A/HRC/31/69 27. It is of serious concern that the code allows for restrictions on access by defendants in national security cases to evidence gathered in support of allegations,18 and the Special Rapporteur notes that restricted access to such information appears to be the rule rather than an exception. The vague and expansive language of these provisions threatens to nullify improvements to the code that allow access to lawyers at all stages of criminal proceedings; such nullification would be a major impediment to realizing due process and fair trial rights.19 In its response, the Government asserts that limiting the accused or the accused’s lawyer’s access to information is an accepted norm and that if a judge decides to do so, he must provide a legitimate reason. 28. While the Special Rapporteur commends the positive amendments, he is nevertheless concerned that the new provisions are often not implemented. He continues to receive reports of individuals who are arrested without being shown a warrant, and he has documented several such cases during the reporting period where individuals or their families were not provided with information regarding the circumstances of their arrest or their whereabouts. He notes with concern that authorities reportedly prevented Isa Saharkhiz and three other journalists arrested on 1 November 2015 by the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards from contacting their family members or lawyers for more than a month and refused to provide information regarding the circumstances of their detention. He also continues to receive reports, including after the Code of Criminal Procedure came into effect, that individuals arrested by the intelligence ministry or the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards are routinely subjected to blindfolding, harassment, ill-treatment, torture and coerced confessions during pretrial detention and interrogations. 29. In its response, the Government notes that torture is forbidden under the law of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It also asserts that over the past four years it carried out 38,557 inspections of thousands of police centres, judicial complexes and prisons nationwide; that it received 11,093 complaints concerning violations of citizens’ rights; and that all necessary measures were taken to address the complaints The Government claims that as a result of these measures, 622 warnings were issued to judicial personnel, 385 reprimands were issued to administrative personnel, 128 cases were referred to judicial disciplinary courts and 116 other cases were referred for further judicial investigation. As a result of the inspections, 511 persons were compensated for the violations of their rights. C. Anti-Narcotics Law 30. The Anti-Narcotics Law, adopted by the Expediency Council in 1997 and amended in 2010, mandates the death penalty for 17 drug-related crimes, including non-violent offences that do not amount to “most serious” crimes under international law. The minimum threshold for a sentence of capital punishment is the possession, in any form, of 30 grams or more of heroin, morphine, cocaine or their chemically derived substances (art. 8). The death penalty can also be applied for other crimes such as armed drug smuggling, smuggling in prisons or Government-run facilities, or hiring individuals with the intention of violating the anti-narcotics laws. These policies resulted in over 500 executions in 2015 alone, accounting for 65 per cent of the total number of individuals executed in the country. 20 The Government alleges that it has not received any communications from international bodies concerning non-observance of norms of law in relation to drug-related 18 19 20 8 Art. 191 of the Criminal Procedure Code (2015). See www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde13/2708/2016/en/. See www.iranhrdc.org/english/publications/human-rights-data/chart-of-executions/1000000564ihrdc-chart-of-executions-by-the-islamic-republic-of-iran-2015.html.