NATIONS UNIES' UNITED NATIONS
SERVICE DE LINFORMATION - OFFICE DES NATIONS UNIES A GENEVE
INFORMA TION SER VICE - UN/TED NA TIONS OFFICE A T GENEVA
Press Release HR/1123
26 October 1981
!IUNAN RIGHTSCOM1 ITTEEURCES IRAN TO SUBMIT REPO}tT ON PROTECTION OF,
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS OF IRANIANS
Committee Addresses Request To Eleven Countries Whose Reports Are Overdue
The Government of Iran was urged today,, Monday 26 October, by a cotniuittee
of 18 human rights experts to submit for international review a report onwhat
it has done to protect civil and political rights guaranteed for the
individual unaer internatiOfl l law.
These rights are guaranteed under the International Covenant .:OU Civil and
Political Rights. Iran has voluntarily accepted the legal obligation to
protect them, but its present Government has been unable for the pest three
years to fulfil its promise to submit a report on its compliance efforts as
• required under the Covenant's provisions.
In a strong appeal, the 18—member Human Rights Committee said it had
nothing but: full understanding for a country when it was in difficulty over
the submission of its report. This was how it felt about Iran.
However, it had no power to exempt the Iranian Government from its
obligations. At best, the Government should give its own version of how human
rights were protected in Iran. Besides it would be in its own interest to do
so.
The Committee was set up to monitor compliance with the Covenant Ofl the
basis of the reports of the States Parties. Iran is one of eleven Governments
whose reports are overdue. The Committee made its appeal as it decided to
address to the Iranian Government the same reminder it had sent to the
Governments of the other ten countries — Lebanon, Uruguay, Panama, Zaire,
Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, Gambia, India and Chile.
(wore)
Les communiques sont de inés a linformation: us ne constituent pas des documents officiels
For use of informauofl media: not an officia' record - --
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The Committee has been meeting in Bonn since Monday, 19 October. The
appeal came towards the end of a day mnarked by a series of events concerning
Iran.
Ftrst the day's morning meeting ot the Committee was interrupted by a
group of Iranian students. l ithout being given the floor by the Chairman, a
spokesman of the group began to make a statement. He ignorea the request of
the Chairman to cease and desist.
Next, tbe..Chairu1ans,4sP . t1ded the meeting. Following a fturry of
consultations, tb Chair man ..o ered to arrange for a delegation of the Iranian
students to be received privately by the Committee's bureau.
The C airma emerged from the orivate meeting to reconvene the Committee
in open session Brief remarks by the Chairm n explaining the reasons for the
suspension of the meeting was fo-llow d. by a d z iOn cenfirming the
Committee's earlier agreement to take up later today consideration ot the
que t 9 i f tbe.a ibmission of the overdue report of Iran.
The day's events began as the Committee met to continue consideration of
the.. ç prtof the Net e.Fl.andS , the second report to be taken up at the current
meeting The fi rst report to be examined was that bt Jap”an
Proceed ing in acco dat Ce with• h agreed workprOgramme for;the day, the
Committee concluded consideration ot the repoTt ot'the 1 ether1andS'.. It. a ..S.9
co plet.e 1 d consideration of the question of the submission of the report of
Iran
The Comn irtee uill treet again tomorrO , Tuesday, 27 October to take up the
report of Hdrocco. . . 0 . . H;- . •
emarks çp1anation.of Suspension of ileeti . . 0
The Committee's morninS meeting was interrUpted by the Iranian Studen - S
just before noon. The meeting was then suspended for one hour. The private
meeting betwe n he .Committee's bureau and the Iranian student delegation
lasted for ábqut 20 minutes. . . . .
In his e arks explaining the suspension, the Chairmafl, Andreas
AVROHNATIS, expert from Cyprus, said he regretted the interruption, he
suspended then eting because the interruption was contrary to the Committee's
rules of prccedure
As were the wishes of all its t erubers, the Committee would-dO everything
it could to procaed with its s rk independentlY dnider its own tules. That ..as
exactly what it as doing until the iuterrupriOfl
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During the suspension, he said, members of the bureau met privately with a
delegation of the Iranian students. They explained to the latter how the
Committee worked. Apparently a telegramme had been addressed to the
Committee, he stated. A further investigation suggested that a cable had been
received. He was arranging for an informal translation of the text into
English. It would then be dealt with in accordance with the usual procedure
followed by the Committee regarding communications from individuals laiming
that their hum . i rights had been violflted. (Such communications are
considered in closed session under the Committee's confidentiality rule.)
The Committee, the Chairman went on to say, was concerned over the human
rights situation throughout the world. It was for this reason that it
reviewed, at each session, the question of the States Parties whose reports
were overdue, such as Iran.
Repudiation of Earlier Iranian Reports '
The Committee took up consideration of the question of the submission of
the report of Iran at the day's afternoon meeting. Nehai NAWAB, Ambassador of
Iran to Bonn, appeared before the Committee for the discussion.
The Chairman opened the discussion with a brief review of the history of
the question which can be summarized as follows:
Iran's initial and supplementary reports were submitted to the Committee
respectively on - August' 1977 and 29 May 1978, and were cOnsidered a few
months later.
In April 1979, a representative of Iran, appearing before the Committee,
said thesetwo reports were submitted by the former regime of Iran and did not
reflect the reality ot the situation regarding civil and political rights in
the country. Iran was going through a revolutionary process in which the
foundation was being ‘laid down for a new society. A new Constitution would be
drafted, and elections would be held to set up a constituent assembly. In due
course, ‘Iran would submit a report in conformity with the relevant provisions
of the Covenant.
When this pledge was not fulfilled by May 1980, the Committee sent a
reminder to Iran. In the spring of this year, a representative of Iran
informed the Committee that his country was going through an abnormal
situation which made it difficult for his Government to submit its report.
At the 1981 spring session, the Committee stressed' that derogatiOnS from
certain fundamental rights, including the right to life, were not permissible
even in times of emergency under the Covenant. Reports which States Parties
had undertaken to submit were thus all the more important in difficult
situations. Thus Iran was urged, at the spring meeting? to submit its report
as a matter of urgency. The representative of Iran undertook to transmit the
Committee's wishes to his Government.
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ifl conclusion the Chairman sai i the Committee would welcome any further
formation hr. Nawab, the, Iranian Mbassadàr to Bonn, might have.
at ment qf the Ambassador of Iran
The Irian rc p ndin o t e Ch ir .ian's re4u t for furtI' èr
formation, said his Government rdj 'ect.E the r óor 't'submitted ‘the Shah's ‘‘
ime his Government -iac ev '-v of ulfilltnb its promise and
shed to submit its report: as soon as possible.
Indeed, action, he asserted, had been initiated several times on the
parationof the report. However, as everyone was aware, Iran facednew
ficultiesevery day. Almost daily it had r ew problerus 6rced upon it,
ich it had to tackle.
For instance the individuals who were entrusted with the preparation of
report had been annihilated in bomb blast ' .' The dei y. in: submitting the
uor was due mainly to this wave of assassinations which was caused
imarily by the West. :
Faced with a state of war as Iran was, no one could criticize' it for
iling to submit its report. In the prevailing circumstances, Iran was in no
sition to finish work on the report. : ‘ :.
T.mittee Members Express Concern
In the discussibn, Abdoulaye DIEYE, expert from Senegal, said special
nks were due to the Iranian Ambassador for agreeing, on his own initiative,
appear before the CoTrnrittee. The purpose of the discussion was not to pass
ment as to whet was happening in Iran. However, there was cause for
ricern. The AxnbassadQr hinselt had highlighted some of the events, such as
loss of life through bomb aas ssinations.
It was precisely accounts of these events which ted the Committee to
nsider once again the delay in submitting Iran's report. Whatever the
r.curnstances, jt was absolutely-essenti ii that it should 2 submitted without
rther delay.
‘ aleed SADI, expert from Jordan, said mass executions anywhere would cause
ncern for a body such as the human Rights Coiimittee. It was up to Iran to
•hnit a report tb apprise the Commi.ttee of ‘the issues, such as how the public
:ibunals were conducted, the nature of the crimes people were accused of and
‘ sentences were imposer' and enforced.
There were qaily. reports ‘ot mass. executions in Iran, almost unparallelled
contemporary history Foi this reason, he welcomea the opportunity to hear
e Iranian.4mbassador. He h'oped ‘the latter would transmit the Committee's
shes to hi's Government. , ‘ ‘ :
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Christian TOMUSCHAT, expert fro n the Federal Republic of Germany,
referring to limitations of human rights.;.allOWed in times of emergency,
recalled that the Coyenai t.rVl d .0 t completely derogatiQtis from certain
rights and fundamental freedoms. -
For instance.the right to li e was guaranteed even in, times of emergency,
he stressed. This was the most elep ntarY fundamental çight of any
individual, it would appear that thi2 right enjoyed no ,rotectiOfl whatsoever
in Iran. . .
The facts must be made ,knOWfl.. The Government must justify it.s actions.
If it was in no position to provide a detailed report, perhaps it could àubmit
a..shorter.rePOrt. He too hoped the AmbassadOr would t anstni-t the Committee's
wishes to his Goverrrnent. 0
Felix ERMACORA, expert from Austria, said there was a voluntary acceptance
of collective responsibilitY on the part of all, the States Parties to
co—operate with one another in ensuring implementation of the Covenapt. The
submissiOU of reports by States was a crucial tacto.r in this collectjVe
responsibilitY, since oply i -n light o•f such reports could the Committee assess
adherence to the Covenant. 0 •. 0
The Committee m nibers would be under indictment,, accused qf shirking their
responsibilitY i-f they were to remain silent in the face, of persistent reports
of summary executions and the execution of religious groups. 0
Admittedly the situation couid,be.eX only in light of the report of
the Government of Iran. Thus, he supported the call fox clarification of the
situation, especially regarding the right to life. It was absolutelY, 0
essential that the Government submit its report, if it wished to command any
credibilitY. . 0 ,‘ ‘ , .
Nejib BOUZIRI, expert frou' Tunisia, said he w. s among those who á cepted
as valid the view that Iran was goj.ng through a revolutionarY period. ‘As a
national of a Third World country, he fully understood Iran's difficulty.
He joined other Committee members in saluting Iran for its undertaking to.
submit its report in spite of the circufflSt nc S prevailing in the the country 1
0 and he was distressed to learn that those entrusted with this task had since
been killed. .. . 0 ‘ ‘ .
However, the Committee had a respons1bi1 tY. The situation had become
aggravated. Those who started the revplutiOfl had become.the subject of
execution, exile and sudden departure. , lie had become perplexed by the
extremely alarming accounts of events in, press reports, especially in regard
to the Covenant's provisions on the r .ght to life. 0 ‘
As was well-knOWfl, he had made reservations regarding the proposal made in
the past that the Committee request Iran for a special report. However, in
view of persistent media accounts of events, he felt in duty bound to support
a request for such a report.
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Torkel OPSA}IL, expert from Norway., agreed that a short report would do in
certain circumstances, such as those of Iran The Committee must, of
necessity, act on the asis of the Covenant 1 o iever, in so doing, it should
treat everybody equally, riot only Governments but peoplé a 's well.
It needed, to do this for its own credibility. It had considered the case
of other countries, including El Salvador. The Committee would ‘fail in its
duty if it dic. not consider the case Of ‘Iran.
Julio Prado VALLEJO, expert from Ecuador, said the very presence of the
Iranian Ambassaodr gave cause for optimism. Pis presence showed that his
Government was willing to co—operate with the Committee.
Coiwern' for delaysin submitting reports was not confined to Ir an. He had
supported the action taken by the Committee in regard to countries of Làtii
America, his own region. For instance, he fully endorsed the request to Chile
to honour its reporting obligat ions under the Covenant.
Accounts regarding ecial tribunals and summary judgment and executions
in. Iran had caused grave concern throughout the world, including his region,
Latin America. He hoped the Iranian' Ambassador's presence was an indication
that his Government would soon submit its report.
In summing up the sense of the Committee's discussion, the Chairman, Mr
Mavrommatis, sai it was the feeling of all its members that Iran should
submit its report without any further delay. As some had suggested, the
Government could at least submit an interim report. The Committee would be
addressing a request to this etfect to the Iranian Government through the
Ambassador. H hoped the Iranian Ambassador's prsence was an indication that
his Government would soon submit its report
In final remarks, the Iranian Ambassador, hr. Nawab, said he had taken
note of the Committee's concern. He was satisfied that it was not the
intention of any of its members to create difficulties for Iran. He would
transmitthe áense of the Cotnmittee'sdiscussiOfl to his Government.
However it. was difficult to indic. ' te, with any preci' ion, when his
Government would be able to provide the report The problem ot his Government
was one of honesty. Of course it couldproduce a report which could run up to
20 pages but would not solve the probl in. His Government did not wish to do
that because it was anxious that its dialogue with the Committee should be on
an honest basis.
The matter could be compared to a situation, he said', where you held
someone's, nose and then asked why' he was unable to breathe properly. In fact,
he might be blo .'n up ma bomb blast as he lett the Committee, and might not
be able to deliver its message to his Government.
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Reference had been wade to media reports of events in Iran, he noted.
Over 95 percent of this was the result ot a slanderous propaganda against
Iran. The death sentence was enshrined in the Iranian Constitution, and those
who were involved in bomb assassinations were executed in accordance with the
( law.
The Chairman, Mr. I1avrommatis, in his final remarks, said the Arnbassador's
concluding observations had borne out what had been said by several members in
the discussion. It woul i be in Iran s own interest to submit a report to put
the records right.
