New UN Resolution Passed Against High Number of Executions in Iran

On Tuesday, November 27, the Human Rights Committee of the UN General Assembly passed a resolution expressing deep concern over human rights violations in Iran, particularly the "very high number of executions" by the Islamic Republic. According to Agence France-Presse, the resolution emphasizes that at least 850 people have been executed by the Islamic Republic in Iran over the past 15 months. The report states that 78 countries voted in favor of the resolution, while 35 countries opposed it, and 69 countries abstained. Meanwhile, China and Russia opposed the resolution, stating that the UN "should not target a country and stigmatize it." This resolution is non-binding but has now been sent to the UN General Assembly to be voted on next month. The UN resolution calls on Iran to stop various forms of mistreatment of citizens, including torture, gender discrimination, and targeting activists and journalists. The text of this resolution is based on a recent report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, who noted that the Islamic Republic has not allowed the mentioned rapporteur to travel to Iran since 2005. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, criticized last month that Iran has the second-highest number of executions in the world and pointed out that the Islamic Republic executed eight minors in the past year. The Iranian representative deemed this resolution, which was drafted by Canada with the support of 45 other countries, as "meaningless and unconstructive." The Iranian representative at the UN further stated that this resolution does not take into account the "positive developments that have occurred" during Hassan Rouhani's presidency. Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, recently stated in an interview that the human rights situation in Iran during Hassan Rouhani's presidency is "as bad as" during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's time and in some cases "has even worsened." The Iranian diplomat concluded his objections to the new resolution by saying, "At a time when many areas of our region are burning with the fire of extremism, issuing such a resolution is unconstructive." On the same Tuesday, a resolution was also issued against the Syrian government, condemning the "severe worsening of the human rights situation in Syria."