HUMAN RIGHTS AND IRAN

That this House welcomes the recent report from Human Rights Watch on the clampdown by the Iranian government on independent activism; condemns the Iranian government's practice of holding certain women's rights activists, union and labour activists, teachers, journalists, scholars, students and other peaceful political activists under detention without trial under the security laws set out in the Islamic Penal Code entitled Offences Against the National and International Security of the Country, especially at Section 209 of Tehran's Evin Prison; further condemns the ill-treatment of detainees under interrogation at Evin 209, including the use of blindfolding, solitary confinement, sleep deprivation, and other forms of physical and psychological abuse; further condemns the detainees' lack of access to legal counsel and lack of access to telephone calls or visits with family members; and calls upon the UK Government to press the Iranian government to bring Evin 209 under transparent supervision, to amend its security laws to define national security and breaches against it in narrow terms that do not infringe upon the right to free speech, and to allow all detainees access to legal counsel throughout the period of their detention and trial.