Archive for the 'Iran' Category

Iran: U.S. holding “hostage” UN disarmament conf by boycotting Iran’s presidency

Published by
unwatch
- at May 19, 2013 in Iran. Closed

Regime: Iran is a “victim of weapons of mass destruction”

Last week, UN Watch revealed that Iran is to head the UN Conference on Disarmament and called on nations to protest. The USA and Canada announced they would bar their ambassadors from attending. Now Iran is on the defensive. Below is a BBC summary of an Iranian news report.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Araqchi has said that the United States is preventing the advancement of peace and security, accusing the USA of holding “hostage” a UN conference on disarmament with its threats of a boycott, Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported on 16 May.

“With its behaviour, America has in effect taken hostage the conference and is preventing it from working towards the advancement of international peace and security,” ISNA quoted Araqchi as commenting on US threats to boycott a UN disarmament conference because Iran would be chairing it.

“America’s behaviour goes against the democratic vote of member countries and the mechanism of international institutions for electing the chair [of a conference], and in other words it goes against the will of global society,” Araqchi added.

Seyyed Abbas Araqchi went on to emphasize that Iran was suited for the chairmanship of the conference, saying that Iran understands the importance of disarmament as it is a “victim of weapons of mass destruction”. Continue reading ‘Iran: U.S. holding “hostage” UN disarmament conf by boycotting Iran’s presidency’

US & Canada to boycott UN disarmament talks during Iran presidency; France, Germany, UK should follow

Published by
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- at May 14, 2013 in Conference on Disarmament and Iran. Closed

GENEVA, May 14, 2013 – UN Watch commends the U.S. and Canada for strongly protesting Iran’s looming presidency of the UN disarmament conference and  announcing (see below) that their ambassadors will  boycott the session during Tehran’s five weeks at the helm.

The decisions by Washington and Ottawa came in response to UN Watch’s call for action yesterday.

UN Watch once again calls on the EU, and particularly, Britain, France, and Germany, to protest as well.

Continue reading ‘US & Canada to boycott UN disarmament talks during Iran presidency; France, Germany, UK should follow’

Iran to chair U.N. disarmament conference

Published by
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- at May 13, 2013 in Conference on Disarmament and Iran. Closed

Exclusive Report by UN Watch

GENEVA, May 13, 2013 – Iran will chair the United Nations’ most important disarmament negotiating forum during the panel’s May session, which opened today, sparking calls by an independent monitoring group for the U.S., the EU, and UN chief Ban Ki-moon to protest. Click here for UN website.

“This is like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women’s shelter,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, the Geneva based non-governmental organization, which announced it will hold protest events outside the UN hall featuring Iranian dissidents.

“Iran is an international outlaw state that illegally supplies rockets to Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas, aiding and abetting mass murder and terrorism. To make this rogue regime head of world arms control is simply an outrage. Abusers of international norms should not be the public face of the UN.” Continue reading ‘Iran to chair U.N. disarmament conference’

UN hijacked by Cuba’s “Right to peace” farce

Published by
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- at February 22, 2013 in Cuba, Iran and Right to Peace. 0 Comments

This week the UN was diverted from real human rights problems for a week-long political exercise on the so-called “right to peace.”

Last July, Cuba presented a draft resolution on “The Right to Peace,” which recognized a “right to resist and oppose oppressive colonial foreign occupation or dictatorial domination.” We commented on it in this plenary speech:

According to experts, this could be seen as an avenue to legitimize terrorism. Countries such as Syria, Sudan, Belarus, China, Sri Lanka, Iran, North Korea, and Russia, supported the resolution, while countries such as the United States and the European Union did not. As the EU stated, they do not support the formation of the working group for many reasons including, but not limited to the fact that, “it is evident that there is no legal basis for the ‘right to peace’ in international law, either as an individual or collective right.”

Continue reading ‘UN hijacked by Cuba’s “Right to peace” farce’

UN Seminar on “International Cooperation”

Published by
unwatch
- at February 21, 2013 in Cuba, Iran and Non Aligned Movement (NAM). 0 Comments

On Friday, February 15, 2013, the OHCHR held a seminar on “International Cooperation in the Field of Human Rights.” The seminar was called for by a HRC resolution tabled by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). It was yet another opportunity for oppresive regimes to attack Western democracies and the universal nature of human rights.

Iran, speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement, reinforced the idea that cultural diversity was essential for human rights. “Countries should be allowed to protect human rights while taking into account their own national conditions.” Furthermore, it argued “It is not practical or feasible for all countries to adopt the same model.”

During the Q&A period, Iran raised the issue of sanctions as an impediment to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, hinting that the rights of Iranians were violated as a result of international sanctions. The Security Council has imposed sanctions on Iran due to their non-cooperation with UN mechanisms which monitor their nuclear program.

Cuba stated that it was a shining example of the progress that can be made in the field of human rights with meager resources. The Cuban diplomat explained that measures to strengthen cooperation in the international arena have failed, due to the “politicization and manipulation of human rights mechanisms.” He said that they had hoped that the Human Rights Council would be a “new dawn,” but that it has followed the same failed destiny of the Commission on Human Rights. The Cuban diplomat concluded by expressing his dismay that things have not changed since the days of the Human Rights Commission.

U.N. slams Iran human rights violations in Canadian-led resolution

Published by
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- at November 26, 2012 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 2 Comments

Today’s resolution on “the Situation of Human Rights in Iran” passed the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee by a vote of 83 to 31, with 68 abstaining.

This is the 10th year that Canada led this now-annual resolution, along with 42 other state co-sponsors. The resolution will proceed to the UN General Assembly Plenary for consideration, where it typically receives a similar voting result.

Here is the full text: UNGA Iran res Nov 2012; at bottom are selected quotes.

Canada’s leading position today in fighting Iranian abuses is partly due to the work in that country of Iranian-born human rights activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam, whose compelling 2009 U.N. testimony follows below.

A/C.3/67/L.51

Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran Continue reading ‘U.N. slams Iran human rights violations in Canadian-led resolution’

UN rights council criticized for featuring allegedly corrupt official on today’s Nelson Mandela Day panel

Published by
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- at September 21, 2012 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Iran and North Korea (DPRK). 0 Comments

Australian WIPO chief Francis Gurry is accused of vote-buying,
embargoed tech transfers to Iran and North Korea, and obstructing U.S. congressional inquiry

GENEVA, Sept. 21 – The participation of the UN’s top intellectual property official on today’s Human Rights Council panel for Nelson Mandela International Day is being criticized by UN Watch in light of revelations that his agency shipped embargoed technology to North Korea and Iran, and accusations of misconduct including vote-buying, as reported by Reuters.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental watchdog organization, called on the U.S., the EU and UN rights chief Navi Pillay to explain why Francis Gurry, the Australian head of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), is speaking this afternoon on a panel dedicated to human rights and Nelson Mandela’s values.

Panelists are to provide examples of “how the promotion and protection of human rights has been advanced by the values of reconciliation, peace, freedom and racial equality in their societies or personal experiences.”

Yet Neuer said the credibility of the council — which annually passes resolutions condemning abuses by Iran and North Korea — is now harmed by inviting the WIPO chief.

A bipartisan letter from the U.S. Congress, signed by House Committee on Foreign Affairs Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Howard Berman, accuses Gurry of obstructing potentially damning testimony by WIPO staffers regarding the agency’s quiet transfer of U.N.-embargoed technology to North Korea and Iran, which could advance those regimes’ nuclear and missile programs.

Gurry is accused of breaching his pledge to cooperate with a Congressional inquiry into whether the agency’s actions had violated U.S. and U.N. sanctions.

Moreover, as reported by Reuters, Gurry is also accused of pledging the equipment to the two sanctioned countries in exchange for their votes, according to a U.N. lawsuit filed by a former WIPO manager.

The suit also alleges Gurry earmarked posts for member states who backed him in his 2008 election and those whose votes he is trying to secure as part of his 2014 re-election bid.

Two investigators who conducted an internal WIPO inquiry into the shipments said: “We simply cannot fathom how WIPO could have convinced itself that most Member States would support the delivery of equipment to countries whose behavior was so egregious it forced the international community to impose embargoes, and where the deliveries, if initiated by the recipient countries, would violate a Member State’s national Laws.”

U.N. chief sending ‘wrong signal’ going to Tehran’s NAM summit

Published by
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- at August 22, 2012 in Ban Ki-moon and Iran. 6 Comments


Iran will now speak for 120-strong NAM during U.N. debates

Rights group urges Ban Ki-moon to bring with him UN resolutions on Iranian human rights violations

GENEVA, Aug. 22 – Human rights activists are slamming U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for announcing his attendance at next week’s Tehran summit of the 120-member Non Aligned Movement “on the same day that the Security Council heard a top-level U.N. report on Iranian complicity in the Syrian regime’s murder of its own people, in violation of resolution 1747 passed under the organization’s highest Chapter 7 authority.”

“By going to Tehran’s propaganda summit, the U.N. Secretary-General is abdicating his moral voice at a crucial time, and sending absolutely the wrong signal,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent human rights organization which has brought Ahmad Batebi, Mohammed Mostafeh, Nazanin Afshin-Jam and other top Iranian dissidents to testify before the UN. Continue reading ‘U.N. chief sending ‘wrong signal’ going to Tehran’s NAM summit’

UN Watch: Iran elected to UN Arms Trade Treaty post

Published by
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- at July 8, 2012 in Iran. 6 Comments

Human rights group urge Ban Ki-moon to condemn “scandalous” election

GENEVA, July 8 - Iran was elected to a top post on the UN Arms Trade Treaty conference, revealed UN Watch today in an exclusive report. The Geneva-based human rights group is calling on UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who addressed the conference on the same day, to condemn the selection of the Tehran regime.

Although the U.N. conference website and summary fail to name the 15 members elected to the bureau on July 3rd, UN Watch has discovered that the countries elected to the five regional groups include Iran, Japan, and South Korea for the Asian group; Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria for Africa; Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Ukraine for Eastern Europe; Australia, Netherlands and Switzerland for the Western Europe & Others Group; and Mexico and two others for Latin America. (See U.N. webcast here, announcing election of Iran at minute 4:45.)

The United Nations Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty, which opened last week and runs until July 27, promises to deliver a new agreement to regulate the transfer of arms.

“Right after a UN Security Council report found Iran guilty of illegally transferring guns and bombs to Syria, which is now murdering thousands of its own people, it defies logic, morality and common sense for the UN to now elect this same regime to a global post regulating the transfer of guns and bombs,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a non-governmental monitoring group based in Geneva.

“This is like choosing Bernie Madoff to police fraud on the stock market. And the U.N.’s scandalous choice of Iran is exactly why we fear that Syria’s declared bid for a U.N. Human Rights Council seat is not impossible.” Continue reading ‘UN Watch: Iran elected to UN Arms Trade Treaty post’

Iran, Racism and the Non-Aligned Movement

Published by
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- at July 3, 2012 in Human Rights & Cultural Diversity and Iran. 0 Comments

UN Watch testimony delivered by Hillel Neuer before
the U.N. Human Rights Council, July 3, 2012

Thank you, Madam President.

UN Watch was founded by Morris Abram, the legendary civil rights advocate who marched arm-in-arm with Rev. Martin Luther King to fight racism in America. His struggle against prejudice in all its forms continues to guide our work.

As I look around this room, I see many representatives from the Non-Aligned Movement whose peoples were victimized by racism under colonial rule.

The ghastly atrocities perpetrated against millions of Congolese by Belgian King Leopold II is but one of many examples from that sordid history. NAM members know the consequences of racism and discrimination. Continue reading ‘Iran, Racism and the Non-Aligned Movement’

Is Syrian ambassador to UN rights council planning to defect?

Published by
Hillel Neuer
- at February 26, 2012 in Gay rights, Iran, Libya, Sri Lanka and Syria. 0 Comments

Tomorrow will see Foreign Ministers descend on Geneva for the opening of the first 2012 session of the UN Human Rights Council.

At a recent UN press conference, U.S. Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe offered a good review of what’s ahead. Click here for the transcript, and here for the audio. Reuters asked about UN Watch’s protest over Libya’s vehement attack against gays (minute 16:00).

Of note:

  • The Syrian envoy to the UN rights council,  Faysal Hamoui, hasn’t been seen in a while, and, alluding to the Libyans’ defection last year, Ambassador Donahoe hinted that he may be planning the same:

Continue reading ‘Is Syrian ambassador to UN rights council planning to defect?’

Iran Censorship Extends to Golden Globes Stage

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 17, 2012 in Freedom of Expression and Iran. 0 Comments

The contrast couldn’t have been any clearer at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony Sunday when it came to presenting the prize for Best Foreign Language Film.

Host Ricky Gervais’s irreverence for authority, and Madonna’s unrestrained immodesty were – for better or for worse – testaments to the universal right to express oneself freely.

Then came the solemnity of Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s acceptance speech after Madonna announced that his film “A Separation,” which he made in Iran and is still showing there, had won the category. Continue reading ‘Iran Censorship Extends to Golden Globes Stage’

UN Watch Congratulates Human Rights Activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Published by
HQ Insider
- at January 6, 2012 in Children's Rights, Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 0 Comments

UN Watch sends congratulations and warm wishes to  Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a devoted activist and cherished colleague in the cause of universal human rights, and to Peter MacKay, Canada’s Minister of Defence, on their recent marriage.

Iranian-born Afshin-Jam has earned international recognition for her tireless advocacy on behalf of human rights victims in the Islamic Republic of Iran, deepening her activism after she rose to prominence in Canada and beyond as a beauty queen, singer, model and actress.

UN Watch gave Afshin-Jam its Human Rights Hero Award in 2009 in recognition of her activism, including as president and co-founder of Stop Child Executions, which fights for minors facing execution in Iran.

Appearing together with dissident and former political prisoner Ahmad Batebi,  Afshin-Jam represented UN Watch in a dramatic speech before the UN Human Rights Council in 2009, reproduced below.

Continue reading ‘UN Watch Congratulates Human Rights Activist Nazanin Afshin-Jam’

Iran, Syria, N. Korea Condemned, But Not By All

Published by
HQ Insider
- at December 20, 2011 in General Assembly, Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Iran, North Korea (DPRK) and Syria. 0 Comments

Roll calls detailed below reveal which countries voted with Iran, Syria and North Korea as the UN General Assembly passed resolutions Dec. 19 denouncing the human rights records of those three regimes. As in past years, Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces continue to battle on behalf of the country, split with the alliance’s members for the vote on Iran, and voted with the Islamic republic.

1. Situation of Human Rights in Iran: 89 in favour, 30 against, 64 abstentions.

Against:  Afghanistan, Algeria, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, China, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Ecuador, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe. Continue reading ‘Iran, Syria, N. Korea Condemned, But Not By All’

Rights of Women in China, Saudi Arabia and Iran

Published by
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- at September 18, 2011 in China, Iran and Saudi Arabia. 0 Comments

UN Watch Testimony to UN Human Rights Council, Agenda Item 3, delivered by Alexia Bedat, 15 September 2011

Thank you, Madam President.

Under Articles 2, 5 and 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, women are guaranteed equal treatment under the law and protection from degrading treatment. Today we ask: Is this promise being translated into practice?

To find the answer, we must see reality from the perspective of real women on the ground. Let us consider three concrete examples:

1. China. According to a panel of experts including US Congressman Chris Smith, as a result of the “One child policy,” every 2.4 seconds a woman in China undergoes a forced abortion.  Xiao Ai Ying is one of these women. Last year, eight months into her pregnancy, twelve government officials broke into her home, brutally kicked her in the stomach and dragged her screaming to the hospital.  Madam President, isn’t China a member of this Council, and therefore pledged to the highest standards of human rights? Continue reading ‘Rights of Women in China, Saudi Arabia and Iran’

AUDIO: Hillel Neuer on Toronto Radio urges UN to retract praise of Tehran terror conf

Published by
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- at June 28, 2011 in Iran, Terrorism and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 0 Comments

After UN chief Ban Ki-moon sent warm greetings to Iran’s “Anti-Terrorism” Conference, UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer urges him to retract. Interviewed on the Arlene Bynon Show, Toronto Talk Radio AM 640, June 28, 2011. “This is like Bernie Madoff leading an initiative to combat fraud,” said Neuer.

UN confirms: Ban Ki-moon did send message to Iran’s “Anti-Terror” Conf

Published by
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- at June 28, 2011 in Iran, Terrorism and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 0 Comments

From today’s daily UN press conference: full transcript here, video here.

Question:  Thank you, Farhan.  I have a report, message this morning from the organization UN Watch in Geneva about an international conference on global fight against terrorism in Tehran, which has a purported message from the Secretary-General — I am not vouching for the English on this — this is a reproduction from the conference’s website; it says:  “In a written message to international conference on fight against terrorism in Tehran, UN Secretary emphasized right against terrorism is a great responsibility for all nations and Governments.” My question to you is…

Acting Deputy Spokesperson:  You mean “fight”, not “right” against terrorism.

Question:  Pardon?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson:  Fight against terrorism; not right against terrorism.

Question:  It said “fight”, I am reading… As I said, I am not vouching for the English.  Did the Secretary-General make such a statement?  In fact, did he say — I am sure he has said something like that any number of times, did he make this, send this particular statement directly on the occasion of this conference?

Acting Deputy Spokesperson:  Yes.  In fact there is a message that was delivered on his behalf.  Obviously, the Secretary-General did not deliver it first-hand; but a message has been delivered on his behalf.  We are getting the text, and we’ll put that out in fact this afternoon.  As you know, the Secretary-General believes that all nations, all peoples are affected by terrorism; and that it is imperative that we involved as many States, as many peoples as possible in the fight against terrorism.  

UN Defends Endorsement of Iran’s “Anti-Terror” Conf

Published by
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- at June 27, 2011 in Iran, Terrorism and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 0 Comments

GENEVA — After a UN spokesperson defended the world body’s endorsement of Iran’s “anti-terrorism” conference—which accused the US, Britain, and Israel of perpetrating terrorism, and asserted a cover-up concerning 9/11 and the Holocaust—UN Watch today called on US and British representatives to intervene.

As reported today by The Jerusalem Post, a UN spokesperson defended Ban Ki-moon’s message to the conference, presented in person by a UN counter-terrorism official, saying, “the UN believes that it is important for all nations to work together in the fight against terrorism.”

UN Watch expressed “deep disappointment” with this reponse, and sent letters today to US Ambassador Susan Rice and British Ambassador Mark Justin Lyall Grant (see below), asking them to demand a UN retraction.

“If the Chinese Communist Party will now organize an international conference for internet freedom, and if Syria’s President Assad will hold one for the right to peaceful protest, will the UN also endorse those, on grounds that it is important for all nations to work together in promoting human rights?” asked Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based human rights monitoring organization.

“With Iran now trumpeting headlines such as ‘UN Chief Praises Tehran’s Anti-Terror Initiative,’ the UN must immediately distance itself from this insult to victims of Iranian terrorism worldwide. Mr. Ban should also condemn Iran’s president – as he has rightly done before — for insulting the memory of the victims of 9/11 and of the Holocaust.”

Click for letters

NGO Urges UN Chief to Retract Blessing for Cynical Iranian Conference on Terrorism

Published by
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- at June 26, 2011 in Iran, Terrorism and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 0 Comments

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mahdi Akhoundzadeh: “We are happy that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is sending his representatives to read out his message to Tehran conference.”

GENEVA — A watchdog organization is calling on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to retract his apparent endorsement of an Iranian government conference on terrorism that seeks to deny Iranian complicity, while instead blaming the US, Britain and Israel. The following letter was sent today to the UN chief by Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch.

# # # # #

His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon
The Secretary-General
The United Nations
New York, NY 10017

25 June 2011

Your Excellency,

Earlier this week, UN Watch warmly welcomed your deserved reelection as UN Secretary-General and applauded your principled leadership. It is in that spirit that we call upon you to distance yourself and the United Nations from a cynical conference now underway in Iran which claims to have your blessing and that of the United Nations.

Organized by the Iranian government, the conference is entitled “International Conference on Global Fight Against Terrorism.” It began today and ends tomorrow. The opening message by Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei attacked “the United States, Britain and some Western governments, with a black record in terrorist behaviors,” “satanic world powers,” and “terrorist organizations such as the Zionism International Agency.” (http://www.icterrorism.com/en/?news=163)

The Iranian Supreme Leader further says on the conference website that “the creation and growth of the wild and blind terrorism is basically the result of the wicked policy of America and England,” and that “it is a duty for all Muslims to confront and fight this inauspicious offspring which is the clear example of corruption on earth and fighting with God.” (http://www.icterrorism.com/en/?page=200) Continue reading ‘NGO Urges UN Chief to Retract Blessing for Cynical Iranian Conference on Terrorism’

Selected Resolutions from UNHRC 16th Session

Published by
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- at March 24, 2011 in "Defamation of Religion", "Traditional Values", Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 0 Comments

Strengthening of technical cooperation and consultative services in the Republic of Guinea

Situation of Human Rights in Cote d’Ivoire

  • Resolution (does not include oral revisions)
  • Adopted by consensus as orally revised

Cooperation between Tunisia and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

  • Resolution (does not include oral revisions)
  • Adopted by consensus as orally revised

Situation of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

Situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Promoting Human Rights through Traditional Values

Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, and discrimination, incitement to violence, and violence against persons based on religion or belief (Based on the former “Defamation of religions” resolution)

Outcome of HRC Review

  • Resolution
  • Adopted by consensus, USA disassociated itself

Human Rights in Myanmar (Burma)

  • Resolution
  • Adopted by consensus, China and Cuba disassociated themselves

Human Rights in the DRC

Human Rights in the Golan

Follow up to the Flotilla Report

Grave Violations in the OPT and East Jerusalem

Goldstone Follow up

Palestinian Right to Self Determination

Israeli Settlements

Text of Draft UN Rights Council Resolution on Iran

Published by
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- at March 14, 2011 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 1 Comment

The Human Rights Council is considering a draft resolution on Iran that aims to establish a Special Rapporteur to monitor and report on the human rights situation in the country. Co-sponsors of the resolution include Australia, the Maldives, and Norway. Click here for the draft text circulated today at informal consultations in Geneva, which were organized by Sweden, Moldova, Panama, Zambia, Macedonia, and the U.S.A.

Say No to Iran & Saudis Leading U.N. Women’s Rights Agency

Published by
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- at November 1, 2010 in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Women's Rights. 1 Comment

50554_155483681160666_7408031_n.jpg Speak out for women who are hanged, lashed and stoned to death: go to this web page and click “Like.”

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NGO Slams Iranian Non-Compliance in UN Human Rights Council Review

Published by
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- at June 10, 2010 in Iran. 0 Comments

Geneva, June 10,  2010 - The Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group, expressed disappointment today that it was removed from its top spot on the coveted list of speakers for today’s UN Human Rights Council review of Iran’s human rights record. (See below written copy of UN Watch testimony as submitted to the UN for its official record.)    Continue reading ‘NGO Slams Iranian Non-Compliance in UN Human Rights Council Review’

Iran names Seyed Mohammad Sajjadi as rep to UN Human Rights Council

Published by
Hillel Neuer
- at April 10, 2010 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 2 Comments

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a new Geneva ambassador to represent his fundamentalist regime at the UN Human Rights Council — see UN announcement below. Iran currently sits on the council as an observer, and, despite its abysmal record of brutality and repression, is now a competitive candidate to become a full voting member in elections to be held in May. Continue reading ‘Iran names Seyed Mohammad Sajjadi as rep to UN Human Rights Council’

Call for UN investigation of Ahmadinejad to be on UN Rights Council agenda next week

Published by
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- at March 4, 2010 in HRC 13th session and Iran. 0 Comments

In September, 50 Iranian human rights activists made an appeal to the United Nations for urgent intervention. UN Watch has now submitted this appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Council as an official document (A/HRC/13/NGO/117), which will be formally circulated by the Human Rights Council next week when it debates “Agenda Item 4: Situations that require the Council’s attention.” Click here for original PDF, or see below. This doesn’t mean any action will be taken, but at least ensures that the issue is placed squarely before the assembled delegates and UN officials. Continue reading ‘Call for UN investigation of Ahmadinejad to be on UN Rights Council agenda next week’

Rights Group Calls UN Review of Iran ‘Insufficent’; Urges Emergency Session, Inquiry, and Permanent Monitor

Published by
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- at February 15, 2010 in Iran and Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 0 Comments

GENEVA, February 15, 2010 -  Following Iran’s review today by the UN Human Rights Council (click here for summary and full transcript), Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch commended the U.S., France and other democracies for their “forceful criticism” of Iran’s abuses, but expressed alarm over a report by Le Monde that Asian countries might facilitate Iran’s election this May to the 47-member body, “an eventuality underscored by the litany of speeches today — by China, Cuba, Libya and others – falsely praising Iran.”

UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer welcomed the statements made today on behalf of Iranian rights victims, but cautioned that the outcome of today’s UN procedure is limited to a “toothless” report to be adopted on Wednesday.

“There are recognized and significant ways for the UN Human Rights Council to place a country on its watchlist of abusers, but this week’s procedure, which all states undergo automatically every four years, is not one of them,” said Neuer.

“If the Human Rights Council is serious about tackling Iran’s wide-scale and escalating attacks on its own citizens — and this an open question — then it must use its available tools to convene an emergency session; adopt a resolution condemning the violations and establishing an international inquiry into Iran’s post-election arrests, rapes, show-trials and exections; and reinstate the permanent post of a Special Rapporteur to monitor and report on the Iranian government’s compliance with international human right covenants.” Continue reading ‘Rights Group Calls UN Review of Iran ‘Insufficent’; Urges Emergency Session, Inquiry, and Permanent Monitor’

Democracies slam Iran abuses at UN review, others offer praise

Published by
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- at February 15, 2010 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Iran and Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 0 Comments

Iran’s record was reviewed today by the 47-nation UN Human Rights Council, under its quadrennial Universal Periodic Review (UPR) procedure. Click here for UN Watch’s full transcript of the debate, or see summary below. The video webcast archive will be available here.

Iran’s delegation was headed by Mohammad Javad Ardashir Larijani, Secretary General of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, who used the N-word to describe President Obama in a recent speech to the Islamic Engineers Society in Tehran. He mentioned to the UN today that his brother is Iranian parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani.

Continue reading ‘Democracies slam Iran abuses at UN review, others offer praise’

GA condemns Burma, DPRK, Iran

Published by
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- at November 20, 2009 in Burma (Myanmar), General Assembly, Iran, North Korea (DPRK) and Third Committee. 0 Comments

On Thursday, November 19, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee adopted a resolution that “strongly condemns the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Myanmar,” with 92 countries voting in favor, 26 voting against, and 65 abstaining.  Sweden, representing the European Union, as the main sponsor of this resolution, explained “there are still over 2,000 prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains in house arrest.  Fundamental freedoms in Myanmar, including the freedom of assembly and expression, remain severely restricted.”

The Third Committee also approved a resolution expressing “very serious concern at the persistence of continuing reports of systematic, widespread and grave violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.”  97 nations voted in favor of the resolution, 19 voted against, and 65 abstained.  Sweden, for the European Union, was also this resolution’s main sponsor.  In its statement, it criticized the government of the DPRK for “the grave, widespread, and systematic violations of human rights” and noted that “the DPRK has made no substantial effort to meet earlier requests made by the international community.”

On Friday, November 20, a draft resolution on the human rights situation in Iran was approved by a vote of 74 in favor to 48 against, with 59 abstentions.  Before voting on the resolution, Canada, as the main sponsor, explained:

“What is routine is Iran’s consistent failure to live up to its international human rights obligations.  These failings were only made all the more evident following the June 12th presidential election when the use of force by Iranian security forces resulted in the death, injury and arrest of many individuals, when many of those who were detained were subject to torture and denied access to legal representation, when freedom of association, assembly and expression were drastically curtailed.”

Iran, however, argued that the draft text represented an example of an “unhealthy and dangerous trend” of politicization and abuse of human rights mechanisms.  After the vote, Iran considered the abstentions and absences to represent, alongside the “no” votes, support for Iran. 

Additionally, on November 19, the representative of Zambia, on behalf of the African Group, introduced a draft decision on the Report of the Human Rights Council.  The Committee will likely be taking action on this resolution within the next few days.

Human Rights and Freedom go hand in hand for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Nazanin Afshin-Jam

Published by
unwatch
- at October 5, 2009 in Children's Rights, Iran and Middle East. 0 Comments

Nazanin Afshin-Jam, international human rights activist and President of Stop Child Executions, was hosted by UN Watch in September 2009 for a panel discussion during the U.N. Human Rights Council’s 12th session. She also spoke before the Council on grave human rights abuses in Iran following the election crisis. Read below her update about a recent meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Continue reading ‘Human Rights and Freedom go hand in hand for His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Nazanin Afshin-Jam’

Iran’s Ahmadinejad government attacks UN Watch for lack of “decency”

Published by
unwatch
- at September 16, 2009 in Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and Iran. 0 Comments

Following UN Watch’s speech today before the UN Human Rights Council exposing Iran’s abuses, the Ahmadinejad government fired back, accusing UN Watch of “unsubstantiated allegations” and  lacking “accuracy and decency.” See our statement, delivered by Iranian human rights defender Nazanin Afshin-Jam, and Iran’s reply below. Continue reading ‘Iran’s Ahmadinejad government attacks UN Watch for lack of “decency”’