Resolution on Iran, notably the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh

The European Parliament adopted by 522, votes to 6 with 38 abstentions a resolution on Iran, notably the case of Nasrin Sotoudeh.

The resolution was tabled by the Greens/EFA, ECR, GUE/NGL, S&D, ALDE and EPP groups.  

Parliament called on the Government of Iran to immediately and unconditionally release human rights lawyer and Sakharov laureate Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been charged by a Revolutionary Court with ‘espionage in hiding’, and was arrested on 13 June 2018 after she represented a woman facing imprisonment for peacefully protesting against Iran’s compulsory hijab law by removing it in public. Members noted that the arrest of Nasrin Sotoudeh is part of an intensified crackdown against women’s rights defenders in Iran. They urged Iran’s judicial system to respect due process and the rules of fair trial and disclose information on the charges against Nasrin Sotoudeh, and stressed that the Iranian authorities must guarantee the safety and well-being of all detainees while in detention. Calling on the Government of Iran to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, Parliament expressed its sympathy for and solidarity with the campaign against the country’s mandatory dress code, and condemned the detention of women who removed their head scarves as part of the campaign.

Parliament asked the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Commission to step up their efforts in support of Sakharov prize laureates at risk, including Nasrin Sotoudeh and others who have either been arrested or convicted or who are facing the death penalty and also called on EU Member States with diplomatic missions on the ground to fully implement the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and to provide all appropriate support to Nasrin Sotoudeh and other human rights defenders. It underlined that the EU and Member States must systematically raise human rights concerns in public and in private with the Iranian authorities in bilateral and multilateral fora, and stressed the necessity of a formal EU-Iran human rights dialogue based on universal human rights.

Parliament went on to call on Iran to:

• ensure the right of all defendants to a legal counsel of their choice in all court cases without undue limitations, and to a fair trial, in line with Iran’s international commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
• guarantee religious freedom in accordance with the Iranian Constitution and its international commitments, and to stop the systematic persecution of the Baha’i minority;
• deepen its engagement with international human rights mechanisms by cooperating with the Special Rapporteurs and special mechanisms;
• guarantee that all human rights defenders in Iran are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions;
• introduce an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a step towards its abolition.

Parliament condemned the use of the death penalty, including its use against juvenile offenders, and also condemned the systematic torture carried out in Iranian prisons, calls for all forms of torture and ill-treatment of all prisoners to be brought to an immediate end.