The Human Rights Council held a general debate in Geneva on the follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
In the general debate on March 20, 2017, delegates reaffirmed that the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family was the foundation of freedom, justice and peace, and called for a full recognition and realization of economic, social and cultural rights at all levels.
A number of countries and some non-governmental organizations spoke in the debate.
Commission to Study the Organization of Peace noted that the human rights situation in Iran continued to raise concern. Prospects for reforms in Iran were grim and the Council was called upon to continue monitoring the situation of human rights in Iran, including the treatment of religious minorities.
Centre for Environmental and Management Studies drew the attention of the Council to the oppression that Iranian women suffered on a daily basis. Iran continued to apply torture, ill-treatment, flogging of detainees, and also continued to execute people.