A/RES/69/190 Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 4. Also acknowledges recent engagement by the Islamic Republic of Iran with human rights treaty bodies through the submission of periodic national reports, as well as participation in its second universal periodic review by the Human Rights Council, while remaining seriously concerned about the broader lack of engagement with human rights monitoring mechanisms, including the ongoing lack of response to requests from special procedures mandate holders for information and country visits; 5. Expresses deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran relating to, inter alia: (a) The alarming high frequency of and increase in the carrying-out of the death penalty in the absence of internationally recognized safeguards, including public executions, notwithstanding the issuance of a circular by the former head of the judiciary prohibiting 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; (b) 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 6 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;2 (c) The imposition of the death penalty for crimes that lack a precise and explicit definition and for crimes that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, in violation of international law; (d) Torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging and amputations; (e) Widespread and serious restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of association and freedom of opinion and expression, including through continued efforts to block, filter or hinder Internet access and content, including social media outlets, to jam international satellite transmission and to censor or close media outlets; (f) The systematic targeting and harassment of human rights defenders and the renewed targeting of journalists, bloggers and social media users, who face arrest, arbitrary detention, long-term exile and harsh sentences, including the death sentence; (g) Pervasive gender inequality and violence against women and ongoing discrimination against women and girls in law and in practice, including by continuing to limit equal access to employment and to certain fields of higher education, as well as restrictions on access to decision-making positions in the Government and to the labour market, despite the granting of 3 of 11 deputy vicepresidential posts to women; (h) Continued discrimination and other human rights violations, at times amounting to persecution, against persons belonging to ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, including Arabs, Azeris, Balochis and Kurds and their defenders, noting in particular reports of the violent suppression and detention of ethnic Arabs and Azeris, including ongoing violations of their due process rights and alleged torture while imprisoned, and the reported secret execution of members of the Ahwaz Arab community; _______________ 6 2/6 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.