Bereaved Relatives Appeal To UN’s Iran Human Rights Expert
Parts of Masih Alinejad’s interview with Mr. Ahmed Shaheed with partial English transcription by Tourang Birani.
Masih: “Hello Mr. Shahid. I have studied your report and as a reporter who has interviewed the families of the slain in the past two years, I believe that real reporters were those who were sending out information from inside Iran; people like Parvin Fahimi, the mother of Sohrab Arabi who was killed on June 15, 2009 during a peaceful demonstration. She was the first woman who transmitted the news about the killing of her son from inside Iran. I would like to ask your permission to call her so that she can ask the first question from you as a real reporter.
Parvin Fahimi: “I am the mother of Sohrab Arabi, one of the people killed in the aftermath of the presidential election in Iran in June 2009. My son along with many other children of this land participated in a peaceful civil protest. They were killed by the Basij and Revolutionary Guards forces.
After many inquiries, I was finally able to receive the body of my son after 26 days! I would like to ask regime officials what crime did my son commit to deserve being killed? and why is it that Mr. Larijani who is the head of judiciary in Iran claims that only one person was killed in the aftermath of the presidential election? And the president, Mr. Ahmadinejad says that only a few were killed and they were from the Basij and security forces!
But the pictures, films and documents printed all point to the fact that our youngsters were being murdered. Why does the judiciary refrain from holding a public hearing? and why do they always stop us from mourning the death of our children? Dear Mr. Ahmad Shahid, my expectations are that you pay closer attention to those who died after the election. And when you come to Tehran, please pay a visit to us and the families of the dead.
When our voices do not get anywhere in our own country, we are forced to take refuge with the United Nations and shout about seeking justice for our children. This is to prevent the repeat of this type of irresponsible actions both in Iran and in other places around the world; and no injustice is done against innocent people. Mr. Shahid, I have promised to forgive my son’s blood if all political prisoners and Mr. Mousavi, Mrs. Rahnavard and Mr. Karoubi are freed.
I shall let God to carry out justice for the crimes committed against me and my son. I wish peace for all people around the world.
Ahmad Shahid: “I thank you very much for the opportunity to hear a question directly from Tehran. Yes if I get to travel to Tehran, I would be very interested to meet with families of those who lost their lives after the June 2009 election. I would like to find out more about their condition in Iran.
Of course there are other people I would like to meet as well but I would definitely want to meet with the families of those who lost their lives after the presidential election in 2009. Regarding the other part of her question, I must say that yes there are problems and challenges regarding Iran’s judiciary. My report has also pointed out that there are many issues with Iran’s judiciary.
Iran must act transparently regarding this matter. My report is not a complete document. This report is only a sample of issues of concern. This report is not all encompassing. The report is a tool to force Iran to open the doors to the United Nations so we can do more investigation regarding the human rights situation in Iran.
So my response to her is yes I would very much like to meet the families of those who lost their lives and to hear first hand information from these families. Their worries are also my worries.
Masih: “I would like you to hear the second question from another family member of someone who was killed after the presidential election”
Second Witness: “Hello, I am very happy that finally at least one person is willing to listen to our stories. I am the spouse of Ali Hassanpour who was killed on June 15, 2009. They did not return the body of my husband for 105 days! I would like to ask you now that we cannot meet you in Tehran, is it possible that we could talk to you on the phone directly so that we can present to you all the documents we have? These are documents that have been certified by judges in my own country. They have testified that my husband has been shot by a gun belonging to the Basij. Is it possible for us to make a trip to the U.N. to meet you in person; can you guarantee our safety; or is there another way for us to present our documents to you?
Ahmad Shahid: “My response to her is yes. There are ways for her to present details of her situation to me using email, skype and other means. But what I cannot guarantee is her safety because I am outside the country and of course we are in a situation where most regime officials are threatening, harassing, intimidating and in some instances injuring those who spread the news. These are problems. But there are ways to contact me. But I would be happy to create the avenues for these families to contact me.
They can contact me through email. My offices are in Geneva and New York. It’s correct that I will not have the opportunity to travel to Iran in the near future. But I am very interested to gather more information to do more research and to shine a light on the truth. I will report to the council and when I report to them they might decide to do more investigations on certain subjects.
That’s their choice. I must say that I am very open to the idea of families of the slain to travel to Europe. I would be happy to meet them in Geneva or any other country. But I really cannot guarantee their safety. Unfortunately none of the special rapporteurs are able to guarantee that.
They cannot protect people of Iran inside their own country. We can take their information anonymously. Also it would be great to get the coroner’s office reports. I need such documents to include in my report and to give to member countries of the U.N.
Iran denies UN report on increasing human rights violations
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Iran’s deputy ambassador to the UN, Eshagh al-Habib, on Thursday denied allegations in a recent UN report that human rights violations in Iran are on the rise. Al-Habib criticized the report for being poorly sourced, non-neutral and simply untrue. The report cited an increase in persecutions among political activists and journalists, detention conditions for opposition leaders and their wives, the torture and mistreatment of detainees, the significant administration of the death penalty to people under 18 years of age and “exorbitant bail requirements” for human rights defenders and religious practitioners. However, UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Ahmed Shaheed, the author of the report, stated that he was encouraged by Iran’s willingness to cooperate with him and that Iran “needs to be seen in a better light.” He further focused on the need to maintain dialogue with Iran’s political leaders in order to improve conditions in the country. The US issued a statement on Tuesday denouncing Iran’s “‘intensified’ campaign of abuse” : “Under international law and its own constitution, Iran has committed to protect and defend the rights of its people, but officials continue to stifle all forms of dissent, persecute religious and ethnic minorities, harass and intimidate human rights defenders, and engage in the torture of detainees.”
Iran has been heavily criticized for its alleged human rights abuses. Jailed Iranian journalist Isa Saharkhiz in July urged Shaheed to investigate prison conditions in Iran. In May, rights groups decried [JURIST report] Iran’s persecution of lawyers. In January, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran [official website] claimed that Iran is on an “execution binge” , killing one prisoner every eight hours. In January, prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was sentenced to 11 years in prison. Sotoudeh was found guilty of “acting against national security” and “making propaganda against the system” for which she will serve five and one years, respectively. She was the lawyer for Arash Rahmanipour, who was arrested for his role in the post-election protests on charges of moharebeh, or being an enemy of God. Rahmanipour was executed in January 2010. Also in January, Iranian chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi delivered a speech at Tehran University indicating that he would prosecute opposition leaders for political unrest that took place after the country’s 2009 presidential election.
via JURIST – Paper Chase: Iran denies UN report on increasing human rights violations.
UN Human Rights Expert Delivers Interim Report
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran Ahmed Shaheed
19 October 2011 –
There were also reports of capital punishment in juvenile cases, and the use of the death penalty for cases that do not meet the level of serious crimes by international standards, he said.
“In some cases, elements of Iran’s penal code and legal practices amount to contravention of those international laws it acceded to,” said Mr. Shaheed.
He said Iran’s record seems to have gained particular attention because of the country’s “lack of substantive cooperation with the UN human rights system and because of the existence of frequent reports of suppression of those self-correcting mechanisms that deprive Iranians from freely seeking redress or reform within the parameters of their human rights.”
The “self-correction mechanisms” that are suppressed include free and fair elections, denial of freedom of expression and assembly, allegations of depravation of the right to education, harassment and intimidation of religious and ethnic minorities, human rights defenders and civil society and religious actors.
He urged Iranian authorities to provide adequate medical access to the well-known cleric Ayatollah Kazemeini-Boroujerdi, and to consider his immediate release.
He also called upon Tehran to consider releasing all individuals listed in his report, including political leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who consider themselves detainees of the Government, human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, student and women’s rights activist Bahareh Hedayat, student activist Abdollah Momeni, and Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani.
He also urged Iran to cooperate with him as he carries out his mandate. “In the absence of this, however, my course of action will be to continue to obtain information through interaction with Iranians both in the region and in other parts of the world, as well as with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other parts of the UN system.”
Mr. Shaheed said he had been informed of the arrests and prosecution of at least 42 lawyers for their attempts to provide legal counsel. Charges brought against the majority of them include acting against national security; participating in illegal gatherings; insulting the Supreme Leader; and spreading propaganda against the regime.
He took notice of the positive steps taken by the Iranian authorities, including the Government’s recent decision to release between 60 and 100 prisoners, many of whom had been arrested as a result of their participation in events related to the 2009 presidential elections.
via UN
Human Rights Watch – Issues Regarding IRI
Submitted by Human Rights Watch to the UN Human Rights Committee on the occasion of its Pre-Sessional Review of Iran
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Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 22, 2011.© 2011 Reuters
This memorandum provides an overview of Human Rights Watch’s main concerns with respect to the human rights crisis in Iran, submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (“the Committee”) in advance of its pre-sessional review of Iran in 2011. We hope it will inform the Committee’s preparation for its review of the Iranian government’s compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“the Covenant”).
It has been 17 years since Iran last submitted its State Report to the Committee. During this time, the government has engaged in systematic violations of the Covenant, including extensive restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association, and the widespread use torture, ill-treatment, and unfair trials of political detainees. The number of executions, including those of juvenile offenders, has steadily risen in recent years. The government intensified its targeting of human rights defenders following the disputed presidential election of June 2009. Pressures on civil society groups have increased sharply during President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s administration, and Iran continues to discriminate against religious, ethnic, and other minorities both in law and practice.
Iransubmitted its latest report to the Committee a few months after the June 2009 presidential election and the ensuing violent crackdown against largely peaceful demonstrators and opposition activists. Violence initiated by security forces, including the basij militia affiliated with official security forces, led to the killings of dozens of demonstrators. Authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained thousands of demonstrators and opposition figures in the months after the election. Several detainees died at Kahrizak detention facility in Tehran after being subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Public street protests all but ceased by early 2010 as a consequence of the government’s crackdown, but resumed in February and March 2011 when thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to show their support for pro-democracy protests in neighboring countries and protest the arrest and detention of opposition leaders. The authorities’ violent response led to at least three deaths and hundreds of arrests. The Ministry of Interior continues to refuse to issue permits for peaceful rallies and demonstrations.
As in years past, the government, including the judiciary, has failed to hold accountable officials responsible for committing serious human rights violations. There have been no comprehensive or transparent investigations into government repression, including the killings of demonstrators and custodial deaths of detainees. Although several security personnel were tried in closed military courts for the deaths of detainees at Kahrizak, no high-level authority has yet been charged, let alone convicted, for these crimes. At the same time, the judiciary prosecuted hundreds of demonstrators, civil society activists, and members of opposition parties, some of whom were paraded on national television during several show trials on vague national security-related charges (including “propaganda against the regime”), and sentenced many to lengthy prison terms and, in some cases, to death.
Notwithstanding the numerous and serious abuses committed by state officials, Iran’s State Report does not begin to adequately address allegations concerning violation of core civil and political rights under the Covenant. There are frequently references to legal provisions in Iran’s Constitution and criminal and civil codes but no discussion of how the authorities are implementing or complying with these provisions. Rulings that may or may not address the specific issue in question are simply listed. And the portions of the report that address specific articles of the Covenant contain glaring omissions and inaccuracies, such as providing no information on Iran’s abusive revolutionary courts, which seriously distorts the current situation of human rights in the country.
Among the most serious problems with Iran’s 2009 State Report are the following:
- The report devotes little attention to the death penalty under Article 6 (right to life), even though Iran is believed to have executed 388 people in 2008, and is second only to China in the number of executions carried out annually;
- The section on torture and ill-treatment (Article 7) recounts provisions in Iranian law that prohibit the use of torture and references several cases where government officials were apparently convicted of torture, but nowhere addressing credible reports regarding the authorities’ systematic use of torture in Iran’s detention facilities;
- The section on Iran’s compliance with the prohibition on arbitrary arrest and detention (Article 9) provides some references to rulings presumably related to convictions of government officials who violated these rights, but it contains no discussion of arbitrary arrest and incommunicado detention carried out by Iran’s security and intelligence forces;
- There is significant discussion on the treatment of detainees and prisoners (Article 10), but it largely describes the systems and programs that ostensibly have been put into place. The report does not address serious problems incurred by detainees and prisoners, particularly those accused of national security-related crimes or convicted by revolutionary courts;
- The section on due process and fair trials (Article 14) fails to provide any relevant information regarding the workings of the revolutionary courts, where the state prosecutes most political dissidents and commits systematic and gross violations of the right to a fair trial;
- The report’s discussion of the right to freedom of expression (Article 19) does not address the government’s severe restrictions on peaceful dissent by using both criminal law and repressive practices;
- Regarding the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association (Articles 21 and 22), the report fails to acknowledge the ways in which the government systematically prevents civil society organizations – including student, women’s, labor, journalist, legal, and human rights groups – from meeting or conducting their activities.
In short, the Committee’s concluding observations with regard to Iran’s report 17 years ago unfortunately remain equally applicable today: Iran’s report provides “virtually no information about factors and difficulties impeding the application of the Covenant.”
UN Resolution on Iran – One Step Closer to International Court
On December 21 , 2010, the UN General Assembly approved a draft resolution condemning the human rights violations in Iran. The One Million Voices for Iran campaign welcomes this resolution as a clear signal that the voices of Iranian people being subjected to daily human rights abuses are being heard by the international community.
When the draft resolution was approved in November 2010, Drewery Dyke, Iran researcher for Amnesty International, announced the vote on Twitter: 80 for, 44 against, and 57 abstaining. News spread rapidly across the internet and no doubt will be covered widely in the weekend newspapers. The resolution is expected to be approved and implemented in December, and managed to pass despite intense lobbying from the Islamic Republic.
Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s human rights council, attempted to file a No Action Motion (NAM) to prevent the vote from occurring. Voice of America reported that Larijani demanded the NAM vote on the grounds that the UNGA did not have the jurisdiction to pass the resolution. Larijani blatantly took advantage of the fact that he was permitted entry into the United States to lobby against the resolution and attempted to undermine the integrity of the UNGA. This is a blatant abuse of the democratic principles of the United Nations.
Eight individual government officials are already under US State Department sanctions; prohibited from obtaining travel visas to the United States due to their role in government-sanctioned human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic. No other countries have yet passed these necessary humanitarian sanctions, which bar those individuals within the Iranian regime responsible for human rights abuses from travel and freeze any assets held in the respective country.
The One Million Voices for Iran campaign organizers ask the United States to expand the existing ban on travel and freezing of assets to include more officials of the Iranian regime, including Mohammad Javad Larijani. As the head of its human rights council and an advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Larijani has repeatedly denied that atrocities are occurring Iran, despite documented and published evidence. Additionally, the campaign calls on UN member nations and other countries to target individual officials of the regime by banning their travel to and freezing all assets held in their respective countries, targeting them specifically in protest of their documented human rights abuses and demanding the release of all political prisoners.
The UNGA resolution is the latest in a growing list of positive actions taken against the Islamic Republic’s continued human rights abuses. Each positive measure is a response to calls from grassroots movements rather than any capitulation to lobbying from political groups. Despite their claims, these groups do not appear to be representing the people of Iran’s demands as much as they are representing their own ideology and pushing an agenda that may be detrimental to freedom and a hindrance to justice.
These positive actions include:
- the United States sanctioning responsible individuals and calling for the release of political prisoners;
- the European Union’s September 2010 resolution on the human rights situation in Iran
- human rights groups, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights calling for the release of political prisoners
The One Million Voices for Iran Campaign welcomes the resolution and sees it as a signal that the United Nations is finally acknowledging the voice of the Iranian people. We will continue to press for increased humanitarian measures demanding full respect for human rights and the creation of an international criminal court to bring those responsible to justice.
One Million Voices does not speak alone when calling for these measures. We have listened to the demands from inside Iran’s horrible prisons and they are our mandate. What began with political prisoners calling for the recognition of their rights and Majid Tavakoli writing about his yearning for the “enemies of democracy and freedom and human rights” to be unveiled has expanded. Political prisoner Heshmat Tabarzadi called for Supreme Leader Khamenei to be brought before the international courts. Ayatollah Sayed Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, who has been tortured in prison, thanked U.S. officials for the September 29 humanitarian sanctions and asked all human rights defenders to push for an international tribunal.
One Million Voices is not alone in this effort. Other human rights activists, including Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and women’s rights activist Shadi Sadr have called for increased humanitarian sanctions and the establishment of an international criminal court. On November 9, Ebadi spoke before the UN and called for increased humanitarian sanctions. In an interview on 11 November after collecting the Katharine and George Alexander Law Prize from Santa Clara University School of Law, Shadi Sadr said sanctions for human rights violations is a difficult road, but an achievable goal. Inside Iran, journalist and activist Mohammad Nourizad has complained to the Supreme Leader about the horrific torture and human rights abuses, and is now implicating the Intelligence Ministry and the judiciary. Mohammad Mostafaei holds Khamenei responsible for all human rights crimes and violations in his 16 November blog post.
Dozens of international organizations, associations and committees have shown their support for imprisoned journalists, unionists, teachers, lawyers and human rights activists in Iran, as well as those who have escaped from Iran after being subject to arrest, torture and brutality. On November 18th, jailed journalist Koohyar Goudarzi ‘s mother dedicated the award she accepted on his behalf to the mothers of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Iran and across the world.
As 16 Azar (7th December), known in Iran as Students’ Day, approaches, Iran Green Voice (Rahesabz) is promoting international action to support students in Iran. Among their aims is “supporting international sanctions against state officials who have engaged in systematic human rights abuses and violations against the Iranian people.”
After the crackdown following the 2009 election, people in Iran and activists throughout the world placed their hopes in the UN. When they failed to act, many were left wondering how to pursue justice and support Iranians in their push for freedom. It is becoming increasingly evident that the most effective way is to first target those officials responsible for human rights abuses, and then establish the means to bring them to justice in international criminal court.
Shirin Ebadi Echoes Campaign Demand
Shirin Ebadi Echoes Demand of One Million Voices Campaign
UN Women, the new United Nations agency specifically created to promote the cause of women globally could choose a representative of the Iranian regime as one of the 41 members of its board of directors. This is an outrage to the women who are imprisoned, tortured and executed in Iran, as well as to women throughout the world who are forced to endure gender inequality. Worse, the UN is doing nothing to stop Iran’s crimes against women and against all its citizens. What’s necessary is diplomatic (not economic) sanctions against individuals within the Iranian government who are directly responsible for these human rights crimes. These sanctions include travel bans and the freezing of assets, as demanded by the Million Voices for Iran campaign: http://www.speak4iran.org
In fact, Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi echoed that same demand at the UN on Tuesday 9 November 2010: “Ebadi, who is Iranian herself, called for steps such as travel bans and freezing assets of those leaders and officials who were involved in human rights abuses. She noted that eight Iranian officials had recently been barred from entering the United States.
Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi wants the international community to impose travel restrictions and other “political sanctions” against Iranian officials who have taken part in human rights abuses.
“We ask other countries to adopt the same kind of political sanctions against Iran. … Let’s make the world smaller for violators of human rights,” she told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York.”
We call upon the United Nations, world leaders and human rights defenders everywhere to join the One Million Voices for Iran campaign to demand Iran’s full compliance with the Geneva Conventions and international laws and the release of all prisoners of conscience, and that countries impose diplomatic restrictions against individual members of the Iranian leadership until these conditions are met.
The One Million Voices for Iran is combining “digital activism” through social media platforms like FaceBook, Twitter and blogs with “pavement activism” at rallies, protests and events, to create a network of supportive individuals and organizations in the pursuit of its goals.
