Spring of freedom

New York — UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, by a recorded vote of 84 in favor to 30 against, with 67 abstentions, condemning Iran’s human rights violations. It expressed grave concern over the high number of executions, especially juveniles, arbitrary and systematic arrests, and atrocious prison conditions. The UN resolution stressed the “alarmingly high frequency” of the use of the death penalty including against minors, “the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary detention,” poor prison conditions, “deliberately denying prisoners access to adequate medical treatment,” and “cases of suspicious deaths in custody.” The resolution “strongly urges” Iran to eliminate discrimination against women in law and practice and expresses “serious concern about ongoing severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief.” It singles out violations including harassment, intimidation and persecution against religious minorities. Mary...

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. (Reuters) The human rights situation has been deteriorating to an unprecedented level in the Islamic Republic of Iran. This highlights the empowerment of the hard-line judiciary system and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) under the so-called moderate administration of President Hassan Rouhani.  Specifically, several groups have become the Iranian regime’s targets. The first category is linked to religious and ethnic minorities, including the Arabs, Kurds, Azeris, Baluchis, Sunnis, Christians and Baha’is. The situation has become so alarming that the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, recently  urged  Tehran to “ensure that all those who reside in the country have equal protection before the law, regardless of ethnicity, religion or belief.” It is important to point out that the Islamic Republic is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This means...

When it comes to human rights violations in Iran, Europe’s stance is often influenced by its economic interests.  Whenever Europe is mentioned outside the continent itself, one key feature associated with it by non-Europeans is human rights. Whenever its leaders come together to discuss global matters, they ostensibly emphasize the importance of upholding human rights around the world. While the recent protests in Iran were still ongoing, Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, a prominent and infamous figure in Iran, was receiving advanced medical treatment in Germany. Ayatollah Shahroudi served as Iran’s chief justice from 1999 to 2009, his tenure coinciding with protests by Iranian university students in July 1999 that became known as the Kooye Daneshgah confrontation. The protests started peacefully, provoked by the closure of reformist Salam newspaper and the campaign against dissidents, known as the Chain Murders, that stretched from 1988 and came to light in the fall of 1...

Ron Wyden  Senior Senator Ron Wyden sponsored a resolution at the United States Senate condemning the violation of human rights in Iran for persecuting religious minorities, particularly the Baha'is. The resolution condemns the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights. Congress continuously declared that it deplored the religious persecution by the Government of Iran of the Baha’i community and would hold the Government of Iran responsible for upholding the rights of all Iranian nationals, including members of the Baha’i Faith; The Senate: Condemns the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on Human Rights; Calls on the Government of Iran to immediately release the 5 imprisoned Baha’i leaders, the 7 imprisoned Baha’i educators, and all other prisoners held solely on accou...

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addressing UN delegates at the General Assembly December 12, 2016 at the United Nations in New York. Forbes, September 4, 2017  - Two of the major crises the international community is currently engaged with  are terrorism and nuclear proliferation. Iran, in particular, is negatively involved in both fields,  being known as the central banker of international terrorism, and suspicious for its own controversial nuclear program at home parallel to its nuclear/missile collaboration with North Korea. As these subjects are of significant importance and deserve even more attributed attention, what must not go neglected is the fact that Iran is taking advantage of such circumstances to continue an equally important campaign of belligerence against its own people. The scope of human rights violations carried out by Tehran is continuously on the rise, with the ruling regime interpreting the mentioned international crises as win...