The majority of the body followed a request from Germany and Iceland on Thursday in Geneva. Experts are to document violations of human rights and collect evidence so that those responsible for the violence can one day be held accountable.
The Council passed a corresponding resolution by 25 votes to 6, with 16 abstentions. China tried at the last minute to remove the paragraph that called for the independent investigation from the resolution.
At the start of the special session, the responsible High Commissioner paints a bleak picture of the situation in Iran. “The unnecessary and disproportionate use of force in Iran must come to an end,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, before the panel in Geneva, describing the actions against demonstrators as “tyranny”. There is a “outright human rights crisis” in Iran, 14,000 people, including children, were arrested because of the protests, said the Austrian lawyer. The increasing number of death sentences is also worrying.
The people of Iran have no voice in the United Nations, emphasized German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. “But the Human Rights Council was created to be the voice of the people whose indivisible rights are being denied at home.” Those responsible in the Iranian regime must be held accountable. “Today every vote counts.” According to Baerbock, 50 states introduced the resolution, but only the 47 member states of the Human Rights Council can decide on it.
Iran’s representative to the UN Human Rights Council, Khadijeh Karimi, dismissed the draft decision as “outrageous and disgraceful”. “The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets that the Human Rights Council is once again being misused by some arrogant states to anger a sovereign UN member state that is fully committed to promoting and protecting human rights,” said the Commissioner for Women and Family Iranian Vice-President in a speech before the Council. It is unacceptable that the common concern of human rights is reduced to the political ends of a certain group of western states. Karimi expressly mentioned Germany.
The 47 members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for three-year terms, with 13 seats for African countries, 13 for Asian and Pacific countries, eight for Latin American and Caribbean countries and 13 for Western-oriented countries. “Today we are also facing a test of our courage here in the United Nations,” said Minister Baerbock in the plenary session. “About our courage to speak up.”
The recent protests in Iran were sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The Kurd died in police custody on September 16. The so-called vice police arrested her because she was said to have been dressed inappropriately. The protests have since grown into the greatest challenge to spiritual leadership since 1979. More than 300 people have been killed in the protests so far. According to the Iranian government, around 50 security forces were killed. The leadership in Tehran blames western countries for the unrest.
Source: Nachrichten
