A top Iranian rights official condemned the assassination of a member of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), calling on the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to identify perpetrators and bring them to justice.
The remarks were made by Kazem Gharibabadi, the Iranian Judiciary chief's deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country's High Council for Human Rights (HCHR), in a tweet on Saturday.
Gharibabadi stressed that to dry up a tree, “cutting its branches” will not be enough, implying that a fundamental work is required to address the root causes of such crimes and acts of terror.
His tweet read: “The High Council for Human Rights raps the assassination of #Hassan_Sayyad_Khodaei. The HCHR urges the High Commissioner to identify the instigators, perpetrators & accomplices of this assassination & bring them to justice. You can’t dry up a pure tree by cutting its branches.”
Colonel Hassan Sayyad Khodaei was assassinated by two motorcyclists who shot him five times before fleeing the scene on May 22. He was disembarking his car to enter his home in an eastern neighborhood of the Iranian capital of Tehran when three bullets hit him in the head and two bullets in the hand.
The IRGC issued a statement soon after the assassination, saying that its member was assassinated in a terrorist attack by counterrevolutionary elements.
The statement condoled with his family, adding that necessary measures have been taken to identify and arrest the assailant or assailants.
Iran holds Israel accountable for the terrorist attack and has vowed a definite revenge for it.
On September 1, 2018, Michelle Bachelet assumed her functions as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
On Wednesday, Gharibabadi sent a letter to Bachelet calling for the international community’s condemnation of the terrorist attack and required actions by the United Nations in that regard.