefended cities be bombarded,
          kill five hundred people and that we should remain silent. Our
          cities like Khoramshahr, Hamadan, ... , have been all bombarded by
          far away cannons and then you'll expect us to just look because
          they have announced cease—fire.
          As to the fact that the way to the liberation of Jerusalem
          is through Baghdad: there is no doubt. During the past 15 years
          could Iraq tell us: what bullet have they fired against Israel?
          However the li—meters rockets have been fired against us and the
          ruins are there and the gentleman can come and observe for himself
          the results in Iran, ,
          Iraq had accepted Abunezar who was condemned to death — the
          Abunezar Palestinians, OEe help they have offered to the Pales—
          t&nian Liberation Organization probably are of this kind, It was
          stated that the Iraqi government has documents proving that Israe1' '
          has extended assistance to Iran, Why don't they publish it then? ‘‘
          However, when the atomic centre of Baghdad — the nuclear centre of
          Baghdad — was bombarded and was destroyed, why nobody was informed?
          Where were the Iraqi planes? T as it not a calculated Conspiracy
          already approved between the Iraqis and the Israelis? Were the
          : Iraqi radars s1eeping I don't think that this is a political
          meeting here, and I'm very sorry that such questions have been
          brought up by my friends here to which I have to respond. However,
          if the meeting were political and that I had brought the necessary
          documents and proofs from Iran, then the traitors to the Arabs
          would have been known here,
          Anyway, the fact that the gentlemen have listened to me again,
          I do thank them sincerely and I hope as they have stated to remain
          impartial and independent and that not to assume a position in this
          Committee which would demonstrate IIat they are the representatives
          of their governments, Such confrontation would result in the fact
          that the trusts of the nations would be destroyed about this Corn—-
          mittee, The gentlemen are much better aware than myself as to the
          articles related to this Committee and I hope that they will be
          faithful to all those articles and procedures so that, in a free
          climate, we could sit and have our dialogue. If the duty of this
          Committee would be related to bringing up political questions and
          disputes between countries here, in that case however we are quite
          prepared; however, we would ask you sincerely to let u know before-
          hand so that we would be so prepared, Thank you very much, sir.
          c ' S Z2 ‘-) Q1
        

Download Attachments:

Exit mobile version