Analysts and human rights activists react to statements by Head of Iranian Human Rights Delegation at the UN

Moments after the Head of the Iranian Human Rights Delegation, Mohammad Javad Larijani, finished delivering his statements, Dr. Abdolkarim Lahiji, vice president of the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH), told the Campaign that he was stunned by Larijani’s words. He said that he had been watching this “obscene” show for the past 25 years:  “This year, the obscenity level has reached a new height.  The Islamic Republic of Iran has not had a track record this bad over the past 20 years, but I see that someone comes to defend this policy.  This really does show that the UN Human Rights Council is treated the same way as the Human Rights Commission was, a stage for diplomatic political mockery and not a real attempt at addressing the conditions of human rights in a country.  Over the past few years, Iran has held the first place for highest number of executions in the world.  It is true that Iran follows China on that list, but comparing the ratio of executions to the population, Iran is way ahead of China.  You all witnessed the tens of murders which happened during the Iranian people’s peaceful protests of last year.  Currently there are more than 3,000 political prisoners in Iran, 65 of whom are journalists.  The owner of this black report card now is saying that human rights in Iran is improving and saying that the Iranian parliament is passing laws which are related to improving human rights in Iran.  This is nothing but using human rights as a tool for settling political and ideological differences–vis a vis Western countries and side-by-side of friend countries such as Sudan and Bangladesh.  As an individual who has spent 40 years of his life on human rights, I must express my regret over the fact that UN has become a stage for such obscene political shows.”