Attachments
Human Rights Council
Fifty-sixth session
Agenda item 2
Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General
Summary
The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 78/220, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit an interim report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-sixth session.
I. Introduction
1. The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolution 78/220, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to submit an interim report on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-sixth session. The report provides information on the progress made in the implementation of the resolution, including options and recommendations to improve its implementation, and covers the period from 1 August 2023 to 31 March 2024. It contains information from the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, non-governmental and media organizations. It also draws on observations of United Nations human rights mechanisms.
2. The Government continued to engage with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations human rights mechanisms. The Secretary-General acknowledges the comments provided by the Government in response to the present report.
3. During the reporting period, the death penalty continued to be applied at an alarming rate, including on child offenders, despite an overall decline in the execution of child offenders. The authorities continued to impose national security-related charges and lengthy prison sentences on human rights defenders, journalists, and artists in connection with their work, with broader due process concerns also observed during this reporting period. OHCHR continued to receive reports regarding institutionalized gender-based discrimination, where the authorities have severely deprived women and girls of the achievement of substantive equality and of their fundamental rights, including equal participation in economic, social, and political life, equality before the law, freedom from torture or from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, freedom from discrimination, and right to liberty of movement, peaceful assembly, and to freedom of association and expression. OHCHR also received reports on the impact of unilateral sanctions on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic and social rights affecting key sectors of society, with disproportionate impact on those who are most vulnerable, including individuals who require access to life-saving medication and equipment.