Javad Larijani to Ahmad Shahid: What business do you have with these matters?

The Secretary of the Human Rights Headquarters of Iran's Judiciary, Javad Larijani, described the recent report by Ahmad Shahid, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights, regarding human rights violations in Iran in 2015 as "biased and flimsy," stating that the report "contains nothing new in content." Larijani further remarked that "in this report, the issue of 'Mohareb' (enemy of God) and 'Mofsed fil Arz' (corrupt on earth), which exists in our law, has been used as a pretext, and it is claimed that the Iranian judiciary considers 'Mohareb' to be in war with God based on this law. What business do you have with these matters? This section relates to our legal structure." On March 13, in an interview with the IRIB news agency, Larijani reacted to Ahmad Shahid's recent report, which stated that nearly a thousand people were executed in Iran in 2015, half of whom were convicted of drug-related crimes. Larijani added that "the references provided by Ahmad Shahid are baseless, meaning there are no references that we can evaluate." Larijani also suggested that Shahid should take a course on human rights based on Islam before reporting, offering assistance in this regard. He criticized Shahid's report for containing significant content errors, stating that in some sections, the reporter took the place of a religious authority and argued that blasphemy should not be pursued legally; questioning Shahid's relevance to this matter. He emphasized that this issue is part of their law and that the right to enforce this law is confirmed by all approved documents in the United Nations. Larijani responded to Shahid's criticism of the retribution law in Iran, stating that they should understand retribution is a luminous decree and not merely execution, but rather the establishment of rights for entitled citizens. Another part of Larijani's remarks addressed Shahid's report on the execution of drug traffickers in Iran, where Shahid noted that according to the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, 966 people were executed last year, with 500 of them convicted of drug-related offenses. In this regard, Larijani expressed a different opinion, stating, "Our country's views on this matter are clear; the world should reward us for our fight against these criminals as we primarily bear the costs for the West in this regard." He added, "The amount of drugs produced in Afghanistan has increased 40 times due to NATO's presence in the country; a percentage of these drugs is for London, New York, Paris, Berlin, and similar places while we are fighting against traffickers, and they should also participate in this war." The recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, published on March 10, mentioned violations of freedom of expression in Iran, disqualifications in parliamentary elections, violations of women's rights, and neglect of the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. The report stated that in 2015, six writers, artists, and musicians, along with 22 journalists and 23 social and cyber activists, were arrested in Iran. In conclusion, Ahmad Shahid urged the international community to remain committed to their obligations regarding human rights in Iran and called on Iran to facilitate the collection of information regarding the human rights situation. This is the fifth consecutive year that Shahid has served as the UN Special Rapporteur, yet he has not been able to visit Iran and monitor the human rights situation closely. Soon, the UN Human Rights Council will decide whether to renew Shahid's mandate, while on March 3, Javad Larijani announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran opposes his reappointment.