Why Did Iran Say "NO" to the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights?
Huffingtonpost / Omid Memarian
05-Jul-2011 (one comment)

Less than a week after the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed former Maldivian Foreign Minister Ahmed Shaheed as Special Rapporteur on Human Rights for Iran, Head of Iran's Judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, in a TV interview said, "accepting the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights is not our policy."

In March, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution establishing a monitoring mechanism for Iran and appointing a Special Rapporteur. Last month, three candidates were considered for this position. The Iranian side, knowing that a Special Rapporteur would be immediately appointed soon, sent a message to Geneva that the Rapporteur on Iran should have three qualifications: Be a man, be a Muslim, and not be from an Arab country. One of the male candidates didn't seem to cause any controversy for Tehran; Ahmed Shaheed's appointment met all of Iran's requirements.

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by yolanda on Tue Jul 05, 2011 07:28 PM PDT

In putting his report together, Shaheed will not face too many problems if he is not allowed to go to Iran. Currently, many victims of violence and rape, students who suffered education discrimination, religious minorities -- such as the Bahais -- many human rights activists and distinguished human rights lawyers who have served prison terms over the past years and left Iran after their release, represent valuable, live sources of information that the Special Rapporteur can use in writing his report.


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