Reporting by PMOI/MEK
October 26, 2021—In his report to the United Nations General Assembly Third Committee on October 25, Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights Conditions in Iran, expressed alarm about continued human rights abuses in Iran.
“The overall picture of the human rights situation in Iran remains grim,” Rehman said, adding that a serious impediment for improvement is the “persistent impunity for serious violations of human rights law.”
“The situation is aggravated by the fact that individuals who face allegations of being involved in the commission of serious human rights violations remain in powerful positions, including at the highest level of public office,” Rehman said.
Human rights abusers are occupying the highest positions of power in Iran. The regime’s president is Ebrahim Raisi, a key figure in the 1988 massacre of more than 30,000 Iranian political prisoner. Raisi’s cabinet is composed of criminals, thieves, and terrorists. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Speaker of the Majlis (parliament), a former commander of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), is also renowned for his role in suppressing dissidents. And the head of the judiciary branch, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, has a history of torturing and executing protesters and oppositions members.
In his remarks to the Third Committee, Rehman also raised concern about the “alarming level of intimidation or persecution of those who call for accountability.”
“My mandate notes with concern the high number of acts of reprisals undertaken by security and intelligence agencies against families of victims, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and others calling for accountability,” he said.
The regime is carrying out efforts to shut down the voice of activists at different levels. The regime arrests and imprisons teachers, workers, journalists, and members of other communities who raise their voice for their basic rights. Families of political prisoners and executed dissidents are regularly persecuted and threatened by the regime’s security forces to remain silent and refrain from drawing attention to the plight of their loved ones.
“Where it is clear that domestic channels for achieving accountability face significant obstacles, it becomes imperative that the international community uses other existing channels, including in international fora and through bilateral engagement to seek accountability,” Rehman said.
In his report, Rehman expressed alarm at the regime’s continued lack of transparency and accountability regarding the 1988 massacre, whose perpetrators continue to hold key posts in the regime, and the brutal crackdown on the November 2019 protests, in which the regime murdered more than 1,500 protesters across Iran.
“There is widespread and systemic impunity in the country for gross violations of human rights; both past instances of serious and substantial violations of human rights, including enforced disappearances and summary executions in 1988 as well as the recent cases, particularly the use of excessive and lethal force by state security forces during the November 2019 protests,” Rehman said.
Rehman called on the international community and human rights organizations to pursue the issue of human rights in Iran.
“Without the involvement of the international community, such grave violations will continue,” he said.
