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Iran Focus
 London, Dec. 20 – The European Union on Tuesday criticised
Iran’s
abysmal human rights record.
In a statement issued by the current UK Presidency of the EU, the 25-nation
block expressed concern that human rights abuses had increased in the
Islamic Republic in recent years.
“The EU is deeply concerned that the human rights situation in Iran has
not improved in any significant respect in recent years, and in many respects
has worsened”.
It said that death penalties were frequently carried out, “including for
minor crimes, and executions are often carried out in public”.
Iran
executed more child offenders in 2005 than in any recent year, the
statement said.
“Freedom of expression is still severely restricted; censorship of the
internet and press is widespread”, it added.
The EU described the June elections in Iran which brought hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the
Presidency as “not democratic”.
The 25 nations said that they continued to receive reports of torture in Iran, while underlining their “great
concern” over Tehran’s
treatment of “religious and ethnic minorities”.
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