Deputy Secretary General of Iran's High Council for Human Rights for International Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi, who is accompanying the Iranian Minister of Justice Seyed Alireza Avaei at the 37th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council underway in the Swiss city of Geneva, has reacted to the propaganda launched by foreign media over Avaei's presence at the international event.
The full text of Gharibabadi's statement is as follows:
1. Today, it remains blindingly obvious to everyone that the media, especially social networks, play a significant role as an instrument for implementation of psychological operations against nations and independent states.
The high dependence of people in different countries on the news broadcasted by such media and the lack of opportunity or possibility of their analysis has significantly increased their credibility. The Islamic Republic of Iran, in recent years in particular, has always been the target of the pressure of dominating media (both Persian and non-Persian ones). The deplorable fact is that, principally, some domestic news sites republish any false news or analysis about our country without checking their veracity.
2. As soon as the presence of Iran's minister of justice at the thirty-seventh session of Human Rights Council was confirmed, Western media initiated a wave of hashtags, maneuvers and propaganda aimed at preventing Seyed Alireza Avaei from delivering his speech at the meeting. Meanwhile, the point worthy of deep attention is the statement issued by the US's UN envoy and the hypocrites and their subsequent move in claiming that Avaei's name exists on the US human rights sanctions list for being a so-called human rights violator. Indeed, it seems to be a mocking of human rights principles when the US, who is the greatest violator of human rights in the world both inside and outside its territories, and hypocrites, whose hands are stained with blood of over 17,000 innocent people in Iran and are still using their weapons, claim to be supporters and protectors of human rights. The sad thing is that some countries continue to provide these terrorists with all the necessary financial, political and media facilities.
3. The hypocrites, with the political backing of certain countries, spared no effort to put pressure on the Swiss government and its judicial system, the Human Rights Council, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to prevent arrival of the Iranian justice minister in Geneva. Interestingly, all their dishonorable actions were doomed to failure. The Swiss Foreign Ministry announced that no barrier existed on Avaei's entering Geneva. The Swiss prosecutor did not pay any attention to complaints made by hypocrites who had even hired a lawyer to institute judicial proceedings. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) also announced that countries would select their own representative to attend Human Rights Council meetings.
4. Once Americans and hypocrites failed to succeed in their move, they tried to disrupt Alireza avaei's speech on the podium of the 37th Human Rights Council session mainly by attracting support of some countries during the opening ceremony. This project was also bound to fail since no country, even European ones, accompanied them; even the issuance of a statement by the US Representative to the Human Rights Council, which followed Nicky Haley's statement, could not disturb the ceremony.
5. Up until that moment, the US and hypocrites had failed in gaining achievements of any sort. As a result, during a speech by Iran's justice minister at the session, a news outlet appeared on some of the media, especially BBC Persian, claiming that approximately 150 people had gathered in front of the UN office in protest to Avaei's presence in Geneva, and that a number of delegations had left the event's hall during his speech. At this point, the media came to the aid of the American-hypocrite project, and the news spread rapidly in the media and social networks. But what is the reality?
6. As I was present in all the programs of the Council, when I crossed the UN office, I saw only 20 to 25 people who had launched the so-called protest rally.
All mobility, tracking and spending had only attracted 25 people!! The footage of the rally has also been published on YouTube and everyone can verify the fact. On the other hand, no one left the session as a sign of protest during Avaei's speech at the Human Rights Council. The recorded video of the meeting is also available on the live streaming site of the Human Rights Council. So what could be real intention of BBC Persian and other media? Are these media, whose hostility to the people of Iran has been revealed at different occasions, the last link in the chain of the project or are they an integral part of the project?
7. How did all this political and media effort fail? Iran has already achieved a good foreign policy position and therefore it remains impossible to isolate it or create a challenge in its direction merely based on one or two statements by Americans and hypocrites. The incident also proved that Europeans have also come up with a kind of interest-based rationale which relies on realities. On the other hand, the text of the speech of the Iranian justice minister was quite professional and based on the facts of the international community, which in a way reflects the real demands of many countries. The experience has shown that Iran should be more active in international affairs than before and, while outlining the achievements in the domestic field on various issues, should also present its positions on international developments.