In a statement to the 47th session of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations on Tuesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said a report presented to the Secretary General found “a disturbing human rights landscape for Iranian women and men of every religious faith, ethnic origin, social class and other status.”
Pointing out that in 2020 Iran executed at least 267 people, Bachelet said the Secretary General was still deeply concerned by widespread use of the death penalty, and its imposition for a range of acts other than “most serious crimes” with death sentences frequently based on forced confessions.
“Protesters, human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists and civil society actors continue to be subjected to intimidation, arbitrary detention and criminal prosecution, including the death penalty,” she said. According to Bachelet, the report also confirmed mistreatment of prisoners, including widespread and extended use of solitary confinement as punishment and to prevent information reaching the outside world.
“We regret that the framework for the right to political participation is not in line with international standards,” Bachelet said. Iran’s controversial presidential and local elections held June 18 have highlighted allegations of human rights violations by President-elect Ebrahim Raisi (Raeesi).
Raisi, since 2019 Iran’s Chief Justice by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s appointment, participated in a 1988 commission that ordered the execution of thousands of prisoners who were members of the Mujahideen-e Khalq group (MEK) or leftists.
Guilty Themselves
In his first press conference as president-elect Monday, Raisi said that as a judge he had “always defended human rights.” Asked about his role in 1988, Raisi said those accusing him were “guilty themselves”(link is external) and that foreign powers were harboring “17,000 murderers” who had killed Iranian officials – a reference to the MEK, transferred to Albania in 2013 by the US from its base in Iraq, where it had been allied to Saddam Hussein, including in the 1980-88 war with Iran and in helping crush the Kurdish revolt of 1991. Some associates of former president Donald Trump, including lawyer Rudy Giuliani and former national security advisor John Bolton, have strong MEK links.
Read the complete article at: Iran International
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