The Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Begins Work; Mai Sato: "I Will Address All Issues Impartially"

The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran states that she will address all human rights violations "impartially" and will use "credible sources" in her assessments. Mai Sato, who started her work as the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran on Thursday, August 2, expressed her gratitude to Javid Rahman, the former Special Rapporteur, for his "tireless efforts" over the past six years in a message on the social media platform "X". In this message, Sato also emphasized her commitment to "engaging in constructive dialogue aimed at strengthening the country's (Iran's) capacity to uphold human rights obligations for all Iranians," stating, "I am committed to addressing all human rights violations impartially and will use credible sources in my assessments." The UN Human Rights Council and its current president selected Sato from among 11 candidates to replace Javid Rahman as the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran. She is the seventh UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, and her mandate will be renewed annually at the Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, subject to approval. Sato is a "top expert" in criminal law and is well-known among human rights defenders. She won the Young Criminologist Award in Japan in 2014, is an associate professor at the prestigious Monash University in Australia, a researcher and associate professor at the National University of Australia, and has also taught and served as an associate professor at the University of Reading and as a research officer at Oxford-Harvard, as well as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, both in the UK. Concurrently with Sato's appointment, Mahmoud Amiri-Moghaddam, director of the Iran Human Rights Organization, stated in an interview with Voice of America that she possesses the academic knowledge and suitable experience in human rights struggles in Asia. Amiri-Moghaddam expressed hope that she, like Javid Rahman, would not succumb to the pressures of the Islamic Republic. Javid Rahman, in a detailed report on August 1, examined the "brutal crimes" of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1981 to 1982 and also in 1988 against Iranian citizens. According to this report, the "brutal crimes" include genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, recognized as the "most serious crimes against humanity." In this 66-page report, Rahman detailed the "arbitrary and extrajudicial executions" of thousands of opponents and political prisoners by the Islamic Republic, labeling these acts as "murder and slaughter" and "constituting a crime against humanity."