Iran rejects UN special rapporteur’s ‘baseless’ allegations
The Iranian Judiciary’s High Council for Human Rights rejected recent allegations leveled against the country by the United Nation’s special rapporteur as “baseless,” saying the person is misusing his position to make propaganda against the Islamic Republic.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the High Council for Human Rights said Javaid Rehman’s numerous interviews with various media outlets including the BBC are “a blatant violation” of the UN framework, within which he has been chosen as special rapporteur, Tasnim News Agency reported.
“Undoubtedly, his propaganda activities, which are accompanied by the misuse of a UN official title, and his baseless allegations against Iran seriously cast doubt on his competence as a rapporteur,” the statement read.
In his latest report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council on February 27, Rehman raised allegations over purported human rights violations in Iran, paying particular attention to the way the death penalty is carried out in the Islamic Republic.
In a meeting in Geneva in March 2018, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution against Iran and extended the special rapporteur’s mandate for another year.
According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, Iran believes that the extension of the mandate of the special rapporteur for another year is “unjustifiable and unnecessary.”
Tehran insists that the appointment of a UN special rapporteur on Iran’s human rights situation is a selective, politically-motivated and unacceptable move.