the UN General Assembly adopted – by a recorded vote of 86 in favour, to 36 against, with 61 abstentions

the UN General Assembly adopted – by a recorded vote of 86 in favour, to 36 against, with 61 abstentions – a new Resolution on the situation of human rights in Iran. By its terms, the Assembly expressed “deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran relating to, inter alia: torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging and amputations; the continuing alarming high frequency in the carrying out of the death penalty in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards, including public executions and secret group executions, as well as reports of executions undertaken without the notification of the prisoner’s family members or legal counsel; the continuing imposition and carrying out of the death penalty against minors and persons who at the time of their offence were under the age of 18, in violation of the obligations of the Islamic Republic of Iran under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the imposition of the death penalty for crimes that lack a precise and explicit definition, including moharebeh (enmity against God), and the imposition of the death penalty for crimes that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, in violation of international law.”