Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders

Just weeks before the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran is scheduled to present his latest report at the UN, the Head of the Iranian Judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, and his brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani, who heads the human rights council of that same Judiciary body, renew their verbal attacks on the Rapporteur.

Since his appointment to the position of UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Iran in 2011, Ahmed Shaheed documented severe violations of human rights in Iran. The Iranian government has not engaged with the Special Rapporteur at any meaningful level and has refused to allow him to visit the country to carry out his mandate. 

Mohammad Javad Larijani called Ahmed Shaheed “a wicked fool,” and said “human rights defender” is another name for terrorists. “Those who are referred to as ‘human rights defenders’ these days, are soiled with terrorist acts and call themselves human rights defenders. But such a title is unprecedented in UN documents; therefore, you should know that when you hear the name ‘human rights defender,’ these are individuals who commit terrorist acts”. [In March 2013, referring to Ahmed Shaheed’s appearances on television interviews, he said that Ahmed Shaheed “goes from network to network like a television actor. He says the same things Americans and Israelis say, and his statements have the approval of anti-revolutionaries.”]

The Larijani brothers are not the only Iranian officials who have attacked Ahmed Shaheed. During a January meeting in the city of Mashhad, Iran’s Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi called Shaheed “corrupt,” “a political worker,” and “not a legal expert.”

The NGO ‘International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran’  states that the timing of this vigorous offensive against Shaheed and human rights defenders is a clear indication that the Iranian government is concerned about the mounting pressure from the international community for its alarming, record execution rates, its continued incarceration of Iranian activists and thinkers, and its prosecution of political dissidents and religious and ethnic minorities.

Larijani Reveals Parts of Confidential UN Report and Verbally Attacks Special Rapporteur : International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.

This entry was posted on February 2, 2014 at 12:04 and is filed under human rights, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, UN.

Tags: Ahmed Shaheed, diplomacy, Human Rights Council, Human Rights Defenders, International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, international cooperation, intimidation, Iran, Javad Larijani, Mohammad Javad Larijani, Sadegh Larijani, Special Rapporteur, UN, UN Rapporteurs, UN Report, United Nations Human Rights Council