The United Nations announced today that its Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, will launch a fact-finding mission to three European countries which host Iranian diaspora. He will visit France, Germany and Belgium from 30 November – 8 December 2011 to gather information about alleged human rights violations in Iran. As reported in this blog earlier, serial cooperation refusnik Iran (7 July and 8 August 2011), the independent expert has made official requests to the Islamic Republic of Iran for a country visit, without obtaining a positive response from the authorities. “I will continue to make every possible effort to get the Iranian authorities’ support,” Mr. Shaheed said. “A country visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran would have allowed me to gain better understanding of the situation in the country, explore possible areas of cooperation, offer constructive dialogue with the authorities and produce report that reflect the views of all parties concerned, not the least the views of the Government.” … “ I will now study wide range of human rights issues by meeting activists within Iranian diaspora, alleged victims of human rights violations, intergovernmental and civil society organizations,” he explained. “The information collected in France, Germany and Belgium will help shape my report to the Human Rights Council in March 2012.” The human rights expert will hold a press conference on Thursday 8 December 2011 at 10:30 at the United Nations Regional Information Centre (UNRIC) office in Brussels.
NB. The person the Iranian regime is refusing is Ahmed Shaheed, a Visiting Lecturer at the Maldives National University, a member of the presidential Commission Investigating Corruption and a former foreign policy advisor to the President of the Maldives. Mr Shaheed was Foreign Minister of the Maldives from 2005 to 2007 and from 2008 to 2010.
see also: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/IRIndex.aspx
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 
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