“Mai Sato”: Situation of Women and Girls in Iran Has Worsened

“Mai Sato,” the UN Special Rapporteur, reported on the deterioration of the situation of women and girls in Iran.

Mai Sato, a Japanese human rights lawyer and UN Special Rapporteur who was appointed in July of the current year by the UN Human Rights Council as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and successor to previous rapporteur Javid Rehman, expressed concern about the situation of women and girls in Iran.

In a report released yesterday, Friday, November 1, corresponding to November 11 in the Persian calendar, regarding the human rights situation in Iran, she emphasized the deterioration of women’s and girls’ human rights situation in Iran and called on the Iranian government to prioritize women’s rights and the right to life.

Referring to her first report submitted to the UN General Assembly, she spoke about the apparent lack of improvement in various human rights areas in Iran over recent years and said: “In the area of treatment of women, the situation has actually worsened, and Iran has still not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.”

It should be noted that the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women is an international treaty that was approved by the UN General Assembly over four decades ago; however, Iran and four other countries have still not taken steps to sign this treaty.

Mai Sato also addressed the right to life in her first report to the Human Rights Committee of the General Assembly, referring to the increase in executions in Iran, and expressed concern about this matter as well. In her report, she wrote that in August of the current year alone, at least 93 people were executed in Iran, and many prisoners face death sentences on various charges including “rebellion,” “corruption on earth,” and “enmity against God.”

In her new report, while referring to government pressure following the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and arbitrary detention of women, she wrote: “I, along with other UN experts, have repeatedly asked the Islamic Republic of Iran to release human rights defenders and provide timely and appropriate health care access to prisoners.”

While emphasizing that violations of the right to life are not limited to execution as punishment, she stated that they also include the government’s lethal use of force, deaths in custody, laws that condone or justify killing, and the failure to properly investigate potentially unlawful deaths.

Ms. Sato, in addition to calling on the Iranian government to cooperate with her in finding ways to prevent and address human rights violations, emphasized: “I am ready to engage with Iran to assess and address human rights concerns. I view my role not as an adversary, but as an independent expert whose assessment can help Iran strengthen its human rights protections.”