In a Resolution adopted unanimously, different political groups urged the United Nations General Assembly to vote on a resolution condemning explicitly and decisively the violation of fundamental human rights in Iran and to adopt urgent measures to halt the recent wave of executions in Iran.
The Resolution states: The number of executions in Iran, including those of minors and homosexuals, often public by hanging or stoning, has dramatically increased, bringing the number of executions recorded since the start of 2007 to at least 244, a number which exceeds the 177 executions recorded in 2006.
The European Parliament also condemned strongly the execution by stoning of Mr Jafar Kiani on 5 July 2007 in the village of Aghche Kand (Quazvin Province) and calls on the Iranian authorities to implement their declared moratorium on stoning; demands that the Islamic Penal Code of Iran be reformed in order to abolish stoning.
The resolution expresses deep concern over the dramatic increase in the repression of civil-society movements in Iran over the past year; calls on the Iranian authorities to put an end to harsh repression against women’s rights defenders, activists of the ‘one million signatures’ campaign, student movements, minority rights defenders, intellectuals, teachers, journalists, web loggers and trade unionists;
The EP strongly condemned the death sentences and executions in Iran, in particular those on juvenile offenders and minors, and urges the Iranian authorities to respect internationally recognised legal safeguards with regard to minors such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The resolution also calls upon the European Council and the Commission to closely monitor developments in Iran and also to raise concrete cases of human rights abuses; calls on the Council and the Commission to report on the monitoring of the situation in Iran.