Widespread human rights violations in Iran reflected in new UN meeting
On Thursday, March 16, Javed Rehman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, called on the Islamic Republic's authorities to be held accountable to the international community for widespread human rights violations in Iran.
In his latest report, Mr. Rahman expressed concern about the significant increase in the number of executions in Iran, especially of defendants in "drug" cases in 2021, as well as child offenders, women, and minorities in the absence of fair trials.
At the 49th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held in Geneva on Thursday, March 16, he reviewed key sections of a report, the written text of which was published in late February.
According to this report, in 2021 alone, at least 275 people were executed in Iran, of which forty were Baloch citizens and 50 were Kurdish citizens.
The downing of a Ukrainian plane by the Revolutionary Guards' defense missiles, the suppression of popular protests against water scarcity and systematic discrimination in more than 20 cities in Khuzestan province in 1400, as well as Internet censorship and suppression of freedom of expression through the approval of a plan called "Protecting Cyberspace" were other issues that Mr. Rahmon included in his video speech.
At the beginning of his remarks, the UN Special Rapporteur noted that despite repeated requests from the Islamic Republic's authorities, he has not yet been granted permission to visit Iran.
After the end of Javed Rahman's 15-minute speech on Thursday, representatives of various countries, including Israel, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, and a representative of the European Union spoke out condemning the Islamic Republic's human rights violations and calling for the Iranian government to be held accountable.
The speakers particularly emphasized the urgency of abolishing the death penalty in Iran.
They also criticized the approval of the so-called "Population Youth and Family Support" plan, the cutting off of women's access to contraceptives, and the promotion of child marriage by the Islamic Republic's propaganda apparatus, as well as the repression of journalists and civil activists.
In contrast, representatives of countries such as Cuba and Venezuela implicitly or explicitly defended the Islamic Republic and repeated the statements of Iranian government officials justifying human rights violations.
The representatives of these countries questioned the performance of the UN Human Rights Council in holding other governments accountable, claiming that Mr. Rahmon's report was the result of "the hegemony of Western powers" and "the domination of imperialism."
About a month ago, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the Islamic Republic of Iran to immediately suspend the punishment, considering this action a step towards the complete abolition or reduction of this type of punishment.
The resolution approved by the European Parliament adds that in January 2022 alone (from January 1 to February 1), eighty-five juvenile offenders were on death row in the country.
Source: Radio Farda
