Ahmed Shaheed’s report charges Islamic republic with cases of torture, executions and fostering ‘culture of impunity’ Iran has criticised the UN special rapporteur tasked with investigating its human rights record for publishing a damning report that warns against widespread and systematic violations.
Ahmed Shaheed’s latest report charges the Islamic republic with cases of torture, executions, illegal arrests of journalists, forced confessions and denial of basic rights to religious, ethnic and sexual minorities.
The former foreign affairs minister of the Maldives is extremely critical of the Iranian government for its failure to protect citizens’ rights under the country’s constitution and international obligations as well as fostering a “culture of impunity” for perpetrators.
He also expressed concern about “the potentially negative humanitarian effect of general economic sanctions” on Iran and called on the countries behind the punitive measures to make sure that “humanitarian exemptions are effectively serving their intended purpose”.
In January, the Guardian reported on hundreds of thousands of Iranians with serious illnesses whose lives are at risk because of dire shortages of life-saving medicines.
Soon after Shaheed assumed his mandate from the UN human rights council in June 2011, Iranian officials said they would not permit him to enter the country, saying that his appointment was unacceptable and “an illegal measure”.
Shaheed’s findings, which are due to be officially presented to the UN in Geneva later this month, have already led to much criticism from Tehran.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, accused Shaheed of “toadying to the US and Israel” with a report that he described as unsubstantiated, biased and collated from “anti-Iranian outlets and terrorist groups”.
The Iranian judiciary’s human rights committee also issued a statement on Tuesday, calling the rapporteur’s findings unrealistic and “devised solely for mounting psychological and propagandist pressures” on Tehran.
“The report has been prepared unilaterally, without considering realities, transparency, impartiality, and without commitment to the regulations on human rights council’s mandate for rapporteurs,” the statement said. “It lacks legal basis, and evidently, in preparing the report, mechanisms beyond the UN human rights mechanism has been actively participated.”
Speaking to the Guardian, Shaheed, a visiting professor at Essex University, defended his report and said his findings were based on “totally verified and documented” sources.
“I have interviewed 169 persons for my current report and I sent some 30 communications to the government of Iran, through the proper UN channels, which communicates with the Iranian ambassador in Geneva,” he said. “I have not used any allegations unless they have been verified by at least two independent sources. I have made an effort to consult with the proper Iranian authorities in an attempt to further verify the veracity of the claims made to me with no avail.
“These communications typically forward detailed questions about cases, such as questions about the nature of an individual’s trial, and the government is either reticent on communications, or when they do respond, typically does not address the specific questions listed in my communications. I have also made a fair attempt to get their views also on the report, which they had a standard amount of time to respond to.”
Shaheed reported in his latest findings, his fourth report since assuming the UN mandate, that individuals in Iran suspected of communicating with the special rapporteurs have also been subjected to intimidation, arrest, trial and reprisal. Shaheed was appointed after various human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued concerted warnings about Iran’s rights violation records.
“People come to me with complaints of their rights being violated, and yes they generally do hold views different from the government in Tehran,” Shaheed told the Guardian. “However, to label people who hold views different from the government of the country and to label those who criticise the Iranian government as enemies, is unproductive and antithetical to the international treaties to which Iran is a party.”
In the report, the special rapporteur has urged Iranian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release former presidential candidates and opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, who have been placed under house arrest for nearly two years without being put on trial.
On the next presidential vote, scheduled for June when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will step down, the special rapporteur said he was “concerned that significant and unreasonable limitations placed on the right of Iranian citizens to stand for presidential office undermine their right” to participate.
“I began this report with special focus on women’s rights and you can see in the report that the bulk of the work is focused on that but before I could sign off the report there were incidents in regards to media freedom, therefore you see an increased focus on violations of political rights,” he said. “In order to further corroborate the frequent allegations of torture I’ve also added, a forensic study, which was conducted by an organisation in the UK that treats torture victims, called Freedom from Torture.”
By Saeed Kamali Dehghan
Source: The Guardian