A/HRC/19/66 68. Human rights defenders who advocate for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community are often subject to Government intimidation and prosecution. Dr. Houtan Kian, a lawyer who has defended individuals accused of sodomy and adultery, was officially indicted on 11 charges, including defamation of the Iranian judiciary, espionage, disclosing secret and classified information (relating to information on the murder of political prisoners by the Government through undetectable medical methods), fraud and falsifying identities.46 He has reportedly been severely tortured, including sustaining close to 60 cigarette burns on his body, especially around his genitals and on his legs. V. Conclusions and recommendations 69. The Special Rapporteur has catalogued allegations that produce a striking pattern of violations of fundamental human rights guaranteed under international law. He restates his call for the Government to respect its international obligations, and underscores the pre-eminence of international human rights law, as it relates to the need to develop domestic laws that are compatible with international human rights laws and national standards. This includes the guarantees stipulated in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Consequently, he urges the Government to reconsider the Parties and Associations Law Reform Plan, the bill on the establishment and supervision of non-governmental organizations, the bill aimed at the review and discipline of Members of Parliament, and the family protection bill, as well as security laws, to ensure that they do not contravene international standards. 70. The Special Rapporteur emphasizes the need to explicitly define actions that constitute crimes against national security, and encourages the Government to ensure that peaceful activities that are considered to be protected by freedom of expression, association and assembly are not criminalized. He reiterates his call for the immediate release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience and calls upon the Government to protect the space for public criticism or advocacy. 71. The Special Rapporteur joins the Human Rights Committee in its call for an extensive, impartial and independent investigation into the violence in the weeks and months that followed the presidential election of 2009. Similarly, he calls for further investigations into the numerous allegations of custodial violence and deaths at Kahrizak prison and other places of detention in order to implicate individuals that have not yet faced prosecution. 72. The Special Rapporteur urges the Government to prohibit the death penalty for cases that do not meet the standard of “serious crime” as defined by international law, and recommends that authorities commute capital sentences for individuals whose crimes do not meet that standard. He also calls upon the Government to seriously consider a moratorium on the death penalty for all crimes until such time as effective enforcement of due process rights may be meaningfully demonstrated, and 46 20 Dr. Kian‟s situation was discussed in an interview with his former lawyer, Taghi Mahmoudi (www.hra-news.org/2/00/9648-1.html), who claimed that Dr. Kian had been tried in three different counts: the 15th branch of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, in which he was acquitted of a charge of blasphemy; the 104th Branch of the Criminal Court in Tabriz, where he was acquitted of forgery; and the First Branch of the Revolutionary Court in Tabriz, which found him guilty of national security charges.