The ceremony to honor "Kazem Gharibabadi" and introduce "Naser Seraj" as the new Vice President of the Judiciary for International Affairs and the Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran was held today, Sunday, February 16, 2025, in Shahid Soleimani Hall of the High Council for Human Rights. The ceremony was presented with Hojjatoleslamwal-Muslemin Khalili, the Senior Deputy Minister of the Judiciary; Hojjatoleslamwal-Muslemin Movaheddi-Azad, the Attorney General of the country; Amin Hosein Rahimi, the Minister of Justice; Zabihollah Khodayian, the Head of the General Inspection Organization of the Country; Abbas Masjedi, the Head of the General Forensic Medicine Organization of the Country; Ali Salehi, the Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor of Tehran; Gholam Ali Mohammadi, the Head of the Prisons Organization, and a group of other judicial officials.
Activity in all areas of human rights and observance of Islamic human rights is the priority of the HCHR
In this ceremony, Naser Seraj, the Vice President of the Judiciary for International Affairs and the Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights described his career, stating: “I started my career as a prosecutor and in my last position, I was the Political Deputy of the Judiciary and I performed duties in almost all departments of the Judiciary. We intend to be active on all human rights issues and continue the current path. I would like to thank Mr. Larijani, Mr. Bagheri, and Mr. Gharibabadi for their active responsibility in the High Council for Human Rights, so far”.
The Secretary General of the HCHR, explaining his history of activity in two areas related to the HCHR, said: “During the time when Ayatollah Shahroudi's was the Head of the Judiciary, the international atmosphere against the regime was very heavy, and based on this negative propaganda, some Iranians living abroad were hesitant to return to the country. In coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies located in countries with significant Iranian populations, we created conditions for many Iranians to return to the country and be issued passports. There was almost no Iranian who went to the consulate and did not receive their passport”.
He added: “The travel of Iranians abroad to and from Iran was facilitated, and we succeeded in neutralizing negative propaganda about the treatment of Iranians returning to the country, and the negative atmosphere created against the regime was largely eliminated in this way”. Also, when I entered the Inspection Organization and the issue of ombudsman, only one memorandum of understanding had been signed with foreign countries, but by the time I handed over the responsibility, 12 memorandums of understanding were signed with different countries from four continents, and good relations were established with foreign countries”.
Seraj, pointing out that we tried to increase cooperation with different countries in the world through these memorandums, stated: “We have had good communications in this field and we intend to have more coordination with the Attorney General's Office and the Inspection Organization, etc. to avoid parallel works”.
The Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights also referred to the double standards and slogans of Western countries about human rights and said:
“Human rights in many countries are just slogans and not real. We must implement Islamic human rights; God willing, we will implement the major related documents and the Judicial Transformation Document”.
The High Council for Human Rights is a very large capacity for the Islamic Republic of Iran
Kazem Gharibabadi also stated at the ceremony: “We implemented some programs in the Deputy of the Judiciary for International Affairs and the High Council for Human Rights. First of all, I would like to thank the Head of the Judiciary who provided me with the opportunity to serve in this important field over the past 4 months. We have always benefited from his support, guidance, and measures in the fields of international affairs and the HCHR. The First Deputy for the Judiciary also attached special importance to issues related to the Deputy for International Affairs and the HCHR, for which I am especially grateful”.
Gharibabadi continued by thanking the Chief Justices of the Judiciary across the country and the Supreme Judicial Council for their cooperation and support for the Deputy for International Affairs and the HCHR, stating: “They all helped us in fulfilling our responsibilities; the Minister of Justice and the Legal and Judicial Commission of the Parliament always helped us”.
The former Secretary General of the HCHR added: “The Deputy for International Affairs and the HCHR are two independent agencies located in the Judiciary. The Deputy for International Affairs coordinates the expansion of the Judiciary's international relations and other related responsibilities assigned, but the HCHR is not limited to the Judiciary only, but it was formed based on the resolution of the Supreme National Security Council in 2005 with the approval of the Supreme Leader and it coordinates issues related to human rights inside and outside the country. The Head of the Judiciary, as the Head of the HCHR announced that the HCHR carries out its mission both inside and outside the country”.
He stated: “In the past 40 months, we have tried to create the necessary focus for these two segments, and in this direction, we benefited from the cooperation of all parts of the Judiciary, and this creation of focus and concentration in international affairs has had positive effects. The HCHR has a very large capacity for the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we tried to involve all three branches in these programs. We cooperated with every institution in every branch, in the field of human rights, even the Armed Forces cooperated with us, and a directive was issued in the field of civil rights and human rights, which is an unprecedented cooperation”.
In another part, Gharibabadi said: “We succeeded in carrying out our work without hindrance in all areas; in the field of human rights, we adopted an active policy, not a passive policy; we see ourselves as claimants and have demands in the field of human rights; this was our most important policy and we had succeeded. Very good actions have been taken in the field of human rights within the country and we have been able to explain our achievements well in the international arena. In addition to the international arena, we have strengthened the protection and promotion of human rights domestically, because based on the resolution of the National Security Council, the HCHR is also responsible for the domestic issues”.
He added: “We have done a lot of work in the field of domestic human rights protection and promotion, and in this regard, we have formed various committees, including the Protection Committee, working with the agencies to identify harms and processes that disrupt human rights. Of course, I believe that there is room for more work in this area, given the good capacity that the HCHR and its members provide for us. The HCHR is of such importance that is chaired by the Head of the Judiciary and 5 ministers as well as some other institutions are its members”.
The former Secretary General of the HCHR stated in another part of his speech: “We had a special focus on the issues of Gaza and Palestine, especially after October 7th, and we took many steps in the legal and political fields, exposing the crimes of the Zionist regime, and documenting these crimes against the oppressed people of Gaza”.
Gharibabadi also emphasized: “In the HCHR, in line with active policies in the field of human rights, we had a special focus on the issue of terror and sanctions, because Iran is the biggest victim of terrorism. So far, 23,000 Iranians have been victims of terror. We raised this issue internationally, we created legal and judicial pressure on terrorist groups and their supporters, and we also launched joint judicial committees to combat terrorism with one or two other countries.” He emphasized: “The filing of cases against terrorist groups such as the MKO and terrorists who attribute themselves to the noble Kurdish people was all carried out under the guidance of the Deputy of the Judiciary for International Affairs and the HCHR. In this regard, we had more than 100 extradition requests from Iraq”.
The former Secretary General of the HCHR, while explaining cooperation with other countries in the field of combating terrorism, including Iraq, noted: “The Judiciary is to combat terrorism; in the field of sanctions, we have taken many steps in the international legal and political arenas, one of the most important of which is inviting the UN Special Rapporteur on Sanctions to Iran. This Rapporteur was in Tehran for 11 days. We tried to help her prepare a good international report to explain the negative effects of sanctions on the Iranian people, we followed up on the complaints of the victims of sanctions, and with the help of the Ministry of Justice, we filed dozens of cases in this regard under the guidance of the Deputy for International Affairs”.
He continued: “We have taken good measures in the field of Iranians abroad in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Good facilities were provided in this regard, including facilitating access to the Sana system. We have taken good follow-ups on the violation of Iranians' rights. In the case of the release of Hamid Nouri and Asadollah Asadi, the role of the Judiciary and the HCHR was clear. We recently released an Iranian compatriot arrested in Italy and a student arrested in the Republic of Azerbaijan. We have taken all these measures simply with the view that these people are our compatriots”.
Gharibabadi also said: “In the Deputy for International Affairs of the Judiciary, we have taken many steps in the field of judicial assistance in various legal, civil, criminal, etc. areas, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Justice, especially in the field of transferring convicts and extraditing criminals. The most important step taken in the international field was to expand the international interactions of the Judiciary, which is a very key point. We have increased the aforementioned capacity several times in the past 40 months, examples of which are sending and hosting judicial delegations and memoranda of understanding. These measures would not have been possible without the support of the Head of the Judiciary, the First Deputy, and members of the Supreme Judicial Council. The Judiciary must increase its relations with different countries and its counterpart institutions. International relations should not be limited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Judiciary also has the capacity in this area”.
Gharibabadi concluded by stating: “If there were any successes, it is due to the support, help, and efforts of my colleagues in the Deputy for International Affairs and the High Council for Human Rights. We have a specialized team with experts who are hardworking and efficient”.