Asma Jahangir: The Accusations Against Me Are Another Sign of the Climate of Fear in Iran

Asma Jahangir, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, has condemned the "defamatory" report by the Islamic Republic's state news agency (IRNA) against her. On Monday, April 23, she stated that IRNA's "fabricated and destructive report" targets her "integrity and independence of action, which the international community also acknowledges." The Islamic Republic's news agency claimed last December that Saudi Arabia had invited Jahangir to secretly travel to the country and, in exchange for $200, take a stance against Iran. IRNA referred to some of these issues as "support for the Mojahedin Organization and drug traffickers." The Islamic Republic refers to members of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran as "hypocrites." IRNA also identified the source of its report as an Arabic website called "Al-Wa'i News." However, Jahangir strongly condemned this report, stating, "Anyone who fundamentally disagrees with the findings of the Special Rapporteur can always express their doubts. But placing officials of a task in a position of defamation while performing a duty assigned by the UN Human Rights Council is unacceptable." The UN Special Rapporteur emphasized that "these smear campaigns unfortunately reinforce the assessments I made in my initial report to the UN Human Rights Council regarding the existence of a climate of fear and similar methods used in Iran to silence dissenting views." Asma Jahangir asserted that the "smear campaign" does not put her in a "defensive position" nor disrupt her reporting on the "issues that Iranians face regarding their rights, dignity, and freedoms." In her first report on the human rights situation in Iran, Jahangir criticized the actions of the Islamic Republic's officials, including the number of executions, the implementation of corporal punishments such as flogging and amputation, the judicial processes, the detention of journalists, artists, and political and civil activists, the status of ethnic and religious minorities, and women's rights.