Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-11-22-Speech-4-432-000"
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"en.20121122.35.4-432-000"2
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"Mr President, I would like to thank Members for their very pertinent views and for the serious debate today. The European Union is seriously concerned about the deteriorating human rights record in Iran. The continuous repression of political opponents, human rights defenders, journalists, artists, bloggers, lawyers, women and minority groups is a real problem.
The European Parliament is playing an important role in denouncing this situation. The award of this year’s Sakharov Prize to two leading Iranians defending freedom of thought – the lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, and the film director Jafar Penahi – is a very significant example of Parliament’s commitment to human rights.
The tragic death of blogger Sattar Beheshti in custody is a poignant example of the precarious situation of human rights activists in Iran. The European Union responded swiftly by urging the Iranian authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of his death. Afterwards the Iranian judiciary announced that an inquiry had been launched and that the persons responsible would be prosecuted. We shall of course closely follow developments.
Early October saw a spate of arrests of prominent human rights lawyers. The EU reacted to this on several fronts by summoning the Iranian Ambassador to the EU in Brussels, issuing a statement and carrying out a démarche in Tehran.
Iran’s extensive use of the death penalty is particularly worrisome. So far we have confirmation of 338 executions this year. This reconfirms that Iran is one of the world’s most frequent users of capital punishment. In addition, collective and public executions are common in Iran. The EU has a strong stance against the death penalty and we have repeatedly condemned executions in Iran. The High Representative and Vice-President, Catherine Ashton, issued her latest statement on 23 October condemning the collective executions of 10 Iranians charged with drug smuggling.
The EU also remains deeply concerned about the position of ethnic and religious minorities in Iran. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality, they are subject to an array of discriminatory laws and practices. We are using all tools available to raise awareness and call on Iran to respect the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. We recall that 78 individuals are now on the EU human rights sanctions list for human rights violations in Iran. The list is reviewed on a regular basis to take into account developments in the country.
Finally, the EU fully supports the role of the UN special rapporteur on Iran, Mr Shaheed, and we have officially called on Iran to facilitate his visit to the country."@en1
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