The High Council for Human Rights issued a statement strongly condemning the aggressive and cowardly attack of the Zionist regime on the building of Broadcasting Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, news channel and the media personnel. The text of this statement is as follows:
In the Name of God
The aggressive Zionist regime, taking advantage of the extensive intelligence, weapons and political support of Western countries that claim to protect human rights, has carried out a series of planned and coordinated military attacks against the Islamic Republic of Iran. These aggressive and illegal actions have targeted peaceful nuclear facilities, military centers, vital civilian infrastructure and residential areas, Red Crescent aid workers and media outlets.
In the continuation of the Zionist regime's aggressive attacks, the building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting was attacked, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of a number of journalists and employees of this organization.
According to the indisputable and fundamental rules of international humanitarian law, attacks on journalists, such as attacks on hospitals, are absolutely prohibited. The immunity of journalists from any attack is recognized and guaranteed in the Geneva Conventions of 1949, in particular the Third Convention and the Additional Protocols, in particular Article 79 of the First Additional Protocol, as a peremptory norm.
In addition to violating the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, such as the principles of separation and precaution, as well as gross violations of the aforementioned customary instruments and treaties, the occupying regime's crime of attacking journalists and media personnel is a human rights violation and is also a gross violation of some of the fundamental rules of human rights.
This action, apart from the clear violation of Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights regarding the right to life, is also a clear violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights regarding the freedom of opinion and expression and free access to information and the media regardless of borders.
Of course, the aggression by this undesirable element of the international community against journalists and media personnel are unprecedented. During the Zionist regime's aggression against Gaza, domestic and international journalists were also constantly targeted. According to available reports, from October 7, 2023 to two months ago, the number of journalists killed by the Zionist regime in Gaza had reached 226 people.
The silence and inaction of the international community towards the killing of journalists in Gaza and the impunity of such crimes has brought the Zionist regime to a point where it is now, targeting media institutions and journalists in the Islamic Republic of Iran, without the slightest concern for accountability for these crimes.
In this context, the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran declares that attacks on media institutions, including the national media of the Islamic Republic of Iran, are a clear violation of the principle of immunity of journalists and media in armed conflicts based on the Geneva Conventions and United Nations Security Council resolutions, and attacks on journalists is like attacks on medical centers and are an absolute and non-derogable prohibition. This clear attack demonstrates the Zionist regime's deep fear of the voice of truth and awareness; a voice that has always reflected the oppression of nations, especially the resistant nation of Palestine.
The High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran calls on international institutions, including the United Nations, the Human Rights Council, UNESCO, and independent media unions, to unequivocally condemn this aggression and take practical, effective, and deterrent measures against this rogue regime. Western countries, especially governments that claim to protect human rights, are also expected to stop their double policies and shameful silence regarding the crimes of this regime and fulfill their moral and legal responsibility.
In this regard, it is reminded to the governments claiming to protect human rights, which always portray themselves as concerned about the human rights situation, especially the situation of journalists and human rights activists in Iran, that their cooperation with the Zionist regime, including through material, weapons, logistical and intellectual support, makes them aider and abettors and accomplices in such crimes and exposes the falsehood of their claims that the rights of journalists and reporters in Iran are being violated.
In a world where the media should be the guardians of truth, awareness, and human dignity, targeting them is a sign of the desperation and fear of a regime that no longer adheres to any rules or principles. History will not forget these crimes.