U.S. State Department Criticizes Human Rights Situation in Iran in Annual Report
The U.S. State Department in its annual report on the human rights situation worldwide has accused Iran of serious human rights violations, citing torture, arbitrary detention, violations of freedoms, and abductions outside its borders as examples.
In the U.S. State Department’s annual report on the global human rights situation for 2021, presented on Tuesday, April 12 (23 Farvardin) by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, serious criticisms were leveled against the human rights situation in Iran.
In this report, Iran is accused of severe human rights violations in multiple cases, including torture or cruel treatment, killings and arbitrary or unlawful arrests, and retaliatory measures against individuals in other countries such as murder and abduction.
Executions for crimes that are not considered serious offenses under international law, trials conducted without legal process, executions of individuals who committed crimes as juveniles, and forced disappearances are also among the cases mentioned in this report.
The annual report by the U.S. State Department on the human rights situation worldwide references statements by Javaid Rehman, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, who described executions in Iran as “arbitrary deprivation of life” in the United Nations General Assembly and accused the Islamic Republic of using execution as a political tool.
The plot by Iranian intelligence officials to kidnap Masih Alinejad, a political activist residing in America, last year and transfer her to Venezuela, which has close ties with Iran, has been cited as an example of Iran’s attempts to abduct people outside its borders.
“Serious lack of independence of the judicial system, particularly revolutionary courts, unlawful interference in individuals’ privacy, and punishment of family members of the accused” are among other cases mentioned in this report.
The report also addresses Iran’s role in regional conflicts. The U.S. State Department’s annual human rights report accuses Iran’s government of supporting quasi-military and terrorist groups in areas such as Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and involvement in “unlawful recruitment of child soldiers in Syria.”
Iran has also been accused of severely restricting freedom of expression and media, committing or threatening violence, and unjustified arrest of journalists.
Severe restrictions on internet freedoms and holding of peaceful gatherings, pressuring other religious minorities, denying citizens the freedom to change the government peacefully through free and fair elections are other cases cited in this report.
Meanwhile, Iran has been accused of restricting political participation and the activities of human rights defenders’ organizations, serious government corruption, failure to address violence against women and ethnic and sexual minorities, as well as severe restrictions on labor gatherings and failure to combat child labor.
Source: DW
