Anti-Islamic Laughable Report on Violation of Human Rights in Iran
Ahmed Shaheed’s report on IRI’s human rights record is a copy of baseless accusations posed in MKO and sedition movement news sites against IR Iran. Raja News.
Former Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed who was appointed as the UN Special Raporteur on Iran in June 17, 2011 by the UN Council on Human Rights, released a report in March 7, 2012 which is a copy of baseless accusations posed in MKO and sedition movement news sites against IR Iran.
While the most important factor which urged UN Human Rights Council to appoint Shaheed as UN Special Rapporteur on Iran was the fact that he is a Muslim and aware of Islamic rules, most of the accusation in the Shaheed’s report against IR Iran questioned the rules of Islam or the rules approved in Iranian parliament.
Shaheed’s report includes items that are for Muslims and Iranians laughable. Some of them refer to the punishments posed upon some individuals who insulted Iranian-Islamic values.
Article 17 of Shaheed’s report questioned a bill aimed at preventing corruption of MPs by calling for the establishment of a committee to supervise them.
The article 17 said: “According to reports submitted to the Special Rapporteur, another bill aimed at the review and discipline of Members of Parliament would establish a supervisory committee empowered to conclude that any statement, speech or interview conducted by a member would violates the Moral Charter of Representatives or undermine national security. The bill would also allow for disciplinary action, including the suspension of salary, the suspension of parliamentary committee memberships, the imposition of travel restrictions and even dismissal from Parliament.”
A bill which called for the creation of a supreme committee to supervise the establishment and work of non-governmental organizations is one of the primitive rights of parliaments around the world has been also questioned by Shaheed in article 16 of his report.
The article 16 said: “A bill on the establishment and supervision of non-governmental organizations would create a supreme committee to supervise the establishment and work of such organizations. The committee would be managed by the Ministry of the Interior and members would include, inter alia, representatives from the Ministry of Intelligence and security forces, such as the paramilitary Basij. The committee would be mandated to distribute registration permits to non-governmental organizations, exercise significant power over their boards of directors, and disband organizations. According to the bill, the committees’ approval would also be required for activities by organizations, including participation in seminars and conferences and educational sessions abroad, and collaboration and/or contact with international organizations and agencies of the United Nations.”
Meanwhile, the family protection bill which is a bill in support of family regulated based on Islamic commands is another example that article 18 of Shaheed’s report questioned.
The article 18 said: “The family protection bill seeks to amend article 22 a law, the Family Protection
Act, which allows men to enter up to four marriages with the permission of their wives and a ruling from the court, by allowing men to enter into temporary marriages without the knowledge or permission of their wives. A man would only be required to register additional marriages with the court in the event of (a) pregnancy of his wife; (b) agreement of the two sides; (c) conditions of the marriage. The Special Rapporteur contends that this legislative development raises additional obstacles to the promotion of gender equality. Since this bill would seriously curtail women’s marital rights and ability to determine issues that have a significant socio-economic impact on their lives.”
While blood money is something accepted and stressed by the Islamic Sharia Law, Shaheed in article 43 questioned it: “According to Fars, eight children were severely burned (some suffering limb loss) on 5 December 2006. The Ministry of Education and Development was found guilty of negligence in the case of the fire, but the legal counsel for the children stated that the final ruling from the court allocated twice as much diyah (see paragraph 37 above) to the male victims than the female victims. After public outcry about the discriminatory outcome, State media reported that girls would be paid an equal amount. The Special Rapporteur commends the recent decision to overturn a court ruling to pay girls half the diyah allotted to boys for burns and injuries sustained in a school fire. He encourages the Government to reassess all laws that discriminate against women and girls, especially those that place unequal value on their lives and bodily parts.”
Shaheed sympathy for the terrorist opposition armed groups has been also included in the article 15 of his report, calling it as the comprehensive violation of human rights in Iran. Article 15 said: “A new bill, entitled the “Parties and Associations Law Reform Plan”, defines membership requirements for all political organizations, stating that “followers and associates of antagonistic groups that act or have previously acted against the Islamic Republic” are prohibited from membership of political parties. Those deemed ineligible would be denied operation licenses and therefore prohibited from forming a political party or association. In the Special Rapporteur’s view, such a bill unduly restricts freedom of association and would marginalize a large segment of civil society.”
While Shaheed’s report is a legal UN document, it has become an inexpertly collection of unreliable undocumented data on Iran’s 2009 presidential election unrests. Article 23 of this report said: “A former Member of Parliament (wishing to remain anonymous) conveyed to the Special Rapporteur, however, that the scope for free and fair elections in his country is severely undermined by the Guardian Council’s ability to select candidates. He stated that this power is frequently used to prevent individuals perceived as reformist from participating in elections, and also silences representatives who fear that dissent would invalidate their candidacies. The wetness’s account also described widespread fraud during the 2008 parliamentary elections and the 2009 presidential election, which the witness asserted was meant to target candidates deemed to represent a reformist agenda.”
In the meantime, in order to support his idea of fraud in Iran’s 2009 election, Shaheed in the article 26 of his report claimed that being the son-in- law of Lorestan province and the son of Azarbijan province, opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi should get higher percent of votes than the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in these regions.
The article 26 claimed “The witness further cited the exceptional size of the winning margin nationwide (even in the hometowns of Mr Karroubi and Mr Mousavi), indicate that the authorities conspired to commit electoral fraud and to allay suspicion and protests.”
Furthermore, immoral anti-Islam actions of the two Iranian footballers in the playing field are one of significant subjects which have been referred to as the violation of human rights in the Shaheed report. Suspension and firing of two Iranian football players Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezaei for the public insult to Islamic culture of Iranian nation has been criticized in Shaheed’s report.
In his report, he also protested the lack of freedom for homosexuals in Iran and called it as violation of human rights, the article 67 of his report said: “The Special Rapporteur shares the concern of the Human Rights Committee that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community face harassment, persecution and cruel punishment and are denied their basic human rights, including their right to life. Iranian officials often qualify homosexuality as a disease, and insist on applying stringent punishment for acts perceived as homosexual in nature. For example, in 2011, two prominent Iranian soccer players were indefinitely suspended and fined for committing an “immoral act” on the field by appearing to intimately touch each other during goal-scoring celebrations.”
Shaheed report which is a copy of Iranian opposition accusations against IR Iran can become a good source of joke for the Iranian and even world satirists.
In conclusion, paradoxical approach of UN Human Right Council is questionable because as Islamic Republic of Iran is criticized by such laughable baseless reports, regional countries including Saudi Arabia who do everyday crimes against their own people and neighboring countries like Bahraini nation are not even warned about their oppressive behavior toward civilians and crackdown on peaceful protests.
Iranian officials have strongly rejected the appointment of UN special rapporteur on human rights on Iran and called it an unacceptable political action by a number of member-states of UN Human Rights Council against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran has not had a Special Rapporteur on human rights since 2002, but under the pressure of US and its allies in the UN Human Rights Council, a resolution to appoint a Special Rapporteur was adopted at the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 24, 2011.
Translated by Hamdollah Emadi Heydari
* This piece was originally published in Raja News. Raja News has been a keen supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, though their support has abated following Ahmadinejad's recent measures which imply his confrontation with Iran's leadership. The first part of the website’s title, Raja, is in fact an allusion to the last name of Iran's second president, Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, who was known for his austere lifestyle and affection for the lower class, a trait Ahmadinejad has been trying to return to the higher echelon of Iranian politics since his presidency.
While the most important factor which urged UN Human Rights Council to appoint Shaheed as UN Special Rapporteur on Iran was the fact that he is a Muslim and aware of Islamic rules, most of the accusation in the Shaheed’s report against IR Iran questioned the rules of Islam or the rules approved in Iranian parliament.
Shaheed’s report includes items that are for Muslims and Iranians laughable. Some of them refer to the punishments posed upon some individuals who insulted Iranian-Islamic values.
Article 17 of Shaheed’s report questioned a bill aimed at preventing corruption of MPs by calling for the establishment of a committee to supervise them.
The article 17 said: “According to reports submitted to the Special Rapporteur, another bill aimed at the review and discipline of Members of Parliament would establish a supervisory committee empowered to conclude that any statement, speech or interview conducted by a member would violates the Moral Charter of Representatives or undermine national security. The bill would also allow for disciplinary action, including the suspension of salary, the suspension of parliamentary committee memberships, the imposition of travel restrictions and even dismissal from Parliament.”
A bill which called for the creation of a supreme committee to supervise the establishment and work of non-governmental organizations is one of the primitive rights of parliaments around the world has been also questioned by Shaheed in article 16 of his report.
The article 16 said: “A bill on the establishment and supervision of non-governmental organizations would create a supreme committee to supervise the establishment and work of such organizations. The committee would be managed by the Ministry of the Interior and members would include, inter alia, representatives from the Ministry of Intelligence and security forces, such as the paramilitary Basij. The committee would be mandated to distribute registration permits to non-governmental organizations, exercise significant power over their boards of directors, and disband organizations. According to the bill, the committees’ approval would also be required for activities by organizations, including participation in seminars and conferences and educational sessions abroad, and collaboration and/or contact with international organizations and agencies of the United Nations.”
Meanwhile, the family protection bill which is a bill in support of family regulated based on Islamic commands is another example that article 18 of Shaheed’s report questioned.
The article 18 said: “The family protection bill seeks to amend article 22 a law, the Family Protection
Act, which allows men to enter up to four marriages with the permission of their wives and a ruling from the court, by allowing men to enter into temporary marriages without the knowledge or permission of their wives. A man would only be required to register additional marriages with the court in the event of (a) pregnancy of his wife; (b) agreement of the two sides; (c) conditions of the marriage. The Special Rapporteur contends that this legislative development raises additional obstacles to the promotion of gender equality. Since this bill would seriously curtail women’s marital rights and ability to determine issues that have a significant socio-economic impact on their lives.”
While blood money is something accepted and stressed by the Islamic Sharia Law, Shaheed in article 43 questioned it: “According to Fars, eight children were severely burned (some suffering limb loss) on 5 December 2006. The Ministry of Education and Development was found guilty of negligence in the case of the fire, but the legal counsel for the children stated that the final ruling from the court allocated twice as much diyah (see paragraph 37 above) to the male victims than the female victims. After public outcry about the discriminatory outcome, State media reported that girls would be paid an equal amount. The Special Rapporteur commends the recent decision to overturn a court ruling to pay girls half the diyah allotted to boys for burns and injuries sustained in a school fire. He encourages the Government to reassess all laws that discriminate against women and girls, especially those that place unequal value on their lives and bodily parts.”
Shaheed sympathy for the terrorist opposition armed groups has been also included in the article 15 of his report, calling it as the comprehensive violation of human rights in Iran. Article 15 said: “A new bill, entitled the “Parties and Associations Law Reform Plan”, defines membership requirements for all political organizations, stating that “followers and associates of antagonistic groups that act or have previously acted against the Islamic Republic” are prohibited from membership of political parties. Those deemed ineligible would be denied operation licenses and therefore prohibited from forming a political party or association. In the Special Rapporteur’s view, such a bill unduly restricts freedom of association and would marginalize a large segment of civil society.”
While Shaheed’s report is a legal UN document, it has become an inexpertly collection of unreliable undocumented data on Iran’s 2009 presidential election unrests. Article 23 of this report said: “A former Member of Parliament (wishing to remain anonymous) conveyed to the Special Rapporteur, however, that the scope for free and fair elections in his country is severely undermined by the Guardian Council’s ability to select candidates. He stated that this power is frequently used to prevent individuals perceived as reformist from participating in elections, and also silences representatives who fear that dissent would invalidate their candidacies. The wetness’s account also described widespread fraud during the 2008 parliamentary elections and the 2009 presidential election, which the witness asserted was meant to target candidates deemed to represent a reformist agenda.”
In the meantime, in order to support his idea of fraud in Iran’s 2009 election, Shaheed in the article 26 of his report claimed that being the son-in- law of Lorestan province and the son of Azarbijan province, opposition presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi should get higher percent of votes than the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in these regions.
The article 26 claimed “The witness further cited the exceptional size of the winning margin nationwide (even in the hometowns of Mr Karroubi and Mr Mousavi), indicate that the authorities conspired to commit electoral fraud and to allay suspicion and protests.”
Furthermore, immoral anti-Islam actions of the two Iranian footballers in the playing field are one of significant subjects which have been referred to as the violation of human rights in the Shaheed report. Suspension and firing of two Iranian football players Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezaei for the public insult to Islamic culture of Iranian nation has been criticized in Shaheed’s report.
In his report, he also protested the lack of freedom for homosexuals in Iran and called it as violation of human rights, the article 67 of his report said: “The Special Rapporteur shares the concern of the Human Rights Committee that members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community face harassment, persecution and cruel punishment and are denied their basic human rights, including their right to life. Iranian officials often qualify homosexuality as a disease, and insist on applying stringent punishment for acts perceived as homosexual in nature. For example, in 2011, two prominent Iranian soccer players were indefinitely suspended and fined for committing an “immoral act” on the field by appearing to intimately touch each other during goal-scoring celebrations.”
Shaheed report which is a copy of Iranian opposition accusations against IR Iran can become a good source of joke for the Iranian and even world satirists.
In conclusion, paradoxical approach of UN Human Right Council is questionable because as Islamic Republic of Iran is criticized by such laughable baseless reports, regional countries including Saudi Arabia who do everyday crimes against their own people and neighboring countries like Bahraini nation are not even warned about their oppressive behavior toward civilians and crackdown on peaceful protests.
Iranian officials have strongly rejected the appointment of UN special rapporteur on human rights on Iran and called it an unacceptable political action by a number of member-states of UN Human Rights Council against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Iran has not had a Special Rapporteur on human rights since 2002, but under the pressure of US and its allies in the UN Human Rights Council, a resolution to appoint a Special Rapporteur was adopted at the 16th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 24, 2011.
Translated by Hamdollah Emadi Heydari
* This piece was originally published in Raja News. Raja News has been a keen supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, though their support has abated following Ahmadinejad's recent measures which imply his confrontation with Iran's leadership. The first part of the website’s title, Raja, is in fact an allusion to the last name of Iran's second president, Mohammad-Ali Rajaei, who was known for his austere lifestyle and affection for the lower class, a trait Ahmadinejad has been trying to return to the higher echelon of Iranian politics since his presidency.