RESOLUTION B3-0767, 0808 and 0828/92

Resolution on the persecution of Baha'is and other human rights violations in Iran

The European Parliament,

A.recalling its concern for human rights for all mankind and for religious toleration,

B.having regard to the continuing persecution in Iran of the Baha'i community, solely on the grounds of their religious beliefs,

C.drawing attention to the execution of Mr Bahman Samandari, a member of the Baha'i faith, in Evin Prison in Teheran on 18 March 1992 and fearing that this may mark a return to the brutal persecution of the Baha'is, which disgraced the first decade of the Islamic Republic,

D.noting that the Iranian Government has publicly and repeatedly maintained that the Baha'i community is not being persecuted in Iran, yet this brutal act demonstrates that the Baha'is continue to suffer at the hands of the Iranian authorities,

1.Deplores the arbitrary execution of a member of the Baha'i faith;

2.Condemns religious and ethnic persecution, the use of torture, the application of the death penalty, imprisonment without charge and secret trials, all of which abuses are widespread in Iran;

3.Deplores the action of the Iranian authorities which permitted the arbitrary execution of Mr Samandari to take place in contravention of all accepted standards of justice and human rights;

4.Sincerely hopes that this execution does not signal the resumption of the execution of Baha'is in Iran for their religious beliefs;

5.Calls on the Community to support the Baha'i struggle for the right to practice their religious beliefs without fear of persecution or execution;

6.Calls on the Iranian Government to ensure that such acts will cease immediately and that full human rights are granted to the Iranian Baha'i community;

7.Asks the Commission, in its commercial negotiations with Iran, to include in any agreement reached a very strong clause requiring respect for human rights with an option to suspend any such agreement in the event of violation;

8.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, EPC, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and of Iran and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.