26 April 2022
Call on the UN to stop minimising and normalising the crimes committed by the Islamic regime in Iran!
Alena Douhan, the Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Sanctions, is due to visit Iran from 7 to 18 May 2022. A statement issued by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) stated that during the visit, the Special Rapporteur will meet with representatives of the Islamic regime and various other organisations including private, financial and other sectors as well as the “national human rights” institution in Iran!
I would like to draw the attention of the OHCHR and ask what they mean by saying “national human rights” institution in Iran? Do they think the human rights institutions exist in Iran and their activists are allowed to have the freedom to freely act for human rights in Iran without being arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned, tortured and even executed in Iran?
I would like to ask Ms. Alena Douhan, is she not aware of the public executions and the crackdown on the protests by the Islamic regime in Iran? Or have she and the OHCHR decided to close their eyes to the gross violation of human rights in Iran and minimise the crime against humanity to the impact of the sanctions?
The OHCHR is well aware that anyone living under the Islamic regime, who even attempts to speak about human rights in the country, is arrested and tortured, if not executed. Therefore, implying that human rights institutions are allowed to freely speak with Ms Alena Douhan is nothing but the legitimisation of the crimes of the Islamic regime in Iran.
The OHCHR in its statement asks the public to send OHCHR questions, input, and comments. On behalf of the Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI) and the political prisoners and their families in Iran, I would like to draw your attention to the following:
- Hundreds of thousands of people in Iran have been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, rape, imprisonment, and even execution during the last 43 years. The crime against humanity committed by the Islamic regime started when they took power and before any sanction existed. Moreover, the main cause of poverty and destitution in Iran, which existed well before the sanctions started, is not the sanction, it is mainly the Islamic regime. It is the Islamic regime that has imposed poverty, suppression, addiction, and other miseries on millions of people in Iran.
- Hundreds of rights activists including teachers, workers, artists, lawyers, women’s rights activists, LGBTQ, ethnic and religious minorities, students, and farmers, who protest to demand their basic rights, have been harassed and abused daily, arrested, tortured, imprisoned and some have even been executed.
Will Ms Alena Douhan demand an explanation about all brutal and violent crackdowns of demonstrations, and demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Iran?
- Political prisoners are intentionally deprived of medical attention and some of them have been murdered by depriving them of any needed and necessary treatment. Two recent examples were jailed writer Mr Baktash Abtin and jailed protester Mr Mehdi Salehi. Please see the reports by CFPPI and the recent report by Amnesty International on the deprivation of prisoners from treatment, at the end of this letter.
Will Ms Alena Douhan demand that the Islamic regime grant her freedom to an unsurprised and independent visit to different prisons and the freedom to speak with prisoners and their families who died due to intentional deprivation of treatment?
- The witnesses and families of those killed in the crackdown of November 2019, who gave testimony in the Aban Tribunal have been harassed, arrested, and given jail sentences. The families have been banned from holding a funeral or investigating the death of their loved ones. Please see the attached information.
Will Ms Alena Douhan investigate this by referring to the Aban Tribunal and ask the regime in Iran for an explanation?
The list of crimes against humanity committed by the Islamic regime in the last 43 years is endless and the above are just a few examples of that.
The Islamic regime in Iran has continuously refused to allow the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran to visit Iran. This is clear why. However, the same regime allows the UN Special Rapporteur on Unilateral Sanctions to visit Iran! This is because the Islamic regime wants to use this as a tool to legitimise its regime internationally, expand its crime and terrorism and remove sanctions on its leaders and in particular on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The OHCHR, on the other hand, would collude with the Islamic regime in this visit if they do not demand an independent, unsupervised visit to the prisons in Iran. This would be a slap on the face of millions of people in Iran who have been arrested, tortured, and imprisoned for protesting or even attempting to express their views and oppose the Islamic regime.
This is unacceptable, especially from an organisation that claims to protect human rights. We demand:
- Any visit by a UN Special Rapporteur must include an unsupervised, independent visit, to inspect the prisons and to freely speak with political prisoners and their families.
It is only in this way, Ms Alena Douhan and OHCHR could understand the sheer scale of the crime committed by the Islamic regime and use this opportunity to pressure the regime. Otherwise, Ms Alena Douhan’s visit will only benefit the Islamic regime in its attempt to use any tool to gain international recognition. It will benefit the Islamic regime as it will give the regime legitimacy and more freedom to imprison, torture, and execute more activists in Iran.
Shiva Mahbobi
Spokeswoman for Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran (CFPPI)
Shiva.mahbobi@gmail.com Tel: +447572356661
Relevant reports:
https://rsf.org/en/news/rsf-asks-un-investigate-iranian-journalist-baktash-abtins-death
https://pen.org/press-release/joined-by-pen-sydney-and-pen-melbourne-mourns-baktash-abtins-death/
