Human Rights Situation in Iraq

A/RES/57/232No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 109cHuman rights situations and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives, published in 2003.

What other versions does this mandate have?

3 versions · 2000–2003

2003A/RES/57/232Human rights situation in IraqLatestCompare with previous version
2000A/RES/55/115Human rights situation in IraqCompare with previous version
2000A/RES/54/178Human rights situation in Iraq

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What does this mandate say?

32 operative paragraphs

Welcomes:

The report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Iraq10 and the exploratory visit by the Special Rapporteur to Iraq from 11 to 15 February 2002, which could serve as a basis for future cooperation and constructive dialogue;

Security Council resolution 1409 (2002), in which all exports to Iraq are allowed except for items which are on the goods review list and which are therefore subject to review by the Sanctions Committee;

Notes that:

The Government of Iraq has responded in writing to some requests for information made by the Special Rapporteur;

The Government of Iraq has accepted a second visit by the Special Rapporteur;

Expresses grave concern that there has been no improvement in the situation of human rights in the country;

Strongly condemns:

The systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law by the Government of Iraq, resulting in all-pervasive repression and oppression sustained by broad-based discrimination and widespread terror;

The suppression of freedom of thought, religion and belief, expression, information, association, assembly and movement through fear of arrest, imprisonment, execution, expulsion, house demolition and other sanctions;

The repression faced by any kind of opposition, in particular the harassment and intimidation of and threats against Iraqi opponents living abroad and members of their families;

The widespread use of the death penalty in disregard of the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights2 and the United Nations safeguards;

Summary and arbitrary executions, including political killings and the continuing prison cleansing, the use of rape as a political tool, as well as enforced or involuntary disappearances, routinely practised arbitrary arrests and detention and consistent and routine failure to respect due process and the rule of law;

Widespread, systematic torture and the maintaining of decrees prescribing cruel and inhuman punishment as a penalty for offences;

Calls upon the Government of Iraq:

To abide by its freely undertaken obligations under international human rights instruments and international humanitarian law to respect and ensure the rights of all individuals, irrespective of their origin, ethnicity, gender or religion, within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction;

To end all summary and arbitrary executions and the imposition of the death penalty for crimes committed by persons under the age of 18 years, and to ensure that capital punishment will not be imposed for crimes other than the most serious and will not be pronounced in disregard of the obligations it has assumed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the provisions of the United Nations safeguards;

To establish a moratorium on executions;

To bring the actions of its military and security forces into conformity with the standards of international law, in particular those of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;

To establish the independence of the judiciary and to abrogate all laws granting impunity to specified forces or persons killing or injuring individuals for any purpose beyond the administration of justice under the rule of law as prescribed by international standards;

To abolish the functioning of the temporary special courts and to ensure that the rule of law is respected at all times throughout the territory of Iraq in accordance with its freely undertaken obligation under international human rights instruments;

To abrogate all decrees that prescribe cruel and inhuman punishment or treatment, including mutilation, and to ensure that torture and cruel punishment and treatment no longer occur;

To abrogate all laws and procedures, including Revolution Command Council Decree No. 840 of 4 November 1986, that penalize free expression, and to ensure that the genuine will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of the State;

To cooperate fully with the relevant mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights, in particular its Special Rapporteur, and to ensure his access to Iraq, without preconditions, in order to allow him fully to discharge his mandate, including by allowing access to any person deemed appropriate by the Special Rapporteur;

To implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur by providing detailed and comprehensive replies to letters relating to allegations of human rights violations transmitted by the Special Rapporteur and by allowing the stationing of human rights monitors throughout Iraq pursuant to the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights;

To ensure the free exercise of political opposition and to prevent the intimidation and repression of political opponents and their families;

To respect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups and to cease immediately its continuing repressive practices, including the practice of forced deportation and relocation, aimed at the Iraqi Kurds, Assyrians and Turkmen, and to ensure the personal integrity and freedoms of all citizens, including the Shi´ah population;

To cooperate fully with the Tripartite Commission and its Technical Subcommittee to establish the whereabouts and resolve the fate of the remaining several hundred missing persons, including prisoners of war, Kuwaiti nationals and third-country nationals, victims of the illegal Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, to cooperate with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances of the Commission on Human Rights for that purpose, to cooperate with the high-level coordinator of the Secretary-General for the repatriation of all Kuwaiti and third-country nationals and the return of all Kuwaiti property in implementation of section B of Security Council resolution 1284 (1999), to pay compensation to the families of those who died or disappeared in the custody of the Iraqi authorities, through the mechanism established by the Security Council in resolution 692 (1991) of 20 May 1991, to release immediately all Kuwaitis and nationals of other States who may still be held in detention and inform families of the whereabouts of arrested persons, to provide information about death sentences imposed on prisoners of war and civilian detainees, and to issue death certificates for deceased prisoners of war and civilian detainees;

To cooperate further with international aid agencies and non-governmental organizations to provide humanitarian assistance and monitoring in the northern and southern areas of the country;

To continue to cooperate in the implementation of Security Council resolutions dealing with humanitarian and human rights matters;

To cooperate in the identification of the minefields existing throughout Iraq, with a view to facilitating their marking and eventual clearing;

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to give all necessary assistance to the Special Rapporteur to enable him to discharge his mandate fully, and decides to continue the examination of the situation of human rights in Iraq at its fifty-eighth session, under the item entitled “Human rights questions”.

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Human Rights Situation in Iraq

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