A/HRC/28/70 I. Introduction 1. The Islamic Republic of Iran underwent its second-cycle examination under the universal periodic review mechanism in October 2014. A total of 104 delegations presented 291 recommendations relating to the rights guaranteed by the five international human rights treaties ratified by the State.1 In the majority of the recommendations, the delegations called on the Government to consider strengthening protections for civil and political rights and to cease practices that violated such rights. They also encouraged the Government to accede to conventions that abolished the use of capital punishment, protected against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, protected the rights of migrant workers and advanced gender equality. Delegations also made recommendations pertaining to improvements in protections for vulnerable groups, including religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities; the establishment of a national human rights institute compliant with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles); and cooperation with the United Nations human rights mechanisms. 2. Issues emphasized in the universal periodic review recommendations of 2014 mirrored those raised during the State’s first review in 2010. Many of the new recommendations related to laws, policies and practices that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran has referred to in his reports. Overview of recommendations, by human rights issue Universal periodic review recommendations Human rights issue 1 Total (2010) Accepted (2010) Rejected (2010) Special Rapporteur recommendations since 2011 Total (2014) Accession to treaties to which the State is not yet party 15 0 15 33 1 Cooperation with international human rights mechanisms 19 8 11 25 8 Civil and political rights 93 45 48 94 32 Economic, social and cultural rights 40 38 2 58 12 Gender equality/women’s rights 14 10 4 52 9 Rights of the child 28 19 11 36 7 Protection of the rights of religious minority communities 19 8 11 26 5 Protection/advancement of the rights of ethnic minority communities 5 5 4 13 5 Protection of the rights of members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community 3 0 3 12 1 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 3