A/RES/70/173 Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran 6. Acknowledges the participation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in its second universal periodic review by the Human Rights Council, and welcomes its acceptance of 130 recommendations, as well as its recent engagement with human rights treaty bodies through the submission of periodic national reports, while remaining concerned about the Government’s implementation record in respect of the recommendations that it accepted during its first universal periodic review; 7. Expresses serious concern at the alarming high frequency of and increase in the carrying-out of the death penalty, in disregard of internationally recognized safeguards, including executions undertaken without notification to the prisoner’s family members or legal counsel, and at 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 both the Convention on the Rights of the Child 6 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 2 and for crimes that do not qualify as the most serious crimes, and calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to abolish, in law and in practice, public executions, which are contrary to the 2008 prohibition of this practice by the former head of the judiciary, and executions carried out in violation of its international obligations or in the absence of respect for internationally recognized safeguards; 8. Calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure, in law and in practice, that no one is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, which may include sexual violence, in conformity with the constitutional guarantees of the Islamic Republic of Iran and international obligations; 9. Urges the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to uphold, in law and in practice, procedural guarantees to ensure fair trial standards of law, including timely access to legal representation of one’s choice, the right not to be subjected to torture, cruel and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and consideration of bail and other reasonable terms for release from custody pending trial, and urges the Government to cease enforced disappearances and the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary detention; 10. Calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to address the poor conditions of prisons, to eliminate the denial of access to adequate medical treatment and the consequent risk of death faced by prisoners and to put an end to the continued and sustained house arrest of leading opposition figures from the 2009 presidential elections despite serious concerns about their health, as well as the pressure exerted upon their relatives and dependants, including through arrest; 11. Also calls upon the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the judicial and security branches, to end widespread and serious restrictions, in law and in practice, on the right to freedom of expression, opinion, association and peaceful assembly, including through the ongoing harassment, intimidation, arbitrary detention and prosecution of, as well as the denial of access to higher education for, political opponents, human rights defenders, women’s and minority rights activists, labour leaders, students’ rights activists, academics, filmmakers, journalists, bloggers, social media users, religious leaders, artists, lawyers, recognized and unrecognized religious minorities and their families, and urges the Government to release persons arbitrarily detained for the legitimate exercise of __________________ 6 2/4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, No. 27531.