Deputy Secretary General of Iran's High Council for Human Rights for International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi made the announcement asserting “human rights issues have always been exploited by global powers to exert pressure against independent states in order to fulfill their hegemonic goals. Following the Cold War, the US also added the same approach to its domestic and foreign policy toolbox; a tool which has been used more frequently as of September 11 attacks.
The official went on to add that it comes as a shock to see that every year the US government publishes a report on the human rights situation in the world; “such an annual report comes at a time when the US State Department fails to address the human rights situation inside the United States.”
“The contradiction in its foreign policy and the widespread human rights abuses within the United States raises the question of how this government can invite other governments to respect human rights, while the US government is violating human rights more than any other country,” highlighted Iran’s deputy HR chief.
Kazem Gharibabadi later emphasized that a country that creates numerous challenges on the planet trough militarism, racial discrimination and the media cannot claim to be a pioneer in development of democracy and the recognition of human rights.
Later into his remarks, deputy head of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights said a book is planned to be published shortly in a bid to existing questions and to provide the public and the elites with a clear image of the human rights situation in the US. “The book offers a detailed scrutiny of the issue of human rights in the United States and demonstrates the most significant instances of human rights violations that have been evident in the domestic and international policies of the US government in order to gove the public opinion an account of the actual state of human rights in the Western country,” underscored Gharibabadi.
He further enumerated notables topics discussed in the upcoming book saying “theoretical issued dealt with in the publication include the status of human rights in America’s domestic and foreign policy, use of dual standards in human rights, human rights as a means of intervention against independent states, imposition of human rights with the taste of liberal democracy, psychological warfare and media diplomacy.
HCHR’s deputy director also provided examples of domestic human rights violation in the United States including violations of the right to security, freedom to carry weapons and violations of the right to life, violations of freedom of expression and assembly, violations of the right to vote, violation of privacy, violations of economic and social rights, violation of immigrant rights, violations of the rights of asylum seekers, police violence, violations of minority rights (racism and Islamophobia), child rights violations, violations of women's rights, US justice system and human rights abuses as well as violations of prisoners' rights in the United States.
Stressing that breach of human rights issues in the US is not limited to domestic issues, Kazem Gharibabadi said that book will also shed light on international cases of human rights violation by the US government including US support for terrorism, violations of international human rights law, militarism and human rights abuses, dictatorship and war crimes as well as international humanitarian law.
HA