58 Human
rights in Iran
| Committee's assessment
| Politically important |
| Committee's decision | Cleared from scrutiny; further information requested
|
| Document details | (a) Council Decision (b) Council Implementing Regulation concerning restrictive measures against persons complicit in or responsible for directing or implementing grave human rights violations
|
| Legal base | (a) Article 29 TEU; unanimity (b) Article 12(1) of Council Regulation 359/2011; QMV
|
| Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
|
| Document numbers | (a) (36771), — (b) (36772), —
|
Summary and Committee's conclusions
58.1 The EU has been engaged since December 2006 in a "dual
track" strategy — engagement and restrictive measures
— regarding Iran's nuclear activities, not simply implementing
in the EU, but also strengthening in that context, successive
UN Security Council Resolutions. But it has only been since 2011
that it has sought to challenge the Iranian regime's human rights
performance via a package of travel restrictions and asset freezes
against the main perpetrators.
58.2 This Council Decision and Council Implementing
Regulation "roll over" this package for a further 12
months, to 13 April 2016, and (following a review of the measures)
"delist" two individuals, because there are no longer
grounds for listing, and a duplicate listing.
58.3 The continuation of these measures is consistent
with the previous and the present Government's policy of holding
to account those guilty of human rights abuses in Iran. In 2014,
there continued to be no concrete improvements under President
Rouhani's government, with the highest number of executions in
Iran in the past 12 years and the highest rate of executions per
capita in the world. This dreadful situation continues; The
Times reported on 17 April 2015 that Iran had hanged at least
43 people in the previous three days, "as the regime purges
its bulging prison population". The Times correspondent
went on to note that, as of that date, at least 270 people had
been put to death, compared with about 750 in 2014 — "the
highest since the mass purges of the 1980s". As he concluded:
"The spike in hangings underlines fears that
Mr Rouhani's tentative détente with the West, culminating
in a landmark nuclear deal two weeks ago, has had no impact on
Iran's dismal human rights record."
58.4 There are thus good grounds for "rolling-over"
the existing regime for a further twelve months. However, we do
have continuing concerns over one aspect of the handling of the
"review/rollover" process.
58.5 The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington)
and his officials rightly take the review process very seriously.
So, too, does the Committee. The then Committee received on 30
March a letter from the then (and current) Minister, noting that
the measures would have lapsed on 12 April 2015, during the Parliamentary
dissolution, had they not been renewed before that date, and expressing
regret at thus finding himself having had to agree to the adoption
of this Council Decision and Council Implementing Regulation before
the Committee had had an opportunity to scrutinise the documents.
58.6 When, on 30 April 2014, our predecessors
considered the last such "rollover", they said that
while any override of scrutiny is regrettable, they were not convinced
that, on that occasion, it was unavoidable. They therefore asked
the Minister to explain why last year's renewal was put forward
so late in the day; and to outline in detail what steps were taken
in Brussels, at what level, to "chase up" those concerned
in advance of a renewal date that had been known a year previously.
He subsequently explained that the European External Action Service
(EEAS) had not initiated the review of these measures until 3
February 2014; acknowledged that he and his officials had misjudged
the time that would be necessary to complete this process; and
undertook both to ensure that the 2015 review was initiated in
January and to write once more to the EU High Representative (Baroness
Ashton) about the late publication of documents and how this impeded
"our democratic Parliamentary scrutiny process".
58.7 Now, the Minister again describes this latest
scrutiny override as "unavoidable". On this occasion,
however, we further understand that:
· the
first stage of this year's review began in mid-January, and was
concluded on 19 February;
· the
requisite letter notifying individuals whose Statement of Reasons
the Council had decided to update was agreed on 24 February and
sent shortly thereafter, with a 6 March deadline for the submission
of any observations by those concerned;
· in
the meantime, the UK Representation to the EU made efforts to
have early sight of the draft legal instruments, and stressed
the importance of our Parliamentary scrutiny procedures;
· two
of the addressees submitted observations, necessitating further
RELEX Working Group discussions,[ 435]
which resulted in the Council Secretariat circulating the draft
legal instruments on 17 March for discussion at a RELEX meeting
on 23 March;
· this
meant that it was not possible to draft an Explanatory Memorandum
before the then Committee's last meeting on 24 March;
· given
that Parliament was due to be dissolved on 30 March, and that
the EU was pushing for adoption in early April, the Minister agreed
to override scrutiny on 30 March, and notified the Committee;
and
· the
draft instruments were approved by the Council via Written Procedure
in early April.
58.8 Given this "timeline", on this
occasion and in these circumstances, we do not object to the overriding
of scrutiny.
58.9 We are also aware that:
· the
Minister has raised this issue not only with Baroness Ashton but
also with her successor, High Representative Mogherini, including
through a letter on 9 December 2014, in which he emphasised the
importance of providing documents well in advance to ensure sufficient
time for UK Parliamentary scrutiny;
· FCO
officials subsequently visited Brussels and, with the UK Representation
to the EU, raised this issue with senior EEAS officials; and
· as
of last Spring, also planned to brief EEAS Working Group Chairs,
arrange workshops on UK Parliamentary scrutiny, and meet key EU
officials on a regular basis — all to ensure that all those
involved with the process of document production have a good understanding
of UK Parliamentary scrutiny and that scrutiny timetables are
taken into account wherever possible.
58.10 We would accordingly like the Minister to
write to us, within ten working days, outlining what steps have
actually been taken, with and by whom, since last March; what
evidence there is of sustained, improved performance by the EEAS;
and what further steps he proposes to take.
58.11 In the meantime, we now clear the documents
from scrutiny.
Full
details of the documents: Council Decision
amending Decision 2011/235/CFSP concerning restrictive measures
directed against certain persons and entities in view of the situation
in Iran: (36771), —; Council Implementing Regulation implementing
Regulation (EU) No. 359/2011 concerning restrictive measures directed
against certain persons, entities and bodies in view of the situation
in Iran: (36772), —.
Background
58.12 The EU has been engaged since December 2006
in a "dual track" strategy — engagement and restrictive
measures — regarding Iran's nuclear activities, not simply
implementing in the EU, but also strengthening in that context,
successive UN Security Council Resolutions.
Council Decision 2011/235/CFSP
58.13 However, while UN, EU and US measures were
thus in place in response to the nuclear issue, there had been
a limited international response to human rights violations and,
at the same time, regular calls from a variety of directions,
including human rights defenders and NGOs, to impose sanctions.
58.14 Thus, on 21 March 2011, the Foreign Affairs
Council adopted the following Conclusions:
"1. The European Union is deeply concerned
that the human rights situation in Iran continues to deteriorate.
The EU is alarmed by the dramatic increase in executions in recent
months and the systematic repression of Iranian citizens, including
human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, women's activists,
bloggers, persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities
and members of the opposition, who face harassment and arrests
for exercising their legitimate rights to freedom of expression
and peaceful assembly. The EU reiterates its strong condemnation
of the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
"2. The EU calls on the Iranian authorities
to live up to the international human rights obligations that
Iran has entered into, so as to protect and promote all human
rights and fundamental freedoms to which the Iranian people are
entitled. In particular it calls on Iran to release immediately
all political prisoners and to halt executions.
"3. The European Union attaches great importance
to the improvement of the human rights situation in Iran and will
increase its efforts to that end. The European Union will also
continue to speak out in support of individuals and civil society
organizations which stand up for the human rights which all Iranians
should enjoy.
"4. The EU is ready to discuss human rights
issues with the Iranian authorities and to keep channels of communication
open to that end.
"5. The European Union will continue to
address human rights abuses in Iran, including by swiftly introducing
restrictive measures targeted against those responsible for grave
human rights violations."[ 436]
58.15 Council Decision 2011/235/CFSP accordingly
provides the basis for restrictive measures targeted against:
"persons complicit in or responsible for
directing or implementing grave human rights violations in the
repression of peaceful demonstrators, journalists, human rights
defenders, students or other persons who speak up in defence of
their legitimate rights, including freedom of expression, as well
as persons complicit in or responsible for directing or implementing
grave violations of the right to due process, torture, cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment, or the indiscriminate, excessive
and increasing application of the death penalty, including public
executions, stoning, hangings or executions of juvenile offenders
in contravention of Iran's international human rights obligations."
Council Regulation 359/2011
58.16 This Council Regulation provides for the adoption
of restrictive measures against those persons judged to be responsible
for serious human rights violations in Iran, as listed in the
annex to the Council Decision, and consists of a freezing of the
funds and economic resources of those persons.
58.17 In 2013, the Council decided to prolong the
EU restrictive measures by 12 months in response to continuing
serious human rights violations, and to add nine persons and one
entity responsible for serious human rights violations to the
list of those subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze —
judges, prosecutors, authority figures in state media, and the
Cyber Police. This brought the number of persons targeted to 87.
This "package" was renewed for a further 12 months in
April 2014.[ 437]
The Council Decision and Council Implementing
Regulation
58.18 This Council Decision and Implementing Regulation
renews the EU's restrictive measures in view of the human rights
situation in Iran until 13 April 2016.
58.19 In his Explanatory Memorandum of 15 June 2015,
the Minister for Europe explains, as on previous such occasions,
that the procedures for designating individuals under Council
Decision 2011/235/CFSP and Council implementing Regulation 359/2011
("the Principal Decision and Regulation") which this
Decision and Regulation amend respectively are considered to be
compliant with fundamental rights.
58.20 Thus:
— provision
is made for competent authorities of Member States to authorise
the release of frozen funds where necessary in certain circumstances,
for example, to satisfy the basic needs of listed persons or their
dependents and where necessary for extraordinary expenses; which
decisions by competent authorities of Member States in this regard
would be subject to challenge in Member States' courts;
— in
addition, Member States may grant exemptions from the travel ban
where travel is justified, inter alia, on the basis of
urgent humanitarian need;
— the Principal Decision and Regulation
respect fundamental rights, notably the right to an effective
remedy and to a fair trial and the right to the protection of
personal data;
— both the Principal Decision and Regulation
state that the Council shall provide designated persons and entities
with an opportunity to present observations on the reasons for
their listing;
— where observations are submitted, the
Council shall review its decision in the light of those observations
and inform the person or entity concerned accordingly; and, in
addition, shall keep the measures under review; and
— the Courts of the European Union must,
in accordance with the powers conferred on them, ensure the review
of the lawfulness of all European Union acts in respect of fundamental
rights, including respect for the rights of the defence and the
right to effective judicial protection.
The Government's view
58.21 The Minister says:
"It is still UK government policy to hold to
account those guilty of human rights abuses in Iran. The human
rights situation in Iran remains dire. The Government continues
to release statements condemning the human rights situation in
Iran, and lead action by the international community.
"The EU sanctions regime is one way in which
we hold the government of Iran to account for human rights abuses.
It was important to agree the renewal of the listings, provided
they continued to meet the criteria.
"The Council agreed that there was no longer
grounds for listing two individuals under the regime (HEYDARI,
Nabiollah and REZVANI, Gholomani). Neither of these are politically
important listings, and so delisting these individuals does not
compromise the overall benefit gained from the sanctions regime
towards our human rights objectives.
"In addition, one duplicate listing was deleted
from the list (ELAHI, Mousa Khalil) following the Council's review."
58.22 In the letter to the Committee of 30 March
the Minister pointed out that the measures would have lapsed during
Parliamentary dissolution (on 12 April 2015) had they not been
renewed in advance of their renewal date, and expresses regret
that he found himself having to agree to their adoption before
the Committee had an opportunity to scrutinise the documents.
Previous Committee Reports
None, but see (35962), — and (35963), —:
Forty-seventh Report HC 83-xlii (2013-14), chapter 10 (30
April 2014).
435 RELEX: foreign relations counsellors from Member
State permanent representations, who prepare the legal, institutional
and budgetary aspects of CFSP/CSDP Decisions and Regulations. Back
436 Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions. Back
437 See our earlier Report for further detail and background: (35962),
- and (35963), -: Forty-seventh Report HC 83-xlii (2013-14),
chapter 10 (30 April 2014). Back
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