Human Rights Council

Fifty- eighth session

24 February–4 April 2025

Agenda item 4

Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 3 April 2025

5 8 / 21. Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments,

Recalling all relevant resolutions adopted by the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, particularly the most recent ones, including Council resolutions 55/19 of 4 April 2024 and S-35/1 of 24 November 2022, and Assembly resolution 79/183 of 17 December 2024 on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran,

Welcoming the report and recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran submitted to the Human Rights Council, and emphasizing that the recommendations included in that report should be given due consideration by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran,

Welcoming also the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran,established to investigate alleged human rights violations related to the protests that began on 16 September 2022, especially with respect to women and children,

Acknowledging the engagement between the Government of the Islamic Republicof Iran and the Special Rapporteur, while regrettingthe continued lack of access to the country granted to the Special Rapporteur and to the Fact-Finding Mission,

Welcoming the recent engagement of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the Office of the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights, including through dialogue and the visit of the United Nations Deputy HighCommissioner for Human Rights to the country in February 2024, while encouraging enhanced substantive technical cooperation with the Office of the High Commissioner,

Expressing concern at the continued violations of a wide range of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, as highlighted by the Special Rapporteur and the Fact-Finding Mission, and expressing deep concern that sustained and systematic impunity for gross violations of human rights and an absence of accountability in the Islamic Republic of Iran create an enabling environment for perpetrators, perpetuate cycles of violence and violate victims’ and survivors’ right to aneffective remedy,

Alarmed at the ongoing surge in executions, including of individuals charged with offences that do not meet the threshold of the most serious crimes, at the growing number of women executed and at the continued executions of individuals sentenced for alleged offences committed before the age of 18 years, following trials that gravely fail to respect fair trial guarantees,

Expressing deep concern at the widespread violence and discrimination in law and in practice affecting, in particular, women and girls, children, persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic and recognized or unrecognized religious or belief minorities, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and media workers, trade unionists and persons exercising their right to freedom of opinion and expression, online and offline, and their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association,

Welcoming the pause in implementation of the Law on Protecting the Family through the Promotion of the Culture of Chastity and Hijab and calling upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to fully repeal this law and all discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and policies, and to remove other barriers to the political and economic participation of women,

Noting the recommendation of theFact-Finding Missionthat investigations should continue into allegations of serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity, including structural and systemic discrimination, violations of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, harassment of human rights defenders, lawyers, artists, teachers and medical professionals and inequality of access to justice, and that accountability measures should be followed up at the domestic and international levels,

1.Deplores the widespread, repeated and ongoing human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to address systematic impunity by establishing a system of accountability in line with international law, including constitutional, legislative and administrative reforms, and to ensure the complete independence of the judiciary and effective remedies for victims;

2.Expresses deep concern at the findings of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iranregarding human rights violations and crimes against humanity, including ongoing persecutory conduct against women, girls and others supporting human rights in the context of the protests, and calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to end the persistent discrimination against women and girls;

3.C alls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to eliminate, in law and in practice, all forms of discrimination and violence on the basis of thought, conscience, religion and belief, including against persons belonging to recognized and unrecognized religious or belief minorities, as well as against persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, including multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination;

4.Also c alls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to create a safe and enabling environment for civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and media workers, including by guaranteeing and upholding the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline, and the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and to release persons arbitrarily detained for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms;

5.Urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to take all legislative, administrative and other measuresnecessary, in accordance with its international human rights obligations, to ensure that no one is sentenced to death or executed for offences that do not meet the threshold of the most serious crimes or for alleged offences committed before the age of 18 years, and to ensure that all criminal convictions and sentences are handed down by courts that are competent, independent and impartial, following proceedings that strictly respect fair trial guarantees;

6.Decides to extend the mandate of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran for a further period of one year in order to continue to monitor the ongoing situation of human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and to measure progress in the implementation of recommendations, and requests the Special Rapporteur to submit a report to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-first session and to the General Assembly at its eightieth session;

7.Also d ecidesthat the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran, established following the protests that began on 16 September 2022, should continue for one year with the following mandate:

(a)To thoroughly and independently monitor and investigate allegations of recent and ongoing serioushuman rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran;

(b)To establish the facts, circumstances and structural causes of such violations, including discrimination on grounds of gender, ethnicity, religion or belief and political views;

(c)To collect, consolidate, analyse, record and preserve evidence of such violations, to maintain and preserve the evidence that it has collected to date, and to ensure that all evidence is accessible for use in any independent legal proceedings;

8.Requeststhe Fact-Finding Mission to present a report to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-first session during a joint interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur, and to present an oral update, to be followed by an interactive dialogue, on the implementation of the mandate to the General Assembly at its eightieth session;

9.Calls uponthe Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate fully with the Special Rapporteur and the Fact-Finding Mission, to grant them unhindered access to the country, and to provide all information necessary to allow the fulfilment of their mandates, in line with its standing invitation;

10.Encouragesthe Special Rapporteur and the Fact-Finding Mission to cooperate closely, with a view to promoting synergy;

11.Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Special Rapporteur and the Fact-Finding Mission with the resources necessary to fulfil their mandates.

57th meeting 3 April 2025

[Adopted by a recorded vote of 24 to 8, with 15 abstentions. The voting was as follows:

In favour:

Albania, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czechia, Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, Japan, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands (Kingdom of the), North Macedonia, Republic of Korea, Romania, Spain, Switzerland

Against:

Algeria, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Burundi, China, Cuba, Indonesia, Sudan, Viet Nam

Abstaining:

Bangladesh, Brazil, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Qatar, South Africa, Thailand]