A/HRC/22/56 I. Introduction 1. In the view of the Special Rapporteur, widespread, systemic and systematic violations of human rights continue in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Reports conveyed by nongovernmental organizations, human rights defenders and individuals concerning violations of their human rights or the rights of others continue to depict a situation in which civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights are undermined and violated in law and in practice. Moreover, a lack of Government investigation and redress generally fosters a culture of impunity, further weakening the impact of the human rights instruments that the State has ratified. 2. The Special Rapporteur continues to seek the cooperation of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to engage in a constructive dialogue and to be able to assess fully the allegations of human rights violations. He regrets to report that he it has not been able to establish a more cooperative and consultative relationship with the Government. He communicated his desire to visit the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to engage in dialogue and to investigate further the veracity of allegations of human rights violations, most recently on 9 May 2012. The Government remains, however, reticent on this engagement and his request. 3. In 2012, the Special Rapporteur also collaborated with a number of other special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Council in transmitting three allegation letters, 25 urgent appeals and seven joint press statements. In addition to the communications, he wrote to the Government on two separate occasions to express his concern about the ongoing house arrest of opposition leaders and on the restrictions placed on women’s access to education. 4. The Special Rapporteur is grateful for the vast number of reports submitted by nongovernmental organizations and human rights defenders through interviews with primary sources located inside and outside the country. In this regard, 409 interviews have been conducted since the beginning of his mandate, 169 of which were conducted from September to December 2012 and submitted for the present report. 5. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur draws attention to two cases of reprisal that were reported in the media in November and December 2012, in accordance with Human Rights Council resolution 12/2, in which the Council called on representatives and mechanisms to continue to report on allegations of intimidation or reprisal. In one case, three Afghan nationals, Mohammad Nour-Zehi, Abdolwahab Ansari and Massoum Ali Zehi, were reportedly tortured and threatened with hanging for having allegedly submitted a list of executed Afghans to the Special Rapporteur.1 6. According to other reports, five Kurdish prisoners (Ahmad Tamouee, Yousef Kakeh Meimi, Jahangir Badouzadeh, Ali Ahmad Soleiman and Mostafa Ali Ahmad) in Orumiyeh Prison have been charged with “contacting the office of the Special Rapporteur”, “reporting prison news to human rights organizations”, “spreading propaganda against the system inside prison” and “contacting Nawroz TV”.2 The prisoners were reportedly detained in solitary 1 2 See www.daneshjoonews.com/english, and http://hrdai.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1064:-------3----------&catid=5:2010-07-21-10-19-53. See International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, “Five Kurdish Political Prisoners Face New Charges”, 20 December 2012 (available from www.iranhumanrights.org/2012/12/kurdish_prisoners/); and Persianbanoo, “3 Kurdish Political Prisoners to be Tried on Changes of Contact with UN Special Rapporteur Ahmed Shaeed”, 15 December 2012 (available from 3