A/RES/55/114 arrest and detention, and to reform the judicial and penitentiary system and bring it into line with international human rights standards in this field; (d) The visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran of a technical cooperation needs assessment mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and encourages the follow-up to that mission; 2. Notes: (a) The provisions of the new code of penal procedure, which provide for the attendance of lawyers for all kinds of lawsuits, and the judiciary reform project, which aims, in particular, at re-establishing a distinction between the offices of the judge and the prosecutor; (b) The legal changes recently put into effect within the Iranian judicial system by which members of religious minorities are no longer obliged to state their religion when applying for a marriage licence; (c) Developments observed with regard to the status of women in areas such as education, training and health; (d) The bill currently under consideration that aims at raising the age of marriage; (e) The work of the Islamic Human Rights Commission on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and, in particular, its efforts to investigate illegal detentions and disappearances; 3. Expresses its concern: (a) At the fact that, since 1996, no invitation has yet been extended by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Special Representative to visit the country; (b) At the deterioration of the situation with regard to freedom of opinion and expression, in particular at restrictions on the freedom of the press, judiciary suspension of numerous newspapers, prohibition of publications and the arrest of journalists, political activists and intellectuals on the basis of laws related to national security, which are used as a pretext to deny or restrict freedom of expression, opinion and thought; (c) At the continuing violations of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, in particular executions, in the apparent absence of respect for internationally recognized safeguards, and cases of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; (d) At the failure to comply fully with international standards in the administration of justice and the absence of guarantees of due process of law and respect for internationally recognized legal safeguards, inter alia, with respect to persons belonging to religious minorities; (e) At the discrimination against persons belonging to religious minorities, in particular the unabated pattern of persecution of the Baha’is, including the continuing detention and the sentencing to death of some of them; (f) At the continuing discrimination, in law and in practice, against women, who still lack full and equal enjoyment of their human rights, as reported by the Special Representative; 2