In its annual report on the state of human rights in the world, the US State Department has accused Iran of serious human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detention, violations of freedoms, and kidnappings abroad.
The US State Department's 2021 State of the World Human Rights Report, presented on Tuesday, April 12 by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, contains serious criticism of the human rights situation in Iran.
In this report, Iran is accused of serious human rights violations in numerous cases, including torture or cruel treatment, arbitrary or unlawful killings and detentions, and acts of reprisal against individuals in other countries, such as murder and kidnapping.
Executions for crimes that are not considered serious crimes under international law, trials without due process, executions of people who committed crimes as teenagers, and enforced disappearances are also among the issues mentioned in this report.
The US State Department's annual report on the state of human rights in the world refers to the words of Javed Rehman, the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, who called executions in Iran "arbitrary deprivation of life" at the UN General Assembly and accused the Islamic Republic of using executions as a political tool.
The plot by Iranian intelligence agents to kidnap Masih Alinejad, a political activist living in the United States, last year and transfer him to Venezuela, which has close ties with Iran, has been cited as an example of Iran's attempts to kidnap people outside its borders.
"The serious lack of independence of the judiciary, especially the revolutionary courts, illegal interference in individuals' privacy, and punishment of family members of the accused" are among other issues mentioned in the report.
The report also highlights Iran’s role in regional conflicts. The US State Department’s annual human rights report accuses the Iranian government of supporting militant and terrorist groups in areas such as Syria, Iraq and Yemen and of being involved in the “illegal use of child soldiers in Syria.”
Iran has also been accused of severely restricting freedom of expression and the media, using violence or threats of violence, and arbitrarily detaining journalists.
Severe restrictions on internet freedoms and peaceful assembly, pressure on other religions, and denial of the freedom of citizens to peacefully change the government through free and fair elections are among the other issues mentioned in this report.
Iran has also been accused of restricting political participation and the activities of human rights organizations, serious government corruption, failure to address violence against women and ethnic and sexual minorities, as well as severely restricting labor unions and failing to combat child labor.
Source: DW
