On December 17, The General Assembly condemned, for...

On December 17, The General Assembly condemned, for the forty-fifth time, the Iranian Government with regard to human rights. This condemnation resulted from the report by Prof. Maurice Capitorn, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, who participated in the Third Committee of the General Assembly on November 8, 1999. The report states that, between January and August, 40 newspapers were denounced and many moderate dailies were closed down. At the beginning of January the Parliament passed a special law permitting newspapers to be shut down without any legal proceedings. Concerning the student protest in 1999, the Iranian Government declared that, contrary to "all unofficial news," the number of people arrested was 1,200 of whom 700 have already been freed. There is no news of the journalists and activists who are missing, and were thought to be among those arrested. The justice system, according to the UN representative, does not abide by "due process," and the establishment of special clerical tribunals is evidence of this. According to the UN report, 138 executions officially took place between January and August (see above). No official reasons were given for the death sentences, although some of them would appear to be politically motivated. The report also refers to the regular practice of cutting off or amputating limbs, as well as corporal punishment inflicted on minors. With reference to disappearances and political murders, the report states that those responsible were arrested but subsequently released on bail. The UN is of the opinion that the killings of journalists and intellectuals are ordered. The case of the editor and writer Pirouz Davani who disappeared in August 1998 is still unresolved, and the Special Rapporteur has asked for further investigations. The persecution of religious minorities continues: the Baha'is cannot celebrate their rites or use the cemeteries and their possessions are confiscated regularly. Furthermore, they are not permitted access to the workplace. According to Prof. Capitorn, the situation has retrogressed since 1998, and the Human Rights Committee has asked the regime to publish a report on capital sentences and executions, giving the reasons for same.