Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic
Nov 18 2004

Iran: Country Faces New UN General Assembly Censure On Human Rights
By Robert McMahon

A UN General Assembly committee has voted to condemn human rights
abuses in Iran, citing a crackdown on media, use of torture, and
discrimination against women. The assembly’s human rights committee
approved a resolution calling on Iran to take steps such as judicial
and penitentiary reforms and eliminating all forms of discrimination
based on religious grounds. Iran called the charges baseless and
gained the support of many developing states. But the measure is
expected to be approved by the full General Assembly in December.

United Nations, 18 November 2004 (RFE/RL) — For the second straight
year, the UN General Assembly’s human rights committee has passed a
resolution raising concern over rights abuses committed by Iran.

The assembly’s human rights committee approved a resolution calling
on Iran to carry out reforms to curb abuses ranging from suppression
of media to torture and discrimination against women and minorities.

The measure was approved yesterday by a vote of 69 to 55, with 51
abstentions. It is expected to be approved by the assembly next
month.”For those many who are denied the right to speak out, for
those minorities who suffer persecution in silence, for women who
face discrimination, hardships and sometimes physical harm, it is our
desire to improve their lives that motivates this resolution.” —
Canadian Ambassador to the UN Allan Rock

Canada sponsored the resolution for the second year in a row. Its UN
ambassador, Allan Rock, told the committee he hopes the measure will
promote change in Iran.

“For those many who are denied the right to speak out, for those
minorities who suffer persecution in silence, for women who face
discrimination, hardships and sometimes physical harm, it is our
desire to improve their lives that motivates this resolution,” Rock
said.

The resolution noted some positive developments, such as the visits
to Iran of UN rapporteurs and human rights dialogues between Iran and
a number of states. But Rock said the overall situation has
deteriorated since last year and that it is important to bring the
weight of international opinion to bear on Iran.

The resolution is not binding but carries symbolic importance.

Iranian envoy Paimaneh Hasteh called the resolution’s charges
baseless. She accused Canada of introducing the measure in response
to a domestic outcry over the death in 2003 of Canadian
photojournalist Zahra Kazemi while in custody in Iran.

An Iranian court this summer moved to end the trial of the key
suspect in her death. That prompted an outcry from Canada and
Kazemi’s legal team, led by Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi.

Hasteh told the committee that Iran’s judiciary continues to
investigate the death. She cautioned that resolutions singling out
Iran for reproach are doomed to fail.

“We even warn that this approach, if it continues to prevail, will
jeopardize the entire processes of ongoing cooperation and dialogue
initiated by the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the
bilateral and multilateral levels,” Hasteh said.

The vote followed a pattern familiar at UN human rights panels when
single-country resolutions are proposed. European states, the United
States, and Latin American nations supported the measure, while
Islamic and developing states opposed it.

Opposing states said such “naming and shaming” resolutions are
counterproductive and divisive for the committee.

Pakistani representative Billal Hayee, speaking on behalf of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference, said the resolution will not
serve to promote human rights.

“It increases the risk of generating confrontation and politicization
at the international level on human rights issues by creating a gulf
between the developed and the developing countries quite opposite to
the very agenda of the United Nations,” Hayee said.

Other states objecting to the practice included Turkmenistan and
Belarus, which themselves face critical resolutions in the committee,
and Sudan, subject to a UN investigation into whether genocide is
being committed in the Darfur region.

But the Czech Republic’s representative, Ivana Grollova, sought to
stress the importance of such resolutions. She noted that 17 November
was the 15th anniversary of events triggering the fall of communism
in Czechoslovakia and the improvement of human rights.

“Please allow me today to express my honor that on behalf of my
government I could today join those who care about the protection of
the fundamental freedoms and human rights of everybody,” Grollova
said.

Forty countries co-sponsored the resolution, including the United
States and 25 countries of the European Union. Countries voting
against the measure included Russia, the five Central Asian states,
Armenia, and Azerbaijan.