UN General Assembly Condemns Human Rights Violations in Iran

The UN General Assembly, by adopting a resolution, urged the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop human rights violations including "torture, gender discrimination, and targeting activists and journalists." This assembly on Thursday, December 18, also called on the UN Security Council to refer North Korea's human rights record to the International Criminal Court. According to the Associated Press, the UN General Assembly's resolution condemned human rights violations in Iran, Syria, and Myanmar. The Iranian representative called this resolution "political, discriminatory, and biased." Although UN General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, they can significantly influence global opinion. The UN Human Rights Committee had previously adopted a resolution on November 18 expressing deep concern about human rights violations in Iran, particularly the "very high number of executions" by the Islamic Republic. Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, who has been denied entry to the country in recent years, has repeatedly warned about "widespread executions" in Iran in his reports. The Iranian representative deemed this resolution, drafted by Canada and supported by 45 other countries, as "meaningless and unconstructive." The Iranian representative at the UN further protested that this resolution did not take into account the "positive developments that have occurred under Hassan Rouhani's government." Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, stated on September 12 that Hassan Rouhani's promises regarding greater freedoms in Iran have not led to any significant progress in human rights and freedom of expression. He also expressed concern over reports of increasing executions in Iran. Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, stated in an interview on November 11 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 "even worse." The Iranian delegation to the Human Rights Council postponed the decision on accepting or rejecting human rights proposals from 108 countries to March 2015. The proposals submitted by 108 countries to Iran include several issues, such as "abolishing the execution of children, abolishing the punishment of homosexuality, abolishing stoning, internet freedom, lifting press censorship, and expanding freedom of expression."