Head of Iranian judiciary’s Human Rights Council says any international body that appoints a special human rights rapporteur for Iran is acting illegally.
Mohammad-Javad Larijani told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA): “The Islamic Republic has no issues with the individual who was appointed human rights rapporteur; however, choosing a rapporteur for the state of human rights in Iran is unacceptable and we will not have it.”
The United Nation’s Human Rights Council in Geneva appointed a human rights investigator for Iran last March. Ahmad Shaheed, the former foreign minister of Maldives, was chosen by the council to review recent reports of human rights violations in Iran.
Larijani said the appointment of a special rapporteur is a “one-sided and baseless move that has no logical meaning.” He added that Iran will only accept the UN rapporteur if the UN sends special rapporteurs to the U.S.-controlled Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib Prisons as well as Israeli prisons.
He went on to say that Iran’s human rights report card raises no special concerns and added that all reports to the contrary are the result of “political aggression and destructive propaganda” perpetuated by the West against Iran.
Larijani contended: “All the legal and formal charges brought against Iran at the Human Rights Council have been countered accurately and openly by the Islamic Republic.”
In recent weeks, six political prisoners at Iran’s Rejaishahr Prison sent a letter addressed to Ahmad Shaheed, urging him to visit Iranian prisons and meet with the families of prisoners in order to verify their dismal situation.
Iranian Parliament as well as the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Larijani, had announced previously that Iran would not accept the UN investigator.
