IRAN - Iran’s Human Rights in the UN Secretary-General’s Report

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29 June 2022 :

Glimpse of Iran’s Slaughtered Human Rights in the UN Secretary-General’s Report
The human rights situation in Iran does not comply with any of the standards set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law. While referring its criminal and inhuman laws to the principles of Islam the Iranian regime, allows itself to commit any kind of human rights violations.
Now it has become clear that the regime’s brutal laws have nothing to do with God and the Quran. The rulings cited by the mullahs are outdated legal and criminal laws related to the pre-Islamic and the medieval era. It is related to the time in which violent sentences such as stoning, beheading, throwing from a mountain, and amputation of limbs were used on a macro-scale and all over the world, regardless of the religious dependency.
In the age of the boom of consciousness and the advancement of human relations, sentences such as the death penalty have been banned in many countries, even with advanced means.
Today, thanks to the media, the Iranian resistance has succeeded in informing the world about the deplorable human rights situation in the Velayat-e-Faqih system by presenting undeniable documents and evidence. Some of the horrific realities are now reflected globally.
In the latest report of the UN Secretary-General we see the reflection of human rights violations in Iran.
It is recalled that this resolution requested the Secretary-General to present an interim report on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran at the 50th session of the Human Rights Council.
The report (Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran - Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/178 -- A/HRC/50/19), released on June 21, prepared by Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, states that the number of arbitrary executions in Iran during 2021 was at least 310, which shows an increase compared to 2020. The report puts the number of executions in 2020 at 260. It is noteworthy that the government has made only 55 of these executions public.
The Secretary-General’s report calls for an end to the execution of children and emphasizes that the death penalty should not be applied to crimes committed by persons under 18 years of age. Part of the Secretary-General’s report is devoted to the suppression of the protests in Khuzestan and Isfahan. In this report, he wrote about the repression of the protesting people of Khuzestan:
“On some occasions, the authorities reportedly used plainclothes agents to pose as armed or violent protesters, and subsequently blamed the deaths of protesters on them. Police and security forces’ firing of live ammunition, including the use of automatic weapons and shotguns firing birdshots, and of other potentially lethal force led to the killing of at least nine individuals, including a minor, and to the injuring of many, including children.”
The confrontation of the repressive forces with the people of Isfahan is also covered in the report:
“Subsequently, security forces reportedly set fire to the tents of farmers, fired tear gas at the tents and shot in the air. Security forces resorted to the use of batons, tear gas and pellet guns. Internet disruption in mobile data was reported at the time of crackdown. The widespread use of pellet guns fired at close range at protesters and bystanders, including old farmers and women, caused serious eye and other injuries. Over 40 people were reported to have lost at least one eye after being shot by security forces.”
One of the crimes that the Velayat-e-Faqih regime justifies in the guise of fighting ‘smuggling’ across borders is the brutal killing of Kulbars (cross-border labors) in Kurdistan and the deprived Baluch fuel porters. Social networks are full of pictures and videos of this massacre.
The Secretary-General’s report states that “in 2021, 53 couriers were reportedly killed as a result of direct shootings by border officials, and over 130, including minors, injured. Between 1 January and 20 March 2022, at least 18 border couriers were reportedly targeted by direct shooting from border officials.”
The Secretary-General’s report emphasizes that “in addition, the Penal Code continued to retain forms of punishment that could be considered torture, cruel inhumane and degrading under international human rights law Flogging remained a widespread form of punishment during the reporting period.”
Suspicious deaths of detainees in the regime’s dungeons are another point of this report. About the death of Shahin Naseri (witness to the torture of the executed Navid Afkari) the report added:
“Naseri gave multiple affidavits of witnessing the torture of fellow prisoner, Navid Afkari. Naseri had previously received threats of reprisal from judicial authorities for his testimonies. On the anniversary of the execution of Navid Afkari in September 2021, Naseri was placed in solitary confinement, reportedly to prevent him from speaking with the media. He was found dead in prison on 21 September 2021.”
Expressing concern over the strange and tragic death of the poet Baktash Abtin and other political and ideological prisoners is another part of the report.
The free rein of the regime to repress, torture, discriminate and kill women and girls on trumped-up charges is one of the cases that has shaken the contemporary conscience. When we put these cases alongside institutionalized violence and misogyny, the dimensions, and statistics of human rights violations skyrocket. Fortunately, the Secretary-General’s report addresses a part of it:
“Recent reported instances of violence against women illustrate the urgency of expediting legislation with a holistic approach to addressing and preventing violence against women. In February 2022, a 17-year-old girl was decapitated by her husband. Her husband, who had previously threatened to kill her, was arrested later by police. Since 2020, at least 60 women were killed in Khuzestan Province for reasons of perceived ‘honour’.
“The abovementioned case of femicide is illustrative of the consequences of child marriage and the extreme vulnerability to domestic violence of minors forced into marriage.”
Citing terms such as arbitrary executions, the use of deadly force by security forces against peaceful protesters and kolbars, as well as arbitrary deprivation of the right to life in detention as a result of torture, or deprivation of timely access to medical care used in this report is the fruit of many activities that have been done to prove the gross violation of human rights in Iran.
These activities are the product of Iran people’s bravery and sacrifice. Activism for the slaughtered human rights in Iran must be increased and turned into an effective weapon to overthrow the regime.