Iranian authorities' different treatment of two UN rapporteurs
Once upon a time, in Iran, the worst insults were directed at the UN Special Rapporteur, now they call the death of his successor regrettable. The content of Ahmad Shaheed's and Asmeh Jahangir's reports on human rights violations in Iran is no different.
Asma Jahangir, a prominent Pakistani social activist and UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, suffered a previous stroke yesterday (Sunday, February 11) and died shortly after being transferred to a hospital in Lahore.
According to ISNA news agency, Gholamhossein Dehghani, Deputy Minister of Legal and International Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, expressed regret over the passing of Asma Jahangir and said: "We were supposed to meet with her in the coming weeks to discuss the human rights situation in Iran."
Asmeh Jahangir succeeded Ahmad Shaheed in September 2016, who was the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran for about six years, and throughout this time faced the harshest criticism, insults, and accusations from Iranian officials.
Mohammad Javad Larijani, head of the Judiciary's Human Rights Headquarters, and his brother, Sadegh Larijani, who heads the judiciary, quickly called Ahmad Shaheed a "liar" in response to one of his first reports.
This type of treatment of Ahmad Shaheed continued throughout his time as a human rights reporter for Iran. He was never allowed to travel to Iran to investigate the human rights situation in the country and has been repeatedly accused of siding with the United States and repeating the “unsubstantiated statements” of opponents of the Islamic Republic.
In the summer of 2015, Javad Larijani accused Ahmad Shaheed of receiving money from Saudi Arabia to prepare baseless and biased reports about human rights violations in Iran.
During the year and a few months that she was active as the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Asmeh Jahangir repeatedly protested numerous human rights violations in the country and, citing the abundant evidence at her disposal, published two detailed reports on the poor human rights situation in Iran.
In a report she submitted about five months before her death, Ms. Jahangir called for an independent investigation into the "murder of political prisoners in 1988" and for reform of Iran's judicial system.
Revealing the meeting plan with Asma Jahangir
The report was met with a sharp reaction from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, although the ministry's deputy for legal and international affairs said that receiving news of Asmeh Jahangir's death was "truly upsetting."
The Deputy Foreign Minister's expression of regret over the passing of Asma Jahangir and the announcement of a plan to meet with her in the coming weeks can be seen as confirmation of the Islamic Republic's readiness to negotiate on human rights issues, which began after the nuclear deal.
In the Islamic Republic’s periodic negotiations with the European Union over the past two years, representatives from the judiciary have also been present to advance the work of dialogue on human rights issues. The Islamic Republic usually refrains from disclosing the details of these discussions. This restraint has included a meeting with Asma Jahangir, which was reported in the media after her death.
Source: DW
