Reuters,United Nations, 21 October 2008 (excerpts) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday expressed concerns about possible human rights abuses in Iran and urged the country to do more to combat discrimination against women and minorities.
There have also been reports of “an increase in rights violations against women, university students, teachers, workers and other activist groups,” Ban said in the report, which was issued to all 192 U.N. member states.
He also reiterated U.N. concerns about the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles.
“There were at least some cases of stoning and public execution, despite moves by the authorities to curb such practices,” Ban said.
“Cases of amputation and flogging and suspicious deaths and suicides of prisoners while in custody were also reported.”
Regarding the place of women in Iranian society, the report said criminal and civil laws contained “discriminatory provisions that are in urgent need of reform.” Ban also said that gender-based violence was “widespread” in Iran.
“Concerns have been expressed over an increasing crackdown in the past year on the women’s rights movement,” he said. One problem is that Iranian authorities sometimes link women’s rights activists to “external security threats.”
