A/HRC/37/68/Add.1 punished under the law and following completion of the required legal proceedings and investigations. A number of those who had lighter offenses were released after serving their prison term and are presently living their normal life. Many, who have little role in working and cooperating with this group and other terrorist groups, have been dealt with Islamic affection and have not been prosecuted. Therefore, the allegation of mass murder referred to in this paragraph is unfounded. Instead of supporting the false allegations made by the terrorist organization, it is expected that the victims of terrorism will be supported and, in particular, the innocent victims of the terrorist operations of the organization to be protected. There are more than 17,000 victims and the record of each assassination is documented. It should be noted that claims for prosecution of individuals who seek legal advice or make complaints, are false and could be investigated Reply to paragraph 86 Under Article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, any torture is prohibited in the country, and according to Articles 570, 578, 579, and 587 of the Iranian Penal Code and the Articles of the stipulations of the Law on the Respect to the Right to Freedom and the Protection of Citizenship, all offenders and other ill-treatment will be subject to severe punishment As for the issue of the use of lash punishments in the Islamic law, it has been considered and stipulated to prevent similar crimes and to reduce the use of sentences of imprisonment, which by themselves, have had major social, moral and economic consequences. Regrettably, this punishment has been interpreted wrongfully, by the West, as a degrading punishment. Also, the physical punishments which are anticipated in the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran are legislated and legalized, and therefore they are not in contradiction with Iran's obligations under paragraph 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Reply to paragraph 87:In addition to the absolute prohibition of torture in the laws of the country, based on Articles 9 and 10 of the single article of the law on respect for legitimate freedoms and protection of citizenship rights, any natural or legal person can file a lawsuit or report to the secretariats of Central or Provincial Supervision Council for Appropriate Law Enforcement, to be carefully and vigorously prosecuted. In addition, periodic inspections of detention centers and prisons have always been carried out by in-house bodies. While, in addition to periodic inspections and the handling of related complaints, Iranian prisons are subject to numerous governmental and nongovernmental supervisions.The visit of several ambassadors and diplomats to the Evin Prison and visiting of an 11-member parliamentary delegation from the National Security and Justice Commissions and particularly their visit of security detainees and Section 209 should be duly taken into consideration. Reply to paragraph 88 The approach to improving the prisoners' situation has always been on the agenda, and the health, treatment and nutrition of prisoners are being sought. Health units are located in prisons, and standard care is provided, so that prisoners' access to doctors is sometimes much easier and faster in comparison with other people in the community; and all medical treatments for prisoners are provided free of charge. In addition, in the case of special medical requirement, the prisoner shall be dispatched to hospital out of the prison, upon discretion of prison’s doctor, and coordination of the judicial authority with the prison supervisor. Also, no group of civil society members, including so-called human rights defenders and political activists, would be excluded from the protection of the law while they comply with legal requirements and do not fall subject to the offenses covered by the abovementioned articles. In addition, according to the Islamic Penal Code, there is no punishment for political activity, so there are no political prisoners in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It should be noted that the editor of the Draft Report should have avoided to put the terrorists and perpetrators of serious security offenses in the list of the so-called political prisoners. Reply to paragraph 89 Freedom of opinion and expression, media activities and the freedom of peaceful assembly are always supported in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Article 24 of the Constitution, the press law of 1985, with subsequent reviews and amendments, as well as the law on the dissemination and access to information adopted in the 2009 stipulate the freedom of the press right and free access to general information for each Iranian citizen, in accordance with the laws and regulations. Freedom of information circulation is respected by the state's massive investment 37