HCHR_ Following the approval of the resolution proposed by Canada (which has a black record regarding human rights) in the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly regarding the situation of human rights in Iran, the HCHR of the I.R. of Iran issued a statement in response to this resolution.
In this statement, referring to the I.R. of Iran’s system which is based on religious democracy, it is stated: The I.R. of Iran is a system based on religious democracy that emerged from the Islamic Revolution, which, relying on Islamic values and deep religious, human and moral teachings, managed to protect the people of Iran from gross violations of the fundamental rights and oppressions of the authoritarian regime of the monarchy supported by the West. This revolution was a human rights revolution after which all democratic institutions were immediately established in Iran, and elections are a clear manifestation of that. The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that human rights should not be abused as a tool to achieve foreign policy goals.
The claimants of human rights, who are the founders and supporters of the resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran, have sided with the criminal Zionist regime
This statement adds: Unfortunately, more than ever before, human rights have been politicized and double standards and discriminatory approaches are rampant in this field. The widespread crimes of the Zionist regime in the Gaza Strip, which is an exhibition of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and racial and ethnic cleansing, on the one hand, the ineffectiveness of human rights mechanisms and tools, on the other hand, show the selective and biased policies regarding the issue of human rights. The human rights claimants who are the founders and supporters of the establishment of the human rights mechanism and the approval of the resolution against independent countries such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, not only commit extensive and gross violations of human rights in their territory, but have also sided with this criminal regime.
It is also emphasized in the statement that the Islamic Republic of Iran has taken tremendous measures in the fields of political, civil, economic, social and cultural rights during the past 45 years. All indicators, including in the fields of education, health, development, people's participation, as well as the human development index, have significant growth, especially compared to the period before the Islamic Revolution. We do not forget that before the Islamic Revolution, the authoritarian regime ruling Iran was supported by the West and human rights claimants, and human rights had no place in these relations. On the other hand, the Islamic Republic of Iran also has appropriate interactions in the field of human rights in the international sphere: interaction with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, interaction with Special Procedures’ mandate holders, responding to special procedures correspondence, joining a significant number of international human rights treaties and presenting periodic reports in the implementation of their commitments, taking a principled approach in supporting the UPR mechanism, and organizing bilateral human rights dialogues, are only a part of these interactions.
Canada, the main sponsor of the anti-Iranian resolution, suffers from widespread human rights violations in its territory
The statement also notes: This resolution has been presented by Canada for many years. Everyone is familiar with the widespread violation of indigenous rights and the discovery of mass graves of indigenous students in this country. Considering the situation of women in this country is enough to realize the falsity of this country's claims in the field of human rights: the vast majority of discovered victims of human trafficking in Canada are women and girls, 25% of whom are under the age of 18. Out of every 100 rapes, only 6 cases are reported to the police. 11% of women experienced physical injuries due to rape and 60% of rape victims are under 17 years old. 83% of disabled women have been raped or sexually abused during their lifetime, and 57% of indigenous women have also been sexually abused. Between October 2020 and April 2021, 43.9 percent of the 4,900 workers surveyed said they experienced at least one form of sexual harassment or violence on the job, and 70 percent of them had to leave their jobs.
The statement also refers to Canada's black record of human rights, saying that while only 1 in 20 women in Canada is indigenous, in 2021, more than 34,200 rapes were reported in Canada, which shows an 18% growth compared to the previous year. Nearly 50% of women in Canadian prisons are indigenous women who spend more time in solitary confinement than other women and have tougher conditions for release. 27.3 percent of the homeless population is also made up of women. Every night, 6,000 women (often with children) seek refuge in emergency shelters. 96% of homeless women have experienced some kind of sexual assault, theft, insult and threat. 75% of homeless women struggle with disorders such as anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. In 2021, 127,082 people in Canada were victims of family violence, 69% of whom were women and girls. In this same year, 173 women were killed due to violence, of which 58 were indigenous women and girls. The gender wage gap is also estimated at 20 percent, meaning that for equal work, women earn 77 cents comparing to one dollar that men earn.
The human rights project against Iran is a politicized and guided project
Putting all such conditions together, one can come to this conclusion that the human rights project against the Islamic Republic of Iran (General Assembly resolution, appointment of a special rapporteur, establishment of a fact-finding mission and parallel reporting by the UN Secretary General) is completely a politicized and guided project. For the political nature of this project to be approved, just make a detailed comparison between the draft resolution against the Islamic Republic of Iran and the recently approved resolution of the General Assembly regarding the deplorable conditions in Palestine.
This statement reminds: While the UN Security Council remains unable to stop the war and send humanitarian aid to Gaza and the UN Human Rights Council have been unable or unwilling to convene an urgent session, the claimant countries have gathered together with the support of politicized reports of human rights mechanisms, to issue a resolution about an independent country supporting human rights! Even though the current resolution is completely based on political goals and with no regard to the facts and significant human rights achievements in the Islamic Republic of Iran and we completely reject it, for the sake of clarification, some points are mentioned as follows:
The claimant countries and relevant international organizations have not fulfilled their responsibility regarding Afghan refugees
1. According to field statistics, the population of Afghans in Iran has reached 8 million people. In the conditions caused by sanctions, Iran has always been hospitable towards the Afghan population and provided various services to them, while the claimant countries and relevant international organizations have not fulfilled their joint responsibility in providing the necessary assistance to Iran. The inclusion of this issue in the draft resolution, that Afghans are discriminated against, etc., is completely false and deviant and indicates their always indebted, political and irresponsible position.
The appointment of the so-called Fact-Finding Mission on the I.R of Iran, is unjustified and unconstructive/Iran was facing full-scale riots, not peaceful assemblies
2. The appointment of the so-called Fact-Finding mission in the field of human rights for a country like Iran which always adheres to its obligations towards its citizens and the international community, is basically unwarranted and unconstructive and is caused by the political intentions and desires of some countries. In addition, the human rights monitoring mechanisms of the United Nations should be based on professional, fair, non-discriminatory, and non-political principles. Principles that are unfortunately not followed. From the very beginning of its establishment, the mission started its political activities, opinions and positions and showed that it moves in line with the political interests of the authors of this mission. Last year, the Islamic Republic of Iran faced full-scale riots, in which the role of some foreign countries, terrorist groups, anti-Iranian media and social networks was clearly evident. Iran was not faced with peaceful assemblies; the discovery of more than 8,000 weapons, the arrest of more than 100 terrorists and the martyrdom of dozens of law enforcement officers by rioters confirm this issue. Nevertheless, Iran dealt with these assemblies in a responsible manner. The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran appointed a special Committee to investigate the various dimensions of these incidents and to determine on the damages, and the individuals who were injured, arrested and the dead. On the other hand, innocent people have been awarded compensation. The broad Pardon by the Supreme Leader also brought about the cases of almost all the accused and convicted of these incidents to be closed.
The widespread amnesty of accused and convicted people related to riots, did not mean that all of them were in custody
3. Regarding the amnesty of convicts and accused related to last year's riots, it is necessary to emphasize that, firstly, the arrest of people was in accordance with the law and based on valid evidence and documents, so no one was arrested arbitrarily and such a claim is baseless. Secondly, according to the Criminal Procedure Law, pardoning convicts is one of the cases of issuing a suspension of prosecution, and the case will be considered done. But committing a new crime does not prevent people from being prosecuted again. On the other hand, the widespread pardon of these individuals does not mean that all of them were arrested. Only a few individuals related to the riots were detained and the rest were mostly free with various dictums.
Most of the death sentences in Iran are related to Qisas, which is a private right / the system make efforts to obtain the consent of the legal guardians
4. The death penalty is a legal punishment and there is no consensus in the international community on its elimination. There is no international legally-binding document in this regard, and the Islamic Republic of Iran applies life sentences only for the most serious crimes (intentional homicide, terrorist acts and major and organized drug trafficking), in accordance with international regulations, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In addition, the legislator has taken appropriate measures in the field of amending articles of the Islamic Penal Code (from Article 88 to Article 95) in order to significantly reduce the death penalty for adults under 18 years of age. Majority of death sentences for people under 18 years of age are in the field of Qisas, and, generally, the majority of death sentences in I.R of Iran are mainly in the form of Qisas, which is different from execution. Qisas is the right of the parents and a private right, and the government and the judicial system do not have the authority to cancel it. Nevertheless, they make special efforts to obtain the consent of the legal gusrdians, and in several cases every year, the execution of qisas sentences is stopped in this way. The false and propaganda allegations of "death sentence based on forced confession", "death sentence without due process and fair trial" or "execution without prior notification to the family or lawyer of the convict" are also taken from anti-Iranian media and have no basis.
Any forms of torture and ill-treatment against the accused is prohibited and punishable, according to article 38 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
5. Regarding the baseless and illusory allegation of issuing the death sentence based on forced confessions, it should be noted that, firstly, any possible confession or information obtained from the accused through torture and ill-treatment is invalid; because according to article 38 of the Constitution, any kind of torture is prohibited in the country, and also according to articles 570, 578, 579 and 587 of the Penal Code and the paragraphs of single-subject rule on “Respecting Legitimate Freedoms and Protecting Citizen Rights”, the perpetrators and other misbehaviors will be severely punished. Secondly, no death penalty is issued unless the perpetrator has committed an act that the legislator has clearly and specifically determined to be punished by death. For example, in criminal cases where a murder has been committed, in order to conduct a fair trial, the legislator has provided special provisions, so that the verdict is not issued based on the confession of the perpetrator, but based on the report of the bailiffs, the report of the reconstruction of the crime scene, local investigations, samplings and running necessary tests by forensic medicine, preliminary investigation by the prosecutor's office judge and after taking all the evidence and documents into account and also hearing the statements of the legal guardians and their lawyers as well as the statements of the accused and his lawyer, the judicial board of the court announce the end of the proceedings after exchanging opinions and examining the set of reasons in the case, and issue the verdict. In addition, the issued verdict can be appealed in the Supreme Court. Moreover, the claim of executing the death penalty without prior notification to the family or legal representative of the prisoner is not true, and in all the alleged cases, according to the inquiries made, the execution of the sentence, according to the law, is notified to the family or the lawyer of the convicted, at least one week in advance.
6. Legal criminal titles, include examples that are carefully enumerated in the law, taking into account the legal principles governing the laws and regulations of the country. Therefore, the claim of ambiguity in the legal definitions of crimes is due to the lack of information by the drafters of the resolution about the laws and regulations and the legal system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Arrests are based on laws and judicial orders/ Allegations of arbitrary arrest can be investigated
7. The use of the phrase "systematic use of arbitrary arrests and detentions" in the draft resolution is perverse and incorrect and cannot support the allegations of the authors of the draft. Arrest and detention are based on the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Law, and the duties of bailiffs, prosecutors, and court judges are specified separately in this law. Compliance with the aforementioned law, as a non-derogable law, is mandatory for all those involved, and violation of the provisions leads to administrative, disciplinary and criminal responsibility of the perpetrators. As it has been said many times, the Islamic Republic of Iran, both in law and practice, has provided the necessary guarantees for full compliance with fair trial standards. So that in the new Criminal Procedure Law, the full respect of the rights of the accused in all stages of proceedings from discovery, investigation and trial to the execution of the sentence (before and after the trial), including timely access of the accused to the lawyer of their own choice or the translator, is emphasized by the legislator and the implementation of this formal law is the duty of all judges.
8. All judicial authorities are obliged to carry out any arrests, based on the laws as well as specific and transparent judicial orders. Moreover, those who ignore the arrangements and regulations and resort to contrary methods in the implementation of their duties, are seriously dealt with based on paragraph 10 of the single-subject rule on “Respecting Legitimate Freedoms and Protecting Citizen Rights”. The method of action is such that, in addition to the supervision of the head of the Judiciary through "Monitoring Committees on Appropriate Implementation of the Law of Citizenship Rights" located throughout the country, any natural or legal person can file a lawsuit or report against the allegation of extrajudicial and arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances and submit it to the central or provincial secretariats of the relevant committee so that it will be in the process of judicial review with precision and seriousness.
The citizenship of a foreign country does not give a privilege in the procedure
8. Unfortunately, the politicization in the current resolution has gone to the point where even the most obvious and basic legal and judicial principles such as "the principle of equality of individuals before the law" and "the principle of not tolerating discrimination between individuals" have been violated. This act of the authors of the draft resolution, which is a clear example of "nationality-based discrimination", means that having the citizenship of a western country makes that person enjoy more rights than others, and these countries make use of all the capacities, including the capacity of the Third Committee of the General Assembly to advance their political goals and interests and apply unfair discrimination against citizens. In addition to the fact that dual nationality is not recognized in the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, having the citizenship of another country does not lead to more privileges, nor is it a reason to violate the citizenship rights of the person. Accordingly, it should be mentioned that in the case of foreign nationals, according to the 1963 Vienna Convention, in addition to the necessary and timely notifications to the representative of the country of the detained person, they are also provided with the possibility of consular access.
Allegations of harassment and assault against prisoners are false and baseless/ no documentation has been provided
9. In a part of the resolution, several baseless allegations and accusations such as "sexual assault against prisoners" etc. have been raised, which do not correspond to reality in any way and are considered a dirty lie. No evidence has been provided to prove these false allegations, so far. The Prosecutor General's Office, Tehran Prosecutor's Office and the High Council for Human Rights have investigated the allegations in this regard. While the authenticity of none of the allegations has been confirmed, it must be said that the claimants have not provided a document either. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Organization of Prisons and Protective and Corrective Measures, is in charge of the administration of prisons in the country. Therefore, all prisons are managed with similar standards and based on the executive regulations of this organization. The approach of improving the condition of keeping prisoners has always been taken into consideration and the issue of prisoners’ health and treatment as well as their proper nutrition is taken care of. In addition, there are various monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the rights of prisoners are fully respected, and if a special report is submitted in this regard, the prosecutors and the Secretariat for the Protection of Civil Rights, as well as the High Council for Human Rights, will handle the issue while conducting various visits.
The allegation of suspicious deaths in custody is completely rejected; just as non-prisoners die due to disease, prisoners are no exception
10. The claim of suspicious deaths in prison is also completely rejected. In case of death of each prisoner, a separate case is filed and regarding the cause of death, detailed expert investigations are carried out by the forensic pathologist under the supervision of the relevant judge. In case of anyone's negligence or fault, prosecution will be considered. The important point is that just as non-prisoners may die due to illness or an accident, prisoners are not exempt from this fact.
Tremendous developments in the field of women's rights
11. Ensuring the comprehensive rights of people, both men and women, and the equality of all people before the law, eliminating unfair discrimination, and creating fair opportunities for everyone in the constitution and related laws, have been guaranteed in the I.R. of Iran. The government institutions have been tasked with providing the basis for material and spiritual growth of women and provide the rights of women in various fields by establishing the necessary facilities and arrangements. Since its establishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran has paid special attention to advancing women's affairs and improving their rights and status. With this aim, extensive measures have been taken to improve the situation of women’s health, education and employment, ensure women's security, combat violence against them, and increase their social presence through participation in decision-making positions. Empowerment of rural women and female heads of households, providing insurance for housewives, the increase in life expectancy among women to 77 years, reduction of illiteracy among women to below 10%, achieving the first place in the world for equality of the right to education for girls and boys and educational justice, increase in the percentage of female specialist doctors to 40%, winning hundreds of sports medals in 49 fields and federations in the international arena by Iranian girls and women, are only a small part of the progress of women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Hijab is an Islamic principle whose respect is foreseen as a legal requirement; the cultural diversity in the global arena and the laws and regulations of the countries should be respected/ Opposing the imposition of the western lifestyle
12. There are some points regarding the issue of hijab:
- Family is the fundamental unit of society and the main focus of human growth and excellence in Iranian and Islamic culture. In such a conception of the family unit, the woman is out of the state of being a tool, and while recovering the important task of raising human beings, she is the leader and companion of men in the public and political arenas, and as a result, according to the Islamic point of view, she will have a higher value and dignity. Therefore, according to the 10th principle of the Constitution, all laws and regulations and planning should be aimed at facilitating the formation of a family, protecting its sanctity and stability of the relationship between spouses and children based on Islamic law and ethics.
- In the context of Iranian history, women's clothing is a result of cultural and social, religious and moral values that have been observed and respected by the society. In addition, hijab is an Islamic principle, which is also prescribed as a legal requirement. But the important point is the efforts that are being made to force this culture towards western values and lifestyle through international human rights institutions and mechanisms, which is definitely reprehensible, unacceptable and against the rules of human rights. . The cultural diversity in the global arena and the laws and regulations of countries should be respected. That some mechanisms and countries try to make all countries think and behave like them is a kind of imposition and is completely contrary to the principle of self-determination and national sovereignty of countries. The West and human rights mechanisms must accept that Iran is an Islamic country and is governed based on Islamic standards, and it is not supposed to follow their specific standards. This does not mean that the Islamic Republic of Iran opposes its internationally accepted obligations in the field of human rights, but it means that it opposes the imposition of a western lifestyle.
- Interference in Iran's internal affairs and disregard for the cultural and religious diversity of countries including the Islamic Republic of Iran, is taking place while France is not only violating the basic principles of International documents such as article 1, P.3 of the United Nations Charter, customary rules and principles of human rights including articles 18 and 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as article 18, P.1& 2 and article 19, P.1&2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but also prevents many Muslim girls and women from continuing their education in this country, by implementing the law prohibiting Muslim girls from entering schools with Islamic clothing.
13. Holding hundreds of assemblies in the country in various sizes and levels and with different topics and providing their safety by the police force (even though in some cases it was without permission), are examples of the right to freedom of expression, assemblies and protests in the Islamic Republic of Iran and rejects the baseless allegation of "extensive restriction on the use of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression". Self-restraint, tolerance and efforts of the peacekeeping forces to calm the situation by using methods other than the use of coercive force, to establish order and safety in order to protect citizens and public and private property and places, judicial and disciplinary dealings with a small number of errant officers who had committed violations while carrying out their mission, and the pardon and release of more than 22,000 accused and convicted of last year's riots, shows the respect and also the serious support of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the nation's right to hold peaceful assemblies.
Using the guise of an activist or human rights defender to commit a crime, does not prevent the investigation of crimes
14. In Iran, a large number of social activists in the fields of women's rights, labor rights, journalists, writers, lawyers, environmental activists, students, filmmakers, social network activists and so on, are freely active. However, misuse of these titles or any other similar title such as "human rights activist or defender" do not negate the judicial responsibility of individuals. In addition, applying these titles to people who, based on their anti-social behavior, ignore the norms of the society and commit illegal actions, is an insult to the real activists in these fields.
Dividing Iranian citizens into ethnic, racial and similar groups for political purposes and creating division is not accepted/ Iran's special attention to the rights of religious minorities
15. The Iranian society is made up of different ethnic groups, all of whom consider themselves Iranian and are proud of it. Therefore, the description of ethnic or linguistic minority as the basis for discrimination in the society is a kind of political and deviant attempt to create disputes in the Iranian society, which of course has failed.
16. The use of the term "systemic harassment" regarding religious minorities in the draft resolution is unjustified and rejected. Because no one is prosecuted because of his belief, unless they commit a criminal act for which the legislator has provided punishment according to legal regulations, regardless of the type of their (the accused) belief, and the punishment is applied after going through fair trial, and the certainty of the verdict does not have the description of "harassment" in any legal system. According to the principles of the Constitution, fundamental rights such as equality before the law, protection of life and property, job, housing, freedom of opinion, social security, litigation, education, fair trial, citizenship, participation in administration of the affairs of the country and other citizenship rights are, recognized for all residents and nationals of the country and Iranian citizens, regardless of any type of religious and ethnic affiliation they have, and they can all benefit from these rights without discrimination. Therefore, dividing Iranian citizens into ethnic, racial and similar groups for political purposes and creating division has no basis.
The "united nation of Iran" consider themselves to be fellow countrymen, far from their characteristics and differences. The pride of Iranians is that they have different ethnicities, religions and cultures and live peacefully side by side, away from ethnic, racial and religious prejudices. The solidarity and culture of Iranians is exemplary and has its roots in the history of several thousand years of this country. In such a way that all religions (including Jewish, Christian and Zoroastrian religions) in addition to performing their religious and ritual ceremonies, are mixed with this unique culture. According to the laws of the country, there can be at least one representative in the parliament for every 150,000 people, but non-Muslim Iranians (including Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians) are exempt from this rule, and despite their small population, according to the constitution, they have five representatives in the parliament. Adopting this method guarantees the political participation of this group of Iranians through a method called "guaranteed representative seat". Along with the religious minorities, the citizenship rights of the followers of the sects are fully respected. It is obvious that the respect for the citizenship rights of individuals is deferred to the fulfillment of the legal duties and responsibilities of each person in the society. Considering that in Islamic religious teachings, the search and inspection of beliefs is strictly prohibited, and also according to article 23 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stipulating that "Inspection of beliefs is prohibited, and no one can be challenged and impeached for having a belief." "; therefore, in spite of various political and media false pictures, no person is imprisoned or prosecuted just for having a belief.
Followers of all sects in Iran have citizenship rights and enjoy many educational, health, educational and economic facilities, so that despite their small population, they sometimes have large economic institutions at their disposal, are engaged in import and export and do not have any poor population. Regarding the educational facilities of minorities and even sects like Bahais, it should be said that according to paragraph 3 of the third principle of the Constitution, education and physical training are free for everyone at all levels and are the duties of the government, which is also applied to members of sects such as Bahais. The higher education centers of the Islamic Republic of Iran have the duty to cover all Iranian citizens in accordance with the law and educational regulations, regardless of the religion and belief of individuals.
Legal response to any illegal behavior of law enforcement officials
17. It is reminded again that legal action will be taken against any kind of possible misconduct on the part of any official, responsible and agent. Therefore, the expression of impunity does not apply to the offenders in any post or position. In practice, the necessary monitoring measures have been implemented by establishing a central Monitoring Committee for the Protection of Citizen Rights in the capital and committees in provincial centers, and by sending inspection teams to various relevant authorities, potential violations are dealt with by considering the reports received.
The Islamic Republic of Iran always moves in the direction of supporting and improving the rights of its nation
18. The Islamic Republic of Iran always moves in the direction of supporting and promoting the rights of its people. Even if there is no international commitment, based on national and religious requirements, moving in this direction is part of the government's plans.
Those who claim for human rights of the Iranian people, are the biggest violators of the rights of the Iranian nation
19. It is a pity that those who talk about human rights in Iran are the biggest violators of the rights of the Iranian people:
- Hundreds of thousands of martyrs and injured (including martyrs and chemically wounded) in the imposed war are the result of the crimes of the same regime that was supported by today's human rights claimants; they equipped Saddam's regime with all kinds of advanced weapons and even chemical weapons of mass destruction;
- More than 17,000 innocent people were martyred in Iran by terrorist groups, and today these same human rights claimants live in a safe paradise and continue to commit terrorist acts with the financial, political and intelligence support of these countries.
- The most brutal crimes against the Iranian people were committed by the same countries that always issue human rights resolutions against the Iranian people under the pretext of protecting the human rights of the Iranian people through the imposition and implementation of unilateral cruel sanctions.