In the last year, conditions for the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have been rapidly deteriorating in Iran.
ARTICLE 19 is deeply concerned with the unlawful killings and arbitrary arrest of thousands of people during recent nationwide protests beginning in November 2019, amid unprecedented internet controls that limited the sharing of information among participants and hindered documentation of human rights violations.
Judicial harassment of human rights defenders, journalists, and others engaged in dissent, whether offline or online, has continued, mostly through abusive application of broad provisions in the Penal Code and Iranian Constitution.
At the 43rd Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC43), States should raise these concerns in their interventions related to Iran, and support the renewal of the Special Rapporteur mandate for a further period of one year.