What changed

B90113/2024

B90121/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on the increased number of executions in Iran, in particular the case of Mohammad Ghobadlou

The European Parliament,

– having regard to theRule EU144(5) guidelinesand on132(4) theof deathits penalty,Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the statement of the European External Action Service spokesperson of 23 January 2024 on the execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou,

A. whereas the Iranian authorities increasingly make use of death penalty and executions in particular in reaction to peaceful protests of the Iranian population against the widespread and systematic violations of women and girls’ human rights; whereas Balochi, Kurdish and Ahwazi Arab national minorities are disproportionately affected by death penalty and executions in Iran;

– having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

B. whereas the UNHRC reported that at least 54 people, including Farhad Salimi, Pejman Fatehi, Vafa Azarbar, Mohammad (Hazhir) Faramarzi and Mohsen Mazloum, have been put to death only during January 2024; whereas, according to Human Rights Watch, at least 11 prisoners, including Anwar Khezri, Kamran Sheikheh and Khosrow Basharat, are currently at risk of imminent execution;

A. whereas abolition of the death penalty worldwide is one of the main objectives of the EU’s human rights policy;

C. whereas Mohammad Ghobadlou was arbitrarily executed, after facing an unfair sham trial marred by torture allegations, due to his involvement in the September 2022 uprising; whereas appeals to take into account his mental disability condition were also rejected;

B. whereas the increase in executions recorded last year in Iran and the current pace of executions are appalling;

D. whereas the Iranian prosecutor has demanded for the death penalty for Johan Floderus, a Swedish citizen and EU official innocently accused and imprisoned in Evin Prison;

C. whereas the Iranian authorities arbitrarily executed protester Mohammad Ghobadlou, who had a mental disability, on 23 January 2024, following a process and ruling shrouded in secrecy;

1. Recalls its strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and calls for the universal abolition of capital punishment;

1. Reiterates its strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances; expresses serious concerns2. aboutCondemns the increasing use of the death penalty; deplores the use of the death penalty against protesters, dissidents and members of minority groups in Iran; stresses that no moral, legal orexecutions religiousby justificationIranian mayauthorities bewaging used;terror reiterateson its callpopulation; Calls on the Government of Iran to introduce an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty as afirst step towards abolishing it,this practice and to commuterevoke all death sentences; condemns the use of torture to obtain confessions resulting in extrajudicial killings;

2. Strongly condemns the execution of Mohammad Ghobadlou: calls on the Iranian authorities to immediately end the practice of imposing and carrying out death sentences against protesters;

3. Calls on Iranian authorities to abandon charges and immediately and unconditionally release Johan Floderus;

3. Deplores the widespread and disproportionate use of force by Iran against non-violent protesters who were merely exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; stresses that such actions are unacceptable, urges the Iranian authorities to allow a prompt, impartial, independent and transparent investigation into allegations of excessive use of force, including direct targeting of protestors;

4. Keeps condemning the ongoing deterioration of the human rights situation and the authorities’ brutal repression against women, girls, minorities and all peaceful protesters; Condemns the use of rape and other forms of sexual violence by Iranian officials; calls for the immediate release of all human rights defenders and all victims of arbitrary detention;

4. Calls on the Iranian authorities to uphold the accused individuals’ due process rights, and ensure that those who are under any form of detention or imprisonment are not subject to any form of mistreatment; deplores the systematic use of torture in Iranian prisons and calls for the immediate cessation of all forms of torture of all detainees; expresses grave concerns over detainees’ inability to access medical treatment and legal representation during interrogations;

5. Urges the European Commission to increase the technical and capacity support and allocate a larger budget to Iranian civil society;

5. Welcomes the Council’s decision of 15 September 2023 to impose a tenth package of restrictive measures on individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran; reiterates its call on the Council to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation and to expand the EU sanctions list;

6. Calls on the EEAS and EU member states to actively support and present resolutions ensuring renewal of the mandates of the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran at the upcoming 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council;

6. Calls on the EU Member States to jointly undertake diplomatic initiatives to monitor trials and visit prisons where human rights defenders and other prisoners of conscience are being detained, including EU nationals in Iran, in line with the EU guidelines on human rights defenders;

7. Notes with the utmost dissatisfaction that it needs to reiterate its endless calls to initiate criminal investigations into crimes committed by the Iranian authorities under universal jurisdiction, to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation and sanction those responsible for human rights violations in Iran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Ebrahim Raisi and Prosecutor-General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri;

7.8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative ofHRVP, the Union forIslamic ForeignConsultative AffairsAssembly and Security Policy, the UNOffice Secretary-General,of the Supreme Leader and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian Majles.Iran.