Ghasemi: Extension of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran is Condemned

Bahram Ghasemi, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, condemned the extension of the UN Special Rapporteur's mandate on human rights in Iran as 'unnecessary', 'unprofessional', and 'lacking legitimacy'. On Sunday, Farvardin 5, he stated: 'In our view, the one-year extension of the Special Rapporteur's mandate on human rights in Iran is devoid of professional legitimacy and was an unnecessary action.' The spokesperson described the extension of this mandate as 'merely relying on the votes of a specific political bloc and a number of regional countries that themselves are among the fundamental violators of human rights globally and regionally.' Two days ago, the UN Human Rights Council voted 21 in favor to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur to investigate the human rights situation in Iran. In this voting, 19 countries abstained and 7 countries voted against. China, Iraq, Pakistan, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, and Burundi were among the seven countries that voted against the resolution to extend the Special Rapporteur's mandate. The vote was held on Friday following the passing of Asma Jahangir, the former rapporteur, but no replacement has yet been appointed. Both Jahangir and Ahmed Shaheed, the two rapporteurs appointed by the UN to investigate the human rights situation in Iran, had criticized the human rights situation in Iran in their numerous reports. In her first report in Shahrivar 1396, Jahangir stated that there had been no significant improvement in Iran's human rights record, and restrictions on freedom of expression and discrimination against women and religious minorities in Iran continued. She also stated in another report that despite promises made by the Islamic Republic for reforms, it still violates the right to freedom of expression, arrests activists and political opponents, and subjects them to torture. Three weeks after Jahangir's passing, Reuters reported, citing diplomats, that her last report was prepared for submission to the UN Human Rights Council. According to this report, Jahangir addressed the nationwide protests in Dey last year in Iran and called for independent investigations regarding the crackdowns and the deaths of protesters in detention. Reuters also reported that she emphasized that compared to the time she prepared her previous report on Iran, the current human rights situation in Iran has become 'more concerning'. Following the nationwide protests in Iran last Dey, Jahangir expressed concern about the situation of detainees in an interview with Radio Farda and called for investigations in this regard. Iranian officials have always attacked human rights reports, claiming that 'political powers and enemies' are involved in the preparation and dissemination of these reports. Since 2011, when the UN first appointed Ahmed Shaheed as the human rights rapporteur for Iran, Tehran has never allowed a human rights rapporteur to travel to the country.