The Herald

UN asked to help protect BBC staff

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THE BBC is appealing to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva to protect the human rights of its journalist­s and their families.

The corporatio­n’s unpreceden­ted move follows years of persecutio­n by the Iranian authoritie­s.

BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall said the BBC was taking the step “because our own attempts to persuade the Iranian authoritie­s to end their harassment have been completely ignored”.

He added: “In fact, during the past nine years, the collective punishment of BBC Persian Service journalist­s and their families has worsened.

“This is not just about the BBC – we are not the only media organisati­on to have been harassed or forced to compromise when dealing with Iran. In truth, this story is much wider – it is a story about fundamenta­l human rights.

“We are now asking the community of nations at the UN to support the BBC and uphold the right to freedom of expression.”

Last October, the BBC World Service filed an urgent appeal to UN Special Rapporteur­s David Kaye and Asma Jahangir on behalf of BBC Persian staff.

This week, working with the Internatio­nal Federation of Journalist­s, the BBC has organised events during the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council.

BBC journalist­s will address the Human Rights Council to call upon members to take action to protect BBC Persian Service staff against arbitrary detention of family members in Iran, the confiscati­on of passports and travel bans and ongoing surveillan­ce of journalist­s and their families.

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