UN Special Rapporteur: The Situation of Women and Girls in Iran Has Deteriorated

Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, emphasized that the situation of women and girls in Iran has "worsened" in terms of human rights, urging the Iranian government to prioritize women's rights and the right to life. On Friday, November 3, she referenced her first report presented to the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Committee, expressing particular concern about the government's reaction to the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement and the "Hijab and Chastity" bill. In her report to the UN General Assembly, she noted the "no apparent improvement" in various human rights areas in Iran over the years, specifically mentioning that "the situation regarding the treatment of women has actually worsened." She also reminded that Iran has yet to ratify the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, an international treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly over four decades ago; however, Iran and four other countries have not signed this treaty. The UN Special Rapporteur pointed to the increased governmental pressures following the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement, highlighting the arbitrary detention of women and stating that she, along with other UN experts, has repeatedly urged the Islamic Republic to "release human rights defenders and provide timely and adequate healthcare access for prisoners." Mai Sato, a Japanese lawyer, was appointed as the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran by the UN Human Rights Council in July this year, succeeding Javaid Rehman, the previous rapporteur. Sato also addressed the issue of the "right to life" in her first report to the Human Rights Committee, expressing concern over the increase in executions in Iran. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, at least 93 people were executed in Iran in August of this year alone. She also referred to a large number of prisoners facing the death penalty on charges such as moharebeh (waging war against God), corruption on earth, and rebellion. Sato emphasized that, in her view, issues related to the violation of the right to life are not limited to the death penalty; they also include the government's lethal use of force, deaths in custody, laws that endorse or justify killings, and the lack of proper investigations into potentially unlawful deaths. The UN Special Rapporteur has called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to cooperate with her to "help find ways to prevent and address human rights violations." She stressed, "I am ready to engage with Iran to assess and address human rights concerns. I see my role not as an enemy but as an independent expert whose assessment can help Iran strengthen its human rights protections." The mission of the Special Rapporteur is to examine the human rights situation in Iran. However, the Islamic Republic has not allowed UN human rights rapporteurs to travel to Iran and prepare reports for decades. The last time a UN human rights rapporteur visited Iran was in the 1990s, before the UN Human Rights Commission was transformed into the Human Rights Council.