1. Indonesia: Defamation investigation suspended (ASA 21/4734/2016) 2. Indonesia: Defender under investigation for defamation (ASA 21/4833/2016) 3. Indonesia: End mass arrests and crackdowns on peaceful protests (ASA 21/3948/2016) 4. Indonesia: Stop inflammatory and discriminatory statements that put the LGBTI community at risk (ASA 21/3648/2016) 5. Indonesia: Authorities must repeal joint ministerial decree (ASA 21/3787/2016) 6. Indonesia: Religious minority members forcibly evicted (ASA 21/3409/2016) 7. Indonesia: President must not undermine efforts to seek truth, justice and reparation (ASA 21/3671/2016) 8. Indonesia: Poor prison conditions for Papuan activist (ASA 21/4085/2016) 9. Indonesia: End caning as a punishment in Aceh (ASA 21/3853/2016) IRAN Islamic Republic of Iran Head of state: Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei (Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran) Head of government: Hassan Rouhani (President) The authorities heavily suppressed the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly and religious belief, arresting and imprisoning peaceful critics and others after grossly unfair trials before Revolutionary Courts. Torture and other illtreatment of detainees remained common and widespread, and were committed with impunity. Floggings, amputations and other cruel punishments continued to be applied. Members of religious and ethnic minorities faced discrimination and persecution. Women and girls faced pervasive violence and discrimination. The authorities made extensive use of the death penalty, carrying out hundreds of executions, some in public. At least two juvenile offenders were executed. BACKGROUND In March, the UN Human Rights Council renewed the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. The government continued to deny Amnesty International Report 2016/17 the Special Rapporteur entry to Iran and to prevent access by other UN human rights experts. The government and the EU discussed initiating a renewed bilateral human rights dialogue. INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child conducted its third and fourth periodic review of Iran and criticized continued executions of juvenile offenders, and the impact of public executions on the mental health of children who witnessed them. The Committee also criticized continued discrimination against girls; children of religious and ethnic minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) children; and the low age at which girls in particular become criminally liable. FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY The authorities cracked down further on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, arbitrarily arresting and imprisoning peaceful critics on vague national security charges. Those targeted included human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, bloggers, students, trade union activists, film makers, musicians, poets, women’s rights activists, ethnic and religious minority rights activists, and environmental and anti-death penalty campaigners. As the year closed, many prisoners of conscience undertook hunger strikes to protest against their unjust imprisonment, exposing the abusive nature of Iran’s criminal justice system. The authorities intensified their repression of human rights defenders, sentencing them to long prison terms for their peaceful activities. Courts increasingly cited criticism of Iran’s human rights record on social media and communicating with international human rights mechanisms, particularly the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran and human rights organizations based abroad including Amnesty International as evidence of 191