By Saman Rasoulpour

Source:

April 21, 2010

Iran’s application to join the United Nation’s Human Rights Council has brought forward protests from human rights activists across the board. Among them is Shirin Ebadi, Iran’s Nobel laureate who in a letter to UN Secretary General has stressed that because of its gross human rights violations, the Islamic republic does not qualify to be on the Human Rights Council.

Voting on selecting new members is set for May 13, 2010 and is done by a vote at the General Assembly. Iran is one of 5 countries that have applied for a seat at the body, the others being Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives and Qatar.

97 votes in the General Assembly are needed for the approval of the request which would give the Islamic republic membership at the UN Human Rights Council for three years.

Legal Violations

In her letter to the Secretary General, Shirin Ebadi says that the Islamic regime has both, legal violations and has in practice violated her international obligations in this regard. One of the issues she raises is “sexual discrimination.” She writes, “There are several cases of gender-based discrimination in the legislation introduced in the wake of the 1979 Revolution. For instance, the blood money for a woman is half that of a man. A man is permitted to have four wives and divorce any of them without giving any reasons. And there are many other instances of discriminatory laws.

Ebadi’s next point is religious discrimination in the Islamic republic. “According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the official state religion is the Shi’a branch of Islam. Other Islamic sects as well as Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Judaism, are also officially recognized religions. But the law does not give any rights to followers of other faiths, such as the Baha’i faith, who also live in Iran, as well as individuals who do not have any particular beliefs or do not subscribe to any particular moral or divine codes. Such groups and faiths are deprived of civil, political, social and cultural rights. In fact, since the Revolution, members of the Baha’i faith have even been barred from studying at universities.”

Cruel punishment is another subject Ebadi raises with the UN Secretary General. Punishments such as stoning, amputation of limbs, crucifixion and flogging exist in the law and have, sadly, been enforced on many occasions. In the same section of her letter, she points out to the low legal age for criminal responsibility in Iran, which is nine for girls and 15 for boys, resulting in the execution of individuals who had committed crimes when they were younger than 18 years of age. She also points out to government censorship of books, the press, denial to participate in the self government, etc.

In a section titled “Operational Performance”, this human rights activist draws attention to human rights violations in the post June 12, 2009 presidential election events. “Millions of Iranians took to the streets in the wake of the June 2009 presidential elections to protests against the poll results in a peaceful manner. The government responded with bullets and imprisoned numerous protestors. Many photographs and witnesses corroborate the government’s violence, not to mention instances when sufficient facts and evidence were presented to the authorities and public that exposed the identity of the killers. Sadly however, the Judiciary and other sate officials have not taken any steps to apprehend the killers or even reduce the level of violence,” she writes.

On the massive arrests that followed 2009’s elections, Ebadi writes, “A large number of political, civil, and even cultural activists have been arrested on unfounded charges. Some were sentenced to death after summary trials behind closed doors. Political prisoners are treated so badly that some have died in jail and under torture. These prisoners are even deprived of the rights afforded by law to ordinary and dangerous inmates.”

Turning Iran into “a big prison for journalists” is another issue raised in the letter. “In addition to closing down many newspapers, the authorities filter many news websites, jam Persian-language satellite broadcasts and arrest individuals by monitoring their emails and telephone calls.”

In her expose of Iran’s gross violations of human rights and disregard for its principles, Ebadi goes beyond domestic issues and mentions that there have been “several resolutions … adopted against Iran by various organs of the UN.”

Ebadi reminds the Secretary General of the qualifications needed to become a member of the UN Human Rights Council, citing to “Uphold the highest standards in the promotion of human rights”, and to “Extend full cooperation to the Human Rights Council”, among others which she says are missing regarding the Islamic republic.

In the end she hopes that the application of the Islamic republic will be turned down which would draw the attention of Iranian authorities to their violations and wrongdoings.

Islamic Republic’s Games

Following the publication of Ebadi’s open letter, Ebadi told Deutsche Welle radio station that the invitation that Iranian authorities have extended to UN Secretary General is a ploy to influence decision-making regarding Iran’s application to the UN Human Rights Council.

Iranian officials have announced that they have invited the Secretary General to Iran to discuss Iran’s nuclear issue but Ebadi says their goal is ready to get into the Human Rights Council. “One of the obstacles for Iran’s entry into the body is that it has refused to cooperate with any UN raporteur since 2005 to visit Iranian prisons. Iranian officials want to use the trip to gain support for their application,” she said.

According to Middle East Online, Elahe Amani, a human rights activist and a people’s representative in the sixth Majlis, has said that if Iran becomes a member of the Human Rights Council this would weaken the drive to gather international support for the struggle of Iranians to attain their civil and legal aspirations, including human dignity. She compares Iran’s possible membership to South Africa being given a seat at the UN committed battling Apartheid.