Iran’s human rights condemned by UN
November 22nd, 2007 by Admin II The Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, 20 November 2007, passed a resolution (A/C.3/62/L.43) condemning Iran’s appalling human rights record.
In this resolution, the General Assembly expressed “its very serious concern” at a whole range of egregious human rights violations, including torture, flogging, amputations, public executions, stoning, execution of minors, violent action taken against women, and called upon the Iranian government to eliminate all its appalling and cruel practices.
The resolution condemns the… increasing discrimination and other human rights violations against person belonging to religious, ethnic, linguistic or other minorities, recognized or otherwise … and in particular attacks on Baha’is and their faith in State-sponsored media, increasing efforts by the State to identify and monitor Baha’is and prevention of the Baha’i faith from attending university and from sustaining themselves economically…
and calls upon the Iranian government… to implement, inter alia, the 1996 report of the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance, which recommended ways in which the Islamic Republic of Iran could emancipate the Baha’i community.
We are encouraged to see the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran condemned in such strong language.
Only a few countries known for abuse of human rights defended Iran’s position, and these included Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus and Pakistan!
The resolution now has to go before the Plenary of the UN General Assembly.
I’ve just recieved two emails.
First of them, a general, send-to-all, saying this:
«Dear Friends,
This is the latest news about the Baháí persecution in Iran. Some of the Baháís in Shiraz wanted me to bring this news to the notice of you all. They want us to help them and spread the news out to everywhere. They want to broadcast this news. So please do whatever you can do. We are the ones who can do that, nobody does that for us.
About one year ago, 54 Baháí youth were arrested in Shiraz, Iran; just because they were serving the poor people living in a deprived area around the city. Three of them whose names are Ms. Raha Sabet, Mr. Sasan Taghva and Ms. Haleh Ruhi are sentenced to be in prison for four years. The rest of them are sentenced to be in prison for one year. These sentences cannot be still enforceable (according to the law in Iran). But on Monday, November 19, one of the governmental departments calls these three Baháís to go there and get back their belongings. But when they go there, instead of getting back their belongings, they find out that they want to send them to the Adel-Abad Prison for executing the sentence (four years of imprisonment).
Warm regards,»
And the second, from a relative of one of them to me saying that they were not taking in Adel-Abad, and their parents have no idea about their whereabout…
A third email, recieved hours after the last one: “my cousin and her friends have been found. They are in Adel-Abad prison and tomorrow my aunt and uncle are being invited in for questioning or an interview or something like that. At least they now know where their daughter is at.”