Iran's Opposition to the Extension of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights

Mohammad Javad Larijani, head of Iran's Human Rights Headquarters affiliated with the judiciary, announced on Wednesday, March 3, that the Islamic Republic opposes the "appointment of a special rapporteur on human rights and the resolution to extend this rapporteur's mandate." According to the Human Rights Headquarters' information portal, Larijani stated this during a meeting with Delcy Rodríguez Gómez, the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, in Geneva, saying that the approval of the resolution to extend the mandate of Ahmed Shaheed, the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting would be, in his words, "unfair and a clear abuse of international mechanisms." The Secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of Iran has been in Geneva since Monday, March 1, to participate in the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council. He told the Venezuelan Foreign Minister that "human rights is an important issue for the Islamic Republic of Iran" and added: "We strongly oppose the resolution that some European countries are presenting to extend the mandate of the special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran." Larijani urged the Venezuelan Foreign Minister to ask Iran's international friends not to support this resolution. The head of Iran's Human Rights Headquarters expressed Tehran's readiness to provide reports on various issues within the framework of UN reporting mechanisms and added that, according to him, there is no need for a special rapporteur, and this has been Iran's firm position over the years. According to the Human Rights Headquarters' information portal, Ms. Gómez stated that Venezuela's positions on human rights are very close to those of Iran and added that Caracas has always opposed the appointment of a country-specific special rapporteur and considers it "unfair." The Venezuelan Foreign Minister also said that she would make every effort to encourage like-minded countries in the Non-Aligned Movement and Latin American countries to adopt more active positions regarding the human rights situation in Iran. Meanwhile, according to reports, Asghar Jahangir, head of the prisons organization and advisor to the head of Iran's judiciary, announced on Wednesday that respect for human rights and adherence to citizens' rights, according to him, are two important features in Iran's prisons. Reports indicate that Jahangir also deemed Iran's prisons to be at a "very high" level in terms of respecting prisoners' rights, claiming that these prisons are unique in the Middle East and unparalleled globally. He made these statements on the sidelines of the 31st session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. The UN Human Rights Council began its work in Geneva on Monday. Jahangir, in response to a question about political prisoners in Iran, stated that there are no political prisoners as defined in prisons worldwide. The head of the prisons organization announced that, according to him, there are only a small number of security prisoners in Iran, whom he accused of threatening Iran's security, describing their actions as including creating insecurity in society, unrest, and anti-security issues. In recent years, several political and civil activists, journalists, and defense lawyers have been arrested and imprisoned on security charges, similar to those mentioned by the head of the prisons organization. These actions have drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups and organizations in Iran and around the world. Abdolkarim Lahiji stated that the head of the prisons organization is, according to him, acting in a way that "distorts the truth," telling Radio Farda: "Abdolfattah Soltani, Mohammad Seifzadeh, Narges Mohammadi, and all journalists and those imprisoned for their union, social, and political activities have not committed any acts against the security of the country." He believes that the Islamic Republic of Iran has used these accusations throughout its 37 years of existence and, referring to the existence of over a thousand political prisoners in Iran's prisons, said: "One of the main obstacles preventing the Islamic Republic of Iran from allowing UN rapporteurs to visit Iran is this issue." According to reports, Jahangir stated that security prisoners, like other prisoners, enjoy full rights. The head of the prisons organization listed access to lawyers, social workers, doctors, telephones, libraries, and educational systems as among these rights in all of Iran's prisons. These descriptions of prison conditions in Iran come at a time when Amnesty International recently criticized officials for withholding medical and pharmaceutical assistance from prisoners or rejecting requests from doctors to treat prisoners outside of prison. Recently, Narges Mohammadi, vice president of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, informed the Tehran prosecutor in a letter that she was not allowed to make phone calls to speak with her two children. Additionally, some labor organizations in Iran and international labor unions accused the Iranian government of withholding medical care from Shahrokh Zamani, a labor activist, who died in Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj earlier this year. Lahiji pointed out that the Iranian delegation headed by Mohammad Javad Larijani, Secretary of the Human Rights Council of Iran's judiciary, aims to prevent the extension of Ahmed Shaheed's mandate as the UN special rapporteur on Iran by conducting propaganda and presenting a favorable image of the Islamic Republic of Iran, adding: "Not only does the special rapporteur not have the opportunity to travel to Iran, but thematic rapporteurs and representatives of the World Organization for Prison Oversight also do not have the opportunity to travel to Iran." The president of the International Federation for Human Rights Societies stated: "Whether a responsible person in any country claims that conditions in prisons are entirely appropriate is convincing or not, or whether another authority can investigate such claims." According to reports, Jahangir denied news regarding the lack of access for some prisoners to lawyers and, at the same time, accused prisoners who sometimes go on hunger strikes of using this issue instrumentally to gain media attention and create a favorable promotional atmosphere for themselves. Earlier reports indicated that Eisa Saharkhiz, a journalist, and Mohammad Ali Irfan, the founder of Erfan Halqeh, had gone on hunger strikes in Iran's prisons in protest against their conditions.