IRAN REJECTS U.N. CALL TO FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS

February 17, 2010: Iran rejected calls to release all political prisoners and accept an international inquiry into violence after last June's contested presidential elections, an official U.N. report said.
The Islamic Republic also refused to end the death penalty and said it would not make torture as an offence under its laws, according to the report on a discussion of its rights record in the world body's Human Rights Council.
The discussion was held as part of the Universal Permanent Review (UPR) process which all U.N. members undergo every four years. (Sources: Reuters, 17/02/2010)