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Belgian Senate takes a firm position on Iran |
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Saturday, 07 January 2006 |
 NCRI - In a resolution adopted unanimously in December 2005 by the
Belgian Senate on the political situation in Iran and its relation with
the European Union the Belgian government was urged to "Investigate
within the framework of the EU whether it remains justified to maintain
the People's Mojahedin of Iran (PMOI) on the list of terrorist
organizations, on the basis of the existing and revealed information."
The full text of the resolution is as follows:
A. Considering the civil and political rights acknowledged by the
International conventions to which the Islamic Republic of Iran is a
party; recalling the obligation of all member states of the United
Nations to promote and to protect human rights and fundamental
liberties and to comply with their obligations under various
international instruments in this area;
B. Taking into account the findings (January 12, 2004) of the United
Nations Special Rapporteur (Ambeyi Ligabo) on freedom of opinion and
expression, and particularly the deteriorating state of the freedom of
expression in Iran a number of years and the non-compliance of Iranian
law with the international Conventions to which Iran has adhered,
especially the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights;
C. Considering resolution L 45 adopted on November 18, 2005 by the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly;
D. Deeply concerned about the abuses of human rights and fundamental
liberties in the Islamic Republic of Iran, such as public executions,
repressive and corporal punishments, arbitrary arrests, physical and
psychological torture in jails, murders of opponents of the regime,
political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, persecution and
political discrimination against women, religious or ethnic minorities,
and the suppression of freedom of expression and opinion;
E. Reminding that Iran is a multi-ethnic country where minorities
represent nearly half of the population and where the rights of ethnic
or religious minorities (especially concerning the situation of the
Bahais and the Azeris) are violated;
F. Taking note of the resolutions of the European Parliament of January
13, 2005 (on torture in Iran), of October 13, 2005 and of November 17,
2005 on the Iranian President’s recent remarks;
G. Considering the conclusions of the European Council of December 15
and 16, 2005 in Brussels that “The European Council condemns
unreservedly President Ahmadinejad’s call for the eradication of Israel
and his denial of the Holocaust. […] The European Council is gravely
concerned at Iran’s failure to build confidence that its nuclear
program is exclusively peaceful. […] The European Council underlines
that whether the EU’s long-term relationship with Iran improves or
deteriorates will depend on progress on all issues of concern”;
H. Deploring the decline of the democratic process in the Islamic
Republic of Iran, and the deteriorating state of civil rights and
political freedoms since the presidential elections in June 2005;
considering that following these presidential elections and the
parliamentary elections in February 2004, Iran has had a conservative
leadership;
I. In view of the absence of a precise definition of terrorism, it must
be avoided that Iranian opposition groups, because of their struggle
against a regime that is responsible for systematic infringement of
human rights, be considered as terrorists;
J. Considering that dialogue between the European Union and Iran on
human rights was established in late 2002 on Iran’s request; that the
Union’s presidency made an assessment of this dialogue in October 2004
and that the results recorded were considered as poor; underlining the
importance of a continuous, intense and constructive dialogue on human
rights in Iran between the European institutions and the
decision-makers, the different political forces and the civil society
in Iran; deploring the absence of meetings for this dialogue since the
fourth session of June 14 and 15, 2004 in Tehran, during which the
Iranian government undertook to reinforce respect for human rights and
for a constitutional state;
The Senate invites the Belgian government to:
1. Firmly condemn the Iranian President and to convey to him its
strongest protests following his continuous remarks calling for the
destruction of Israel and denying the Holocaust committed during the
Second World War, and recall its Ambassador in Tehran for consultations;
2. Remind the Iranian authorities that they must comply with the
obligations which they freely entered into under the International
Human Rights Instruments to which they adhered;
3. Impress upon Iranian authorities that they must put an end to
executions and stonings, commute death penalty, primarily for minors,
and abolish the death penalty in Iran;
4. Impress upon Iranian authorities that they must implement and maintain the statutory provisions banning torture;
5. Ask Iranian authorities to bring in domestic law the legislative
measures necessary to implement the judiciary procedures assuring a
transparent, fair and equitable trial;
6. Impress upon Iranian authorities that they must eliminate every form of discrimination motivated by religion or ethnicity;
7. Ask Iranian authorities to put an end to the restrictions on the
freedom of expression and of opinion, to stop the harassment of
political opponents, journalists, Internet users, and media censorship;
ask Iranian authorities to respect the activities of human rights
defenders;
8. Remind Iranian authorities that a legal framework must be taken to
promote the full and complete exercising of the fundamental rights of
Iranian women, and that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women and its Optional Protocol be ratified
and implemented–- despite the Guardian Council’s rejection;
9. Ensure that the ratification process of Iran’s membership of the International Criminal Court is completed;
10. Impress upon Iranian authorities that they must ratify and
implement the United Nations conventions against terrorism and its
funding;
11. Investigate within the framework of the EU whether it remains
justified to maintain the PMOI on the list of terrorist organizations,
on the basis of the existing and revealed information;
12. Promote at the European level the resumption of the EU-Iran
negotiations on the nuclear file which have been frozen since August
2005; ask Iran to restore the international community’s full confidence
concerning its nuclear program and to ratify the Additional Protocol of
December 2003, to comply with its obligations relating to its adherence
to the NPT and to meet the terms of the resolution (GOV/2004/90)
adopted on November 29, 2004 by the Board of Governors of the IAEA;
13. Support the democratic forces which work inside and outside the
country for the establishment of a constitutional, democratic
state respectful of human rights.
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