UN Fact-Finding Mission On Iran Not Significant: Deputy Minister

Javaid Rehman told Iran International on Saturday that "I'm confident Iranians will get justice", but the establishment of a precise accountability mechanism in the form of international fact-finding mission is a concrete step forward.

He said there are serious instances of violations of the rights of the people since September 16, 2022, when protests erupted, while over 500 people were killed by state authorities, including 71 children.

“Accountability must now take its course and people who have committed this very serious violations of human rights must be held accountable.”

He further noted that to bring a stop to further future serious violations of human rights in Iran the international community and global media must exert pressure on Iranian authorities to respect international law and the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Rehman also urged the Islamic Republic to allow fact-finding missions so that they can assess, investigate, and hold the perpetrators accountable.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the UN Special Rapporteur expressed support for the right of the Iranian people to protest.

“They have challenged the state authorities and they have also reached out to me to say that they are suffering, and their rights are being violated. So, I would encourage these young, brave Iranian people, and I am there for the Iranian people. I would support them,” he underlined.

According to the report, 182 Baluch people were executed in 23 prisons across Iran, out of which about 81% were drug-related cases.

At least 167 others have lost their lives due to the direct gunfire by military agents in Sistan-Baluchistan province.

On the other hand, at least 76 citizens were victims of "violence by generally unknown armed persons" last year. Activists believe these people are mostly armed by the IRGC to conduct missions for the security organizations.

The report further added that 82 people lost their lives when smuggling fuel across the border to Pakistan. Gasoline and especially diesel are extremely cheap in Iran because of heavy government fuel subsidies. One gallon of diesel is just 4 US cents.

More than 120 protesters were killed on Bloody Friday on September 30 and during protests in the following weeks in Zahedan and Khash, the report says. On Bloody Friday in Zahedan, the provincial capital, security forces killed more than 80 people, and injured hundreds. Zahedan is one of the few Sunni-majority cities in predominantly Shiite Iran.

Since then, people in Zahedan held anti-regime protest rallies for 25 weeks in a row amid heavy presence by security forces.

Following Friday prayers every week and sermons by Sunni Baluch religious leader Mowlavi Abdolhamid, people hold demonstrations to vent anger at regime brutalities.

The incident, which happened in one of the tourist hubs of the central city of Yazd on Tuesday, was reported by the Iranian media on Thursday. 

Apparently, hijab enforcers confronted an Iranian woman who reportedly was not covering herself in public, a common sight in society after more than six months of protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of ‘hijab police’ in September 2022. The woman, along with two of her companions, started quarreling with the hijab enforcer leading to a scuffle and the arrest of citizens. 

State media claim that the hijab enforcer was beaten by the protesting people, but such allegations have often turned out to be inaccurate by officials to justify its crackdown on protesters. 

Such confrontations have become more frequent in recent months as people are outraged by the regime’s brutal acts to enforce mandatory rules. Citizens are also emboldened by widespread public defiance. The country’s parliament is planning draft new repressive measures to further crackdowns on those defying mandatory hijab, including increased surveillance and cutting access to social services.

As the Holy Month of Ramadan starts, Iran's police warned Wednesday that there will be strict punishments for those caught eating in public during fasting hours. Every year police enforce a national plan to deal with those who break Ramadan rules in public, and transgressors are sometimes sentenced to months of detention and lashes. 

Almost six months to the day since the death of Gina Mahsa Amini, the 47-member states of the Human Right Council delivered their opinions on the Report in two meetings of the so-called Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. The Council will vote on the report on either the 3rd or 4th April, at the close of its 52nd Session, which began on 27 February.

The 20-page Report, published in February, details the evidence of serious violations of human rights, including murder, imprisonment and forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence and persecution in the context of protests that began last September. Professor Rehman says, “these were part of a systematic, widespread and state instigated policy…the scale of gravity of these crimes points to the possible commission of crimes against humanity.”

This was the Report’s first council outing for comment from member States. The majority of the Council members, some thirty countries, voiced overwhelming support for Rehman’s Report and its conclusions. Iran’s isolation on the world stage was on physical display in the huge, white, brightly lit circular Council chamber as ambassadors from country after country spoke in favor of Prof. Rehman’s findings and conclusions.

The sheer size of the Council chamber concentrates attention on what is being said: despite its size, it is a quiet space as all communication is through microphone and interpreter. Diplomats, press, delegates from dozens of NGOs and other organizations all listen with an earpiece.

There was a tension waiting to see how Iran, as ‘country of concern’ in UN language with right of first reply, would respond to Rehman’s summary.

Iran’s response in the Council was to go on the attack. Ambassador Ali Bahreini, head of the Iranian delegation at the UN in Geneva, sat stony-faced through Rehman’s summary of his Report at the beginning of the first session. Speaking in English, Bahreini called on “the spirit of spring and Nowruz (to) bring dignity, honesty and justice to our world” before moving on to say that Rahman was “in total disregard of his duties under Resolution 5/2, which emphasizes the impartiality of the special rapporteurs”. Bahreini said that Rehman “plays the role of the opposition. In all his writings and statements, he uses biased languages and violates the code of conduct of the special mandate holders.”

The Special Rapporteur maintained his characteristic imperturbability while the Ambassador described the Report as reading like a “tragic novel…allegations made by Mr. Javaid Rehman…have been repeated by a number of Western governments and their media outlets and terrorist groups stationed in their countries in the past months. They tried to portray their imagination as the reality of human rights situation in Iran.”

But beyond this, Mr Bahreini did not expand on what he understood to be the reality of the human rights situation in Iran. And the Ambassador left: no further appearance, no press conference.

While most of the Council members backed Rehman’s Report, there were dissenters: Russia, Syria, China, and Belarus were among the seven states who gave a negative response to the report (joined by Zimbabwe, Cuba and Laos).

Their statements did not dispute the facts in the Report but were a more general complaint about the “politicization” of human rights issues by Western countries and a resistance to the idea of scrutiny outside state control.

Professor Rehman’s very lawyer-like insistence on accountability might also have played a part, carrying the possibility of international arrest warrants being issued against state actors incriminated in human rights violations - Rehman gave the example of Hamid Nouri’s arrest and trial and the ongoing case of Flight PS752 in the International Criminal Court. News of the international arrest warrant issued against President Vladimir Putin was fresh in everyone’s mind.

We didn’t hear from Ambassador Bahraini again, but Professor Rehman seemed to be everywhere. As well as the two sessions in the Council itself, Javaid Rehman gave a press conference and spoke at several side events organized by bodies such as Article 19, Iran Human Rights, the Ensemble center la Seine de mort, International Federation of Journalists and others.

The mild-mannered, softly spoken Special Rapporteur has over the past few months been increasingly outspoken about human rights in Iran. Prof. Rehman has had the mandate since 2018 and has consistently called upon Iran to allow him into the country and to engage with his mandate, which Iran does not recognize. As for Iran’s criticism of his findings, Rehman says his report is based on fact and is not subjective and calls for Iran to give him substantive replies - and to let him in and engage with him.

“I should be reporting to you from Tehran,” he says.

Every year police enforce a national plan to deal with those who break Ramadan rules in public, and transgressors are sometimes sentenced to months of detention and lashes, but in most cases they are released after a few days. Last year dozens of businesses were closed by the government for violating the rules.

Iran’s police command issued a statement on Wednesday warning there will be serious consequences including arrests and fines to people breaking "Islamic rules" and eating during fasting hours, especially in public spaces such as parks, gardens or vehicles.

The statement also warned hotel and restaurant managers, terminals, airports, and railway stations that they can provide services to passengers only "if they cover their space in such a way that it cannot be seen from the outside".

In addition to avoiding certain actions mentioned in the Qur'an, Muslims must abstain from food or drink of any kind from dawn to dusk, which will be about 14 hours in Iran this year.

The vocal warnings were met with criticism by Iranian lawmaker Mojtaba Tavangar, who criticized the "politicization of fasting" by regime officials.

Ramadan fasting began Thursday in Iran but a declining number of Iranians observe the traditional fasting period. As the population becomes more secular, less Iranians feel as committed to the rigid traditions of Islam, which the regime tries to impose on their lives.