15 June 2010

U.N. Rights Body Rebukes Iran on Human Rights

U.S. Ambassador Donahoe praises more than 50 nations for expressing concern about Iran’s lack of progress in protecting human rights.

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — The United States joined 55 other nations in rebuking Iran for its lack of progress in providing human rights protections for its citizens after national elections in June 2009.

“We are very proud of the coalition of over 50 governments [representing every regional group] that has come together under Norway’s leadership to express deep concern about the situation in Iran, and to send our message of support to victims so that they know that the international community has not forgotten them,” U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe said June 15 in Geneva at the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC). “Expressing deep concern about the human rights situation in Iran is a priority for the United States.”

Norway’s representative to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Ambassador Bente Angell-Hansen, read a statement during the 14th session of the council that expressed concern about the Iranian regime’s treatment of its citizens following disputed national elections a year ago. Unlike a council resolution, reading a statement is not subject to formal adoption by consensus or a vote, though it carries much of the same impact. The United States and Norway had sought support from the council for the statement.

Following the national elections in June 2009, postelection street protests and demonstrations were suppressed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps with mass detentions. According to news accounts, at least two protesters were hanged and a sizable number of detainees remain in prisons.

The Norway statement expressed concerns about the violent suppression of dissent, detention and executions without due process of law, severe discrimination against women and minorities that also includes people of the Bahá’i faith, and restrictions on freedom of expression and religion.

“We cannot let this Human Rights Council session go by without marking the one year anniversary of these events this month,” the statement said. The statement called on the Iranian regime to meet its commitments and “to fulfill its obligations and its acceptance of human rights recommendations made by the international community.”

The statement was supported by 56 nations that want to see an improvement in the human rights situation of Iranian citizens, the statement said.

After an objection by several council members who wanted to block the reading of the statement, Belgian Ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen, who chairs the forum, permitted the reading of the statement, according to news accounts.

“All those whose universal human rights have been violated must know that their voices are being heard by this council and that we in the international community are working together to try to respond to their needs and to improve their lives,” the Norwegian statement read.

The following countries supported the HRC statement on Iran: Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Timor-Leste, Tonga, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Ukraine, United States of America, and Vanuatu.

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)