Iran: UN rights report political, based on misinformation

EghtesadOnline: Iran has lambasted a recent report by a UN rights rapporteur as “politically-charged and selective,” saying it has been devised based on misinformation.

News ID: ۷۷۹۰۴۵

06 September 2017

UN Special Rapporteur Asma Jahangir voiced concern in the Thursday report about alleged hunger strike by prisoners in Iran protesting against what she described as their conditions of detention, PressTV reported.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed the claims on Sunday, saying both the report and the official’s mission were based on “a resolution relying on purely political and selective goals and malice of certain countries with a special agenda.”

The Islamic Republic, hence, completely rejects the report and considers it unacceptable, he added.

"Unfortunately, despite the frequent, detailed and well-founded responses of the Islamic Republic of Iran to unfounded allegations, the content of the report continues to be based on a series of inaccurate information and inappropriate prejudices about the human rights situation in Iran, using unreliable sources, which seriously compromises the credibility of the report," he said.

"Unfortunately, the Special Rapporteur seems to have been blind to numerous human rights progresses in Iran," Qassemi added.

Jahangir, the spokesman said, "has continued to use vague phrases and expressions of concerns, based on unreliable information, to present a dark and one-sided view of the human rights situation In Iran, which undoubtedly undermines the principle of impartiality and professional work of the rapporteur."

"We believe that taking advantage of the political, repetitive and selective approaches by a limited number of countries in the field of human rights, especially at a time when the international community is witnessing a failure to heed the flagrant violations of human rights and human tragedies by the terrorist groups they support in countries like Yemen, Bahrain, Myanmar, and so on will only lead to a weakening of the status of human rights around the world and become a scandal for human rights defenders," he added.

Back in March, Jahangir had issued a report criticizing Iran over a range of allegations, including execution of juveniles, imprisonment of religious minorities, torture of political prisoners and child marriage.

The Foreign Ministry likewise condemned the report as “unjust” and “politically-motivated,” saying the account was aimed at portraying a gloomy image of the Islamic Republic.