UN Chief Calls on Iran to Admit Special Rapporteur, Highlights Widespread Abuses
فارسی
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has once again called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to begin full cooperation with the UN Special Rapporteur’s mandate by admitting him to the country. In his annual report to the UN General Assembly, the Secretary-General said he was “deeply troubled” about ongoing violations and called on Iran to address abuses in the country and implement the concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee.
The Secretary-General’s report additionally highlights the urgency of Iran’s human rights crisis, including violations of international law within Iran’s judicial procedures, especially the “alarming frequency” of the death penalty for crimes that do not meet the definition of “serious crimes”, as well as the use of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment to include, amputations and corporal punishment.
Iran’s proposed penal code reform represents a clear violation of Iran’s obligations as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; it continues problematic practices by failing to prohibit stoning, by allowing for child executions, and by expanding vague national security laws that are used to persecute dissenters. Until adequate revisions in the penal code have been made, the Secretary-General has called on Iran to institute a moratorium on the death penalty.
Additionally, the Secretary-General has underscored an array of other human rights violations. He urges the Iranian government to address ongoing discrimination against women, including the organized efforts to target women’s rights activists, to impose gender-based quotas that limit women’s higher education, and to restrict women’s employment opportunities. The Secretary-General also calls for an end to discrimination against members of ethnic and religious minorities, especially the Baha’i, Ahwazi Arab, Baloch, Kurdish, and Afghan refugee communities, which in some cases, amount to persecution.
United for Iran applauds the Secretary-General’s ongoing efforts to urge the Iranian government to cooperate with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. In addition to permitting entry for the UN Special Rapporteur, the Secretary-General urged Iran to comply with the full range of UN human rights mechanisms, including thematic rapporteurs—none of which have had access to Iran since 2005, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN human rights treaty system, and the recommendations of the universal periodic review process.
United for Iran welcomes the work of the Secretary-General to compile this comprehensive accounting. We urge the UN Chief to use his good offices to elevate the long-standing human rights demands of the international community with the Iranian government.
