UN Monitor Slams Iran Over Arrest of Journalists

[Solomon2]

UN Monitor Slams Iran Over Arrest of Journalists
The UN monitor for human rights in Iran says there is a rise in arrests of journalists, part of a pattern of increasing violations.

By Elad Benari
First Publish: 3/13/2013, 3:43 AM

Tehran
AFP photo
The United Nations' monitor for human rights in Iran sounded the alarm Tuesday over a rise in arrests of journalists, saying this was part of a pattern of increasing violations as presidential elections loom.

Seventeen journalists were arrested in the space of one week in January, Ahmed Shaheed told reporters, according to AFP.

In addition, some 50 journalists were already behind bars, he said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has begun to tighten his grip on the process leading up to Iran’s presidential elections in June.

A campaign of arrests, beatings, public lashings and executions has followed a clear warning to Iranians not to contemplate another uprising similar to that which tried to land reformist Green Movement candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi as president in 2009.

"I'm increasingly alarmed about the plight of journalists, bloggers and others who are defenders and practitioners of freedom of expression in Iran," Shaheed said on Tuesday.

"They have been charged with communicating with international news organizations or communicating with human rights organizations, both of which should be protected under law rather than being penalized."

Shaheed noted that there had been little effort to offer redress for the victims of the crackdown after the 2009 elections and hold perpetrators to account.

The media also faced sharpened state pressure in the 2102 parliamentary elections.

"I am concerned that with elections around the corner in June, these actions against journalists do not bode well for the prospects of a free and fair election in the country," he was quoted by AFP as having said.

Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives who is now a human rights academic in Britain, was named the UN's Iran monitor in 2011.

On Monday he presented a report on Iran to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

He spotlighted repression of freedom of speech and a slew of other abuses, including torture, forced confessions, secret executions and the jailing of members of the political opposition.

He also pointed to violations of the rights of women and of religious and ethnic minorities.

Shaheed hammered home the message Tuesday, reported AFP.

"The picture I get is very disturbing. The situation in Iran is continuing to worsen," he said, adding that abuses were not the preserve of particular institutions but appeared etched into the system.

At Monday's Council session Iran launched a verbal attack on Shaheed.

Mohammad Larijani, head of Iran's national human rights body, claimed Shaheed's work was "unhealthy, non-objective and counter-productive", and piloted by Washington and its European allies.

Shaheed rejected that Tuesday.

"I am very transparent in what I report on," he said. "The allegations are false."

Iran has refused to let Shaheed visit the country, and has responded to only a handful of his scores of official requests for information.

He wrote his report by contacting campaigners and victims inside Iran, as well as exiles and human rights groups.

Iran charged that he failed to consider whether the international community was breaching the rights of its people by imposing sanctions due to Tehran's nuclear program, which the country insists is for peaceful purposes.

"My concern is that the sanctions are having a significant impact on the population, but I cannot assess this without the government's cooperation," Shaheed said.

In November, a key UN committee passed a resolution condemning human rights abuses by Iran.

The resolution, again prepared by Western nations, hit out at torture and executions in Iran, "widespread" restrictions of freedom and "pervasive" violence against women.

Iran, in response, accused the West of using the issue for political gain.



Tags: Iran ,UN ,human rights violations ,journalists ,Ahmed Shaheed




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[raptor22]

Iran's High Council for Human Rights' Statement on Ahmed Shahid's third report

Politics - Khabar Online: The Statement of Iran's High Council for Human Rights on the Third Report of Ahmed Shaheed,the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran's Human Rights Situation

Whatever released under the title the "third report on Iran's Human Rights Situation" by Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Iran's human rights situation bears no resemblance to a fair report provided even in an ordinary level. Drawing on the infirm and imperfect mechanism of the United Nations, the above mentioned report is simply a propagandist text against the Islamic Republic of Iran and Islamic culture plotted and implemented by some Western governments for their illegitimate political practices, provocation of public opinion, promotion of cultural conflict, whipping up the sensation of Islam-phobia as well as prorogation of the Western-Zionist unilateralism and domineering attitude.
The Islamic Republic of Iran regards such action taken by the United Nations unjustified in legal terms, unacceptable and too weak in technical terms, baseless in methodological terms and scandalous in ethical terms.

Therefore, recounting the following issues seems inevitable:

1. As we have reiterated several times in the past, appointing a special rapporteur for observing the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran was and is an unjustified measure in legal terms since campaign against the selective practice of former Human Rights Commission was raison d'être of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the mechanism of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). How can one question the basics of UNHRC while its new mechanisms have yet to be perfectly established?
How can one approve that no special rapporteur should be appointed for the violating governments such as the United States of America, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and an aggressive regime like the Zionist regime of Israel whose hands are tainted with numerous crimes, massacre of tens of thousands innocent people in the Middle East and genocide in their own land, but for the more stable democracy in the region, the Islamic Republic of Iran such offensive measure should be adopted? The Islamic Republic of Iran sees no lawful justification for the unjustified resolution passed by the West powers, consequently it regards all actions taken based on such resolution unlawful.

2. In technical and professional terms, the text released under the title "The report of the Special Rapporteur..." has not one iota of reliability as a report. It's rather a promotional text against Iran assembled by the media affiliated to the United States, the other Western governments and the Zionist regime of Israel which lacks even slightest sum of integrity. It's undeniably upsetting that so-called special rapporteur who was not able to reject what the Iranian officials argued has simply responded that his evidences are just examples of what is going on in Iran, while all know that a professional report demands at least a careful counting of all cases for extrapolating more perfect conclusions.
Having realized the phony nature and imperfection of this scandalous promotional item, its producer instantly claims that references of his report are merely a number of examples reported by more than 200 people who are now regarded as secret sources but in his view their allegations are absolutely reliable! How can one believe that a so-called impartial and professional rapporteur allows his concrete evidences and witnesses to remain out of investigation!

3. Based on an international consent, any reliable report must ensure a transparent, impartial, logical methodology and above all, it must allow investigation. Fortunately this feature is highlighted in the procedural guidelines ratified by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Furthermore, these guidelines assert that the authority for defining the concepts and evidences is the law enforced in any country. However, unfortunately the document released by the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran lacks the above-mentioned features!
The strange point is that the methodology employed by the rapporteur is from the beginning based on leveling accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran in defense of the arrested terrorists in the country! It seems that whoever committed several crimes of murder, setting explosion, sabotage and threatening people could be immediately purified because the countries like the United States and Britain which back terrorism label him/her as the "defender of human rights"!
On the other hand, the issue of impartiality has been laid to rest in the report. On the pretext of not being allowed to visit Iran and in contrast with the international criteria of reporting, the rapporteur had abominably recourse to fabricating a file against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Using international means and whatever given to him by the enemies of Iran, the rapporteur claims that he has invited some persons to the European capitals, conducted interviews with them and claims that all these are documents supporting his argument against the Islamic Republic. It's exactly what is known as fabricating a file against the officials of a country which is regarded as a crime not a report.
Moreover making allegations based on what called documents which have not been investigated bears no legal value. Undoubtedly if his documents are transparently investigated, they will be destined to fail similar to those which he was forced to ignore them!
These are the same basic problems in his work which make his visit to Iran useless! The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that since the rapporteur is involved in frame-up through distorted methods and uninvestigated documents, it's better for him to visit Washington, London, Paris and Tel Aviv to rather carry on promoting the hostile policies of the disgraced governments than to play the role of an impartial rapporteur. In terms of respecting ethical norms in a professional work and fulfilling a responsibility, we must directly state that all the necessary undeniable criteria were trampled in this report as well as former reports on the situation of human rights in Iran.
First, the special rapporteur has played the role of a media actor whom is invited by various media to fabricate against the glorious system of the Islamic Republic of Iran, a system which has established the most modern and powerful democracy in the Middle East, and reiterate baseless allegations that earlier had been made by the terrorist and Zionist forums against Iran. Is it what called the responsibilities of a rapporteur?
Second, the so-called special rapporteur accuses the Iranian consultative Islamic assembly (Parliament) - the most powerful symbol of democracy in the Middle East- of violating human rights and obstructing the way of accomplishing human rights tasks. For example, he attacks the bills passed by the Iranian Parliament on controlling cyberspace and countering cyber-crimes as well as those which are aimed to encourage Iranian NGOs and the rules set for the lawyers and judiciary advisors! He also questions the ratification of the Islamic penal code in Iran!
It's evident that such stances are taken against Iran due to the fact that the Islamic Republic has damaged the ground provided for the exploitation of arrogant and criminal governments, those which are abusing the means of the United Nations including reports on human rights situations throughout the world.
Third, according to the letter of UNHRC law on releasing the reports, the rapporteur must respect the civil laws of all countries in defining the concepts and limitations. But in his report on Iran, Mr. Shaheed directly and indecently says that he has ignored the Islamic Republic of Iran's law. More significantly, he does not content with his ignorance as he condemns and insults the Iranian law!
Fourth, the rapporteur directly asserts that he does not deem sacrilegious acts and insulting the Islamic Saints as a crime subjected to persecution! The key question is in what illusionary milieu has he authorized himself to make such a worthless statement? We directly and clearly proclaim that from the view of the Islamic Republic of Iran no rapporteur or international organization as well as the governments which supports them is not morally and legally qualified to judge on these values. Any measure adopted for such judgments will be unethical and at odds with all reasonable norms. Whatever we considered before is simply points to a part of the chaos and decadence within the paradoxical reports on the human rights situation in Iran which we suppose is sufficient to shed light on our basic positions in rejecting such offenses.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has a transparent constitution, comprehensive laws and valuable civil framework which will not be distorted by such propagandist tactics tried under the title of "reporting on human rights" and through abusing the international media.​

Source

 

[Umair Nawaz]

UN Monitor Slams Iran Over Arrest of Journalists
The UN monitor for human rights in Iran says there is a rise in arrests of journalists, part of a pattern of increasing violations.

By Elad Benari
First Publish: 3/13/2013, 3:43 AM

Tehran
AFP photo
The United Nations' monitor for human rights in Iran sounded the alarm Tuesday over a rise in arrests of journalists, saying this was part of a pattern of increasing violations as presidential elections loom.

Seventeen journalists were arrested in the space of one week in January, Ahmed Shaheed told reporters, according to AFP.

In addition, some 50 journalists were already behind bars, he said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has begun to tighten his grip on the process leading up to Iran’s presidential elections in June.

A campaign of arrests, beatings, public lashings and executions has followed a clear warning to Iranians not to contemplate another uprising similar to that which tried to land reformist Green Movement candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi as president in 2009.

"I'm increasingly alarmed about the plight of journalists, bloggers and others who are defenders and practitioners of freedom of expression in Iran," Shaheed said on Tuesday.

"They have been charged with communicating with international news organizations or communicating with human rights organizations, both of which should be protected under law rather than being penalized."

Shaheed noted that there had been little effort to offer redress for the victims of the crackdown after the 2009 elections and hold perpetrators to account.

The media also faced sharpened state pressure in the 2102 parliamentary elections.

"I am concerned that with elections around the corner in June, these actions against journalists do not bode well for the prospects of a free and fair election in the country," he was quoted by AFP as having said.

Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives who is now a human rights academic in Britain, was named the UN's Iran monitor in 2011.

On Monday he presented a report on Iran to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

He spotlighted repression of freedom of speech and a slew of other abuses, including torture, forced confessions, secret executions and the jailing of members of the political opposition.

He also pointed to violations of the rights of women and of religious and ethnic minorities.

Shaheed hammered home the message Tuesday, reported AFP.

"The picture I get is very disturbing. The situation in Iran is continuing to worsen," he said, adding that abuses were not the preserve of particular institutions but appeared etched into the system.

At Monday's Council session Iran launched a verbal attack on Shaheed.

Mohammad Larijani, head of Iran's national human rights body, claimed Shaheed's work was "unhealthy, non-objective and counter-productive", and piloted by Washington and its European allies.

Shaheed rejected that Tuesday.

"I am very transparent in what I report on," he said. "The allegations are false."

Iran has refused to let Shaheed visit the country, and has responded to only a handful of his scores of official requests for information.

He wrote his report by contacting campaigners and victims inside Iran, as well as exiles and human rights groups.

Iran charged that he failed to consider whether the international community was breaching the rights of its people by imposing sanctions due to Tehran's nuclear program, which the country insists is for peaceful purposes.

"My concern is that the sanctions are having a significant impact on the population, but I cannot assess this without the government's cooperation," Shaheed said.

In November, a key UN committee passed a resolution condemning human rights abuses by Iran.

The resolution, again prepared by Western nations, hit out at torture and executions in Iran, "widespread" restrictions of freedom and "pervasive" violence against women.

Iran, in response, accused the West of using the issue for political gain.



Tags: Iran ,UN ,human rights violations ,journalists ,Ahmed Shaheed




More on this topic
Iran to Sue Hollywood Over Oscar-Winning Film 'Argo'
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U.S. Intelligence Director: We'll Know if Iran Diverts Uranium
Syria, China, Iran: 'Enemies of the Internet'
UN Actively Reviewing Safety of Golan Peacekeepers
UN Reports an Increase in Iran's Human Rights Violations
US Slaps Sanctions on North Korea's Primary Trade Bank
South Korea and US Defy North's Threats, Launch Joint Drills
UN: Syrian Refugees May Double or Triple This Year

elad benari is a jew and such report by him is not surprising.

 

[Ayush]

hahaha.post no.1 and 2 reminds me of tit for tat.

 

[mohsen]

part of newest oxford dictionary:

mujahedin-e-khalgh terrorist group ==> politician party
Al-Qaeda in Syria ==> freedom fighters
MI6 spies in Iran ==> Journalist

BBC has published a series of documentaries about MI6 agents and their cover as journalists, yet they dare to call them journalist.
BBC - Blogs - Radio 4 and 4 Extra Blog - Happy birthday MI6

 

[Solomon2]

elad benari is a jew and such report by him is not surprising.

Does shooting the messenger ease your pain?

 

[Sam1980]

Really?! Then where the #$$@ was the UN monitor when U.S. was torturing Bradley Manning, forcing Aaron Swartz to commit suicide?! Where the hell was the Useless Nations monitor when Obama was given permission to kill U.S. citizens?!

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Does shooting the messenger ease your pain?

Does 'shooting yr messages' of anti pak- anti muslims in PDF n IDF 'ease YOUR pain'!!!!!

 

[Persian Achaemenid Empire]

Well Iran's government is not good but neither are the people who create propaganda against it (if you know what I mean).

both sides who accuse each other in this cause are just as bad.

 

[Solomon2]

Does 'shooting yr messages' of anti pak- anti muslims in PDF n IDF 'ease YOUR pain'!!!!!

Am I really "anti-pak"? What do you mean by IDF?

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Am I really "anti-pak"? What do you mean by IDF?

i mean indian defense forum n yr well known comments there n yr threads.

Interestingly u have a Indian flag there in yr location corner, where as in PDF u have all US flags.

 

[Solomon2]

i mean indian defense forum n yr well known comments there n yr threads.

Someone STOLE my alias and avatar? Linky, please.

 

[Umair Nawaz]

Someone STOLE my alias and avatar? Linky, please.

visit indian defense forum and open the thread of OBL raid then educate yr self.

 

[Solomon2]

visit indian defense forum and open the thread of OBL raid then educate yr self.

Which one?