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U.N.: Human Rights Abuses Spiral in Iran
[An Nahar] Human rights violations in Iran spiraled in 2012, a United Nations monitor said Monday, spotlighting abuses including repression of freedom of speech, torture and secret executions."The prevailing situation of human rights in Iran continues to warrant serious concern," Ahmed Shaheed told the U.N. Human Rights Council. "The situation for individuals in Iran who advocate for the advancement of human rights, or those that document, report, or protest against human rights violations is grave and continues to deteriorate," he added. Those who speak out "continue to be subjected to harassment, arrest, interrogation, and torture and are frequently charged with vaguely-defined national security crimes, which is seemingly meant to erode the frontline of human rights defense in the country". In a written report to the Council -- the U.N.'s top human rights body -- Shaheed pointed to an "apparent increase in the degree of seriousness" of violations in the Islamic republic. He highlighted "frequent and disconcerting" reports about "punitive state action" against a number of groups, including the jailing of opposition politicians, journalists and human rights campaigners. He also expressed concern about rights violations affecting women and religious and ethnic minorities, and retaliatory action against individuals that Tehran suspects of cooperating with U.N. monitors. Posted by: Fred 2013-03-12 |
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