Kazem Gharibabadi, the Vice President of the Judiciary for International Affairs and the Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights, at the opening ceremony of the 19th Summit of the Heads of Judicial Systems of the member states to Shanghai Cooperation Organization stated: “Hojjat al-Islam Wal-Muslimim Mohseni Azhei, the Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was supposed to participate in this meeting. Unfortunately, due to the incident that led to the martyrdom of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and his companions, they did not find this possibility. In this meeting, I think it is necessary to mention Ayatollah Dr. Raisi, the late President of the I.R. of Iran, and Dr. Amir Abdollahian, the late Minister of Foreign Affairs, who attached great importance to the Shanghai Organization and made effective efforts in its development and strengthening. Peace be upon them.
The Shanghai Summit is a great opportunity to develop and strengthen legal and judicial cooperation
Gharibabadi further thanked the Supreme Court of Uzbekistan for hosting the 19th Summit of the Heads of Judicial Systems of the Member States to Shanghai Cooperation Organization and stated: “This summit is being held in a situation where the world is facing serious challenges in the field of terrorism, human rights, peace and security, as well as organized crime. The meeting of the highest judicial authorities of the member states to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a great opportunity to develop and strengthen legal and judicial cooperation, and opens a new horizon for interaction and cooperation in newer and more important areas for the organization.
The Vice President of the Judiciary fir International Affairs added: “While multilateralism has been challenged by the unilateral actions of some countries, especially the United States, which are contrary to international law, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, with more than 40% of the world's population, is the world's largest regional organization in terms of the geographical area and population. By developing and strengthening joint actions in the economic, political, security, defense, legal-judicial fields, this organization should become an important forum of multilateralism. In this regard, I suggest memorandum of understanding and cooperation agreements between all members be concluded bilaterally or multilaterally, with the aim of exchanging experiences and best practices, dealing with cross-border and organized crimes, judicial assistance in criminal and civil matters, extradition of criminals and transfer of convicts. The secretariat of this meeting should review the state of cooperation between the member states and provide the necessary recommendations and suggestions.
The sinister phenomenon of terrorism is a problem facing global peace and security
He further emphasized: “Today, the sinister phenomenon of terrorism and the actions of terrorist groups, which is supported by the U.S. and some Western governments, is a problem for peace and security, including in some member States of this organization. During the last 4 decades, terrorists have killed more than 25 thousand innocent people in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We must cooperate closely with each other to prosecute and punish these victims and their supporters”.
The Secretary General of the HCHR stated: “On the other hand, the crimes of the Zionist regime continued in the Gaza Strip. By killing and injuring more than 113,000 Palestinians, 70% of whom are women and children, destroying more than 300,000 buildings and infrastructure, dropping more than 75,000 tons of bombs on innocent people, and displacing more than two million people, this regime has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. These crimes are committed with the support of countries claiming human rights, especially the U.S regime, and in clear violation of international law, international human rights and international humanitarian law. Today, when the oppressed people of Gaza are under complete siege, it is the U.S who provide the necessary support to the Zionists. Where are the human rights claimants in this situation?”
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization should actively take a stand against terrorism and sanctions
Gharibabadi admitted: “The political approach of these countries to the category of human rights was completely clear to us, but the tragedies that happened in the Gaza Strip and what happened in the violent and inhuman encounters with professors and students who support the oppressed Palestinian people in the U.S universities and in some western countries, clearly showed that they do not value humanity and its rights”.
Gharibabadi continued: “In this context, the imposition of unilateral sanctions by the U.S government against a significant number of countries and the implementation of these sanctions by countries claiming human rights are undeniably in conflict with all kinds of human rights such as the right to life, the right to education, the right to health, the right to development, the right to welfare, etc. Therefore, we suggest that the Shanghai Cooperation Organization actively take a stand against crimes such as terrorism and also sanctions against its members and follow up on these crimes at different levels and fields. In this regard, we request the countries that have the legal basis to prosecute Zionist criminals to file the necessary legal cases. In the early days of these crimes, the Head of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran, during a correspondence with some of his counterparts in different countries, invited them to use their existing legal capacities and also get the support of their governments, to make the utmost effort to reduce the suffering of these oppressed people and to deal with the crimes committed by the Zionist regime. Now we repeat this request in this forum.”