A/HRC/19/66 collaboration and/or contact with international organizations and agencies of the United Nations. 17. According to reports submitted to the Special Rapporteur, another bill aimed at the review and discipline of Members of Parliament would establish a supervisory committee empowered to conclude that any statement, speech or interview conducted by a member would violates the Moral Charter of Representatives or undermine national security. The bill would also allow for disciplinary action, including the suspension of salary, the suspension of parliamentary committee memberships, the imposition of travel restrictions and even dismissal from Parliament. The bill contravenes provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as articles 84 and 86 of the Constitution, which recognizes the rights of representatives to “express their views on all internal and external matters of the country”. The bill would further curb the independence and effectiveness of Members of Parliament by eliminating legal parliamentary immunities in the discharge of their duties, while its punitive provisions mandate an unelected and unaccountable body to remove members from office, which circumvents the public‟s right to select candidates of their choosing and to be represented by them. 18. The family protection bill seeks to amend article 22 a law, the Family Protection Act, which allows men to enter up to four marriages with the permission of their wives and a ruling from the court, by allowing men to enter into temporary marriages without the knowledge or permission of their wives. A man would only be required to register additional marriages with the court in the event of (a) pregnancy of his wife; (b) agreement of the two sides; (c) conditions of the marriage. The Special Rapporteur contends that this legislative development raises additional obstacles to the promotion of gender equality. since this bill would seriously curtail women‟s marital rights and ability to determine issues that have a significant socio-economic impact on their lives. 19. Lastly, the Special Rapporteur welcomes the omission of stoning as a punishment in the newly ratified Islamic Penal Code, but expresses his concern that severe punishments may still be issued at a judge‟s discretion in accordance with sharia law or fatwas. Moreover, the Penal Code still discriminates against women, girls, ethnic and religious minorities, increases the severity of punishments for individuals accused of crimes against national security, and still holds juveniles accountable for their crimes unless they can demonstrate that they have not fully understood the criminal nature of their actions. B. Capital punishment 20. The Special Rapporteur wishes to draw attention to the alarming increase in executions since 2003 (see table below). In his interim report, the Special Rapporteur reported that more than 200 executions had been announced by mid-September 2011; he now regrets report that 421 executions have been officially announced, and 249 secret executions were reported to the Special Rapporteur as at December 2011.12 12 According to the official judiciary news, on 4 January 2012, authorities executed five drug-traffickers in Kirman and Bam prisons. See www.kermandadgostari.ir/tabid/57/ctl/Edit/mid/409/Code/922/Default.aspx. 7