Javid Rahman, Pakistani Lawyer, Appointed as UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran

On Friday, July 6, during the last day of its 38th session in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council officially introduced Javid Rahman, a Pakistani-British lawyer, as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. Rahman, 51, was born in Faisalabad, Pakistan, and holds a PhD in international law. This human rights activist has conducted research on religious freedom, global human rights laws, and Islamic laws, and is currently a professor at Brunel University London. Previously, he has also worked as an advisor on minority rights, the prohibition of torture, counter-terrorism, and Islamic laws with the UN's Working Group on Minorities. For the position of Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, there were 14 candidates, six of whom were interviewed, and ultimately, Javid Rahman was selected for this role. Mahitab Vahidi Rad, a Radio Farda correspondent in Geneva, reports that Mr. Rahman's appointment as the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran was confirmed after receiving no objections from any countries, and even Iranian representatives did not react at the time of the announcement. If the UN Human Rights Council annually extends the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Iran, Mr. Rahman could hold this position for a maximum of six years. The UN Human Rights Council had previously extended the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran on March 23. However, since the previous rapporteur, Asma Jahangir, passed away from a heart attack on February 11, there was a need to select a new rapporteur for Iran. Asma Jahangir had begun her work in November 2016 after the term of Ahmad Shahid ended. Before her, Ahmad Shahid, a diplomat and human rights activist from the Maldives, held this position for five years starting in 2011. The two previous rapporteurs had criticized the human rights situation in Iran in their reports. Asma Jahangir emphasized in her first report that 'no significant improvement has been made in Iran's human rights record, and restrictions on freedom of expression and discrimination against women and religious minorities continue.' In her last report, which was reviewed by the Human Rights Council in March (Esfand 96) after her death, she again raised criticisms regarding the performance of Iranian authorities in the field of human rights, including issues such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of religion, the right to peaceful assembly, the detention of media activists, civil activists, and political activists, the state of prisons in Iran, women's rights, corporal punishments like flogging, and the number of executions. Iranian officials have consistently described these reports as 'one-sided, false, unreliable, and politically motivated.' While Asma Jahangir had stated in an interview with Radio Farda shortly before her death that Iranian officials had failed to provide any substantiated objections to her report. Iranian government and judiciary officials have repeatedly declared that the Islamic Republic opposes the appointment of a special rapporteur for human rights in Iran and have not allowed any of these special rapporteurs to travel to Iran. In this context, the introduction of the new UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran continues the ongoing human rights violations in Iran.