The United Nations Office at Geneva
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HRC: Press conference on Iran 21 March 2023
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27:54
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MP4
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1.7 GB
STORY: Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran
TRT: 02’55”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
RELEASE DATE: 21 March 2023
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
- Wide shot of cameras and podium, conference room, Palais des Nations, Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran: “I noted in my report that thus far, Iranian authorities have executed four protesters after arbitrary summary and sham trials. And the purpose of these arbitrary and summary executions is to instill fear and to quash protests. At least 17 individuals are sentenced to death currently, and over 100 persons currently face charges that carry the death penalty. So that is the gravity of the situation that we are facing.”
- Medium shot, cameraperson photographs the podium as the Special Rapporteur gives account of the human rights situation in Iran
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran: “526 people have been killed by state authorities, which includes 71 children. Hundreds remain severely injured, with some injuries deliberately inflicted by state authorities on girls and women on very sensitive parts of their bodies. And with a vindictive frame of mind to destroy and to damage them permanently.”
- Medium shot, from behind the podium, with the speaker and journalists in view, and the UN logo in the background
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran: “I have asked the Iranian authorities to hold individuals accountable, both for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, but also of the subsequent killing of all of these individuals that I've mentioned, 527- and I want accountability to be ensured.”
- wide shot, cameraperson, podium and panel in view
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran: “The issue of accountability is very significant. So I have been reporting, I have been documenting very serious violations of the rights of girls and women and the international community. And those victims are now anticipating that the international community would hold these perpetrators to account.”
- Close-up, cameraperson seated on the ground with the Special Rapporteur visible on a monitor in the background
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran: “As I have documented in my report, there is evidence of serious violations of human rights, including murder, imprisonment and forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence and persecution in the context of protests that began on 16th of September last year, as part of a systematic, widespread and state instigated policy. And the scale of gravity of these crimes points to the possible commission of crimes against humanity.”
- Two-shot, pan to the right
- Wide shot: cameras, technicians and journalists in the room
- Medium shot: camera in foreground, with table and journalists visible
- Medium shot: view of the podium from the journalists’ table
The most serious human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran over the past four decades have been committed since the death in police custody of Jina Mahsa Amini on 16 September 2022, including possible crimes against humanity, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran said today to media at the United Nations in Geneva.
“As I have documented in my report, there is evidence of serious violations of human rights, including murder, imprisonment and forced disappearances, torture, rape and sexual violence and persecution in the context of protests that began on 16th of September last year, as part of a systematic, widespread and state instigated policy”, said Mr. Javaid Rehman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. “And the scale of gravity of these crimes points to the possible commission of crimes against humanity,” he added.
Mr. Rehman presented his report yesterday to the UN Human Rights Council. The report followed a statement issued a few days before by several independent UN appointed rights experts, including Mr. Rehman, condemning the “deliberate poisoning of more than 1200 schoolgirls in Iran’s major cities and the State’s failure to protect them”.
“I have asked the Iranian authorities to hold individuals accountable, both for the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, but also of the subsequent killing of all of these individuals that I've mentioned, 527- and I want accountability to be ensured,” said Mr. Rehman. None of the members of the morality police involved in the death of Ms. Amini has been held accountable, so Mr. Rehman.
“The issue of accountability is very significant. So I have been reporting, I have been documenting very serious violations of the rights of girls and women and the international community. And those victims are now anticipating that the international community would hold these perpetrators to account.”
The claims of Iranian people of all ages, genders, ethnic, linguistic, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds to end the serious human rights violations, including gender-based violence and discrimination, “were met with brutal State violence”, so the report.
“526 people have been killed by state authorities, which includes 71 children. Hundreds remain severely injured, with some injuries deliberately inflicted by state authorities on girls and women on very sensitive parts of their bodies with a vindictive frame of mind to destroy and to damage them permanently,” said Mr. Rehman.
The report says that from the very first days of protest, State authorities have tried to shut down all venues of freedom of expression, and censoring social media platforms. Recently authorities recognize that over 22,000 people had been arrested.
“I noted in my report that thus far, Iranian authorities have executed four protesters after arbitrary summary and sham trials”, said Javaid Rehman, the Special Rapporteur on the Islamic Republic of Iran”. He added that “the purpose of these arbitrary and summary executions is to instill fear and to quash protests. At least 17 individuals are sentenced to death currently, and over 100 persons currently face charges that carry the death penalty. So that is the gravity of the situation that we are facing.”
The UN Human Rights Council decided last November during a special session to establish an independent international fact-finding mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran until the end of the fifty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council in March 2024. The members of the fact-finding mission were appointed at the end of last year.
-ends-
Teleprompter
Good afternoon.
Welcome and thank you for joining this press conference.
My name is Tarisha Indragupta and I'm a media officer for the UN Human Rights Office.
Today we have with us Mr Javed Rahman, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Republic of Iran.
Mr Rahman presented his report to the Human Rights Council yesterday.
We will begin with opening remarks by the Special Rapporteur, after which there will be time for questions.
With that, I give the flow to Mr Rehman.
Thank you very much for this generous invitation for me to speak with you.
I look forward to our important discussion, comments, observations and I look forward to receiving, you know, these questions from you as well, to which I will try my very best to respond.
Yesterday, as as has been mentioned already, I presented my report to the Human Rights Council and the focus of that particular report is on the death in the police custody of the 22 year old Gina Masamini, and the focus followed on to the subsequent killings and violence against peaceful protesters.
I noted in my report that thus far Iranian authorities have executed for protesters after arbitrary summary and sham trials.
And the purpose of these arbitrary and summary executions is to in instil fair and to quash protests.
At least 17 individuals are sentenced to death currently and over 100 persons currently face charges that carry the death penalty.
So that is the gravity of the situation that we are facing in terms of the state brutality.
You you saw my figures yesterday and I would repeat them here.
I reported yesterday that 526 people have been killed by state authorities, which includes 71 children.
Hundreds remain severely injured with some injuries deliberately inflicted by state authorities on girls and women on very sensitive parts of their bodies and with with the vindictive frame of mind to to destroy and to damage them permanently.
The the report makes a number of recommendations.
Some of them are very urgent.
So I have called on the Iranian authorities to immediately and all forms of violence against protesters.
I have asked the Iranian authorities to hold individuals accountable both for the death of Gina Masamini, but also of the subsequent killing of all of these individuals that I've mentioned, 527 and I want accountability to be ensured.
And therefore I said that I I'm ready, my office is ready to provide full cooperation to the fact finding mission that the Council established in November.
I hope that introductory statement should give you enough of time and enough questions to ask me, and I'd be very happy to respond to any of your comments and your questions.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr Rehman, the Special Rapporteur will now take questions.
We'll start with reporters in the room and we'll follow with those of you who are joining online.
Please state your name and your organisation when you ask a question.
Thank you.
I'm Bhagyashi from your international TV.
There were criticism about this report yesterday.
As we saw Islamic Republic criticised its impartiality and subjectivity.
Do you accept the criticism?
Criticism that made by the Islamic Republic and the usual laws like Russia and China?
Thank you for your question.
Well, as I said in my response to the Islamic Republic of Iran delegate that I have been and I since I took over the mandate and indeed my predecessors, we have been trying our very best to engage with the Iranian authorities.
The Iranian authorities did not respond to my submission and as as is our common practise, we submit the draught report to the authorities in Iran.
So if they were so engaged and if they they felt so I'm happy with the content stage.
There was an opportunity for them to respond on the substantive matter.
But what they do is instead of looking at the substance and my concerns, they they look at non substantive issues.
So there are allegations against me that I am a misinformed and and as you heard yesterday that my sources of information are from the terrorists.
I'm, I'm not having an objective and and a transparent view, a thorough view.
I totally ****** these allegations because we spend all our efforts to ensure that the information that we receive and we document is fully investigated, it is fully reliable and it is fully authoritative.
Thank you.
Hello, it's Adam from Iran International.
As a follow up to that question, when the Iranian authorities presume it's the UN delegation here, is it to respond to your submissions when you're accused of manipulating information or being misinformed?
Do they substantiate their claims?
Well, looking at this current report, they, they have not responded in any form or in any manner at all.
So I did not receive any response from them in the past.
They, they have responded.
But again, as I said that their responses are not on substantive issues.
They are, they are making, they're criticising me for miss being misinformed.
And as I said that my report, they, they claim that it's prejudice and politically motivated, that it's not based on objective criterion.
But what I want is if they want to challenge me, I want that challenge to be focused on the substance of these, these reports, the, the substance of my investigations and, and the issues that they have, rather than saying, you know, it's, it's prejudice and politically motivated.
So my answer to your question is that no, they, they do not actually respond on substantive matters.
And that is a great grievance.
And, and the other issue, if I, if I may just quickly point out, is that I have not been allowed access to the country despite my request to them.
So if the Iranian authorities are so keen to for me, and if they're concerned that I'm, I'm being misinformed, allow me access to the country.
I am.
I am an individual.
I cannot in any sense affect or undermine the state.
So why are they so afraid not to allow me access to the country?
Thank you.
What reason do the Iranian authorities, yes, what reason do the Iranian authorities give for not allowing you access to the country?
Well, the reasons that they have stated is that they do not recognise my mandate.
They say it's politically motivated as as was said yesterday and therefore they, they will not allow me access to the country.
But I have to remind the Iranian authorities that this is a Human Rights Council mandate.
This is a, this is, this is what the Human Rights Council authorised me to do.
And they are violating the provisions of the mandate which clearly says that I should be allowed access to the country.
And therefore it is deeply disappointing.
And, and I hope that the Iranian authorities will listen to me and and change the course and allow me unconditional access to the country from now onward.
Thank you.
Thank you, Gabriela.
Sotomayor, Mexico.
Proceso.
My question is on accountability.
So what?
What is next?
For thousands of women in Iran, what is the.
Their.
Hope of justice.
So what?
What?
Is next for them, for the victims.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for this question.
The issue of accountability is very significant.
So I have been reporting, I have been documenting very serious violations of the rights of girls and women and the international community.
And those victims are now anticipating that the international community would hold these perpetrators to account.
And therefore last year the Human Rights Council established the International Fact Finding Mission with a specific purpose of accountability, investigation, accountability, legal consequences of what these perpetrators have done.
So my response to your question is that action has been taken by the international community.
And as I said, I I would be fully cooperating with the international fact finding mission.
I would be engaging with them, I engaged with them already.
I would be providing them information, the evidence that I have to support their task of holding these individuals accountable.
Thank you.
Do we have another question from the room?
Another follow up question.
Regarding the could we take?
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
You talked about gravity and the scale of human rights violation in Iran without having a chance to being the stepping of foot in the Iranian soil.
Do you think that the report does, I mean, represent the scale and the gravity, the exact scale and the gravity of what's happening in Iran, especially after the death of mass Armenia?
Thank you for the question.
Well, as I said, I have documented as much information that I could collect from the sources that are available to me.
And there is a wide range of sources that I consulted both from inside of Iran and outside.
And as is our practise, we verified them and made sure that they are genuine and authenticated numbers.
And therefore that is the evidence that I have.
Now, of course, the Iranians are challenging those numbers my, you know, my conclusions and my views.
But what I would say is that they should, if they have, when they're challenging my conclusions, then they should come up with some equally concrete views on, on my report, on the substance of my report.
And as I say, if they are so concerned, they should allow me to go into the country to see for myself.
I should be there now reporting to you from Iran, from Tehran, from, you know, Kurdish provinces, from Zahidan.
So if they, if they, they question my findings, they should allow me access.
So that is my big request to the international community and to the community of journalists to support me in my pleas to the Iranian authorities to allow me access to the country.
I think we will.
I think we have, I think we have some questions online.
We can come back to a follow up.
We have online Nick ******* Bruce from the New York Times, who has a question.
Yeah, thank you for taking my question.
You allude to coordinated chemical attacks against scars.
I wonder if you could unpack that.
How many such attacks have you documented?
Who is, who are the perpetrators, who is coordinating it and and how many victims have you kind of identified in it?
Yes, Now this issue of coordinated chemical attacks as you know that this has been emerging in the past few weeks.
So we have been investigating a number of sources, information, we have looked at real evidence from from the information that we have and it is still developing.
This information is that over 1200 girls have been affected and, and, and the attacks are quite large scale.
Dozens of provinces have been affected through these attacks.
And we saw earlier in this month the Supreme Leader actually talking about this and saying that the perpetrators would be punished.
So it would appear that the scale and the gravity is quite significant.
It is quite worrying.
And therefore I have already issued A submission, but we need to work further on the details and to establish what exactly is happening.
Thank you.
Thank you.
There's also a question from Emma from Reuters.
Good afternoon, special.
Report Sir, 2 questions please.
One on the treatment.
Of.
Children, which you focused on a lot yesterday, ****** and torture of children.
Does that specifically represent one of the possible crimes against?
Humanity and then.
I have a quick follow up.
OK and thank you.
And now yesterday I I spoke about the possible Commission of crimes against humanity, both in my opening statement as well as my concluding responses.
So as I said and as I have documented in my report, there is evidence of serious violations of human rights, including ******, imprisonment and forced disappearances, torture, **** and sexual violence and persecution in the context of protests that began in 16th of September last year as part of a systematic, widespread and state instigated policy.
And the scale of gravity of these crimes point to the possible Commission of crimes against humanity.
Now coming back to your question, if you if, if as I have presented to you the evidence that 71 children were killed by state authorities as a as part of a systematic plan and a widespread plan, how would you respond when I say that these are crimes against humanity which, which law can justify killing of innocent children, 71 innocent children that we have so far taken the numbers.
So to my mind, there is, there is, there has been very strong and very serious violations of the rights of children.
And if I can just say that all of the international bodies, including the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the the various UN bodies have actually come to the same position, that there are very serious violations of the rights of the children taking place.
And if, and as I say, the documents and the evidence is before you that that this policy is a, is a, is a widespread systematic state instigated policy, then crimes against humanity, against the children have been committed in Iran since September 16th last year.
Emma, did you have a follow up?
Yes.
Thank you very.
Much and and off the list that you gave of possible crimes against humanity, which crime do you feel you managed to substantiate the most?
And I'm interested in how you might be able to take that forward potentially one day in in a yes international court of law.
Yeah, yeah.
So, so you see the, the elements of the crime, the substantive offences that I have just listed to you and I have given you the numbers.
So if you look at ******, if you look at imprisonment, you see we, we gave a figure of over 22,000 persons arbitrarily detained.
That is a, that is a huge number that is systematic, widespread, state instigated policy being evidence then you have enforced disappearances.
We have received allegations of sexual offences, torture, sexual offences related to torture, ****, sexual violence and persecution.
These are very grave offences that I have set out in my statement of the offences that have been carried since 16th of September and that these point to the Commission of crimes against humanity and the the investigations must now focus on these offences that I'm saying have been committed in Iran since September of last year.
Thank you.
Another question online from Jeremy from Radio France.
Yeah, thank you.
I'd like to come back to the to, to, to the chemical attacks on girls.
I'd like to know if I know that the it's still early for you in the inquiry, but do you believe that those attacks could fit in the accusation of crime against humanity?
You mentioned like the all the, the offences, Do you think that this one could fit into crimes against vanity?
And the second question is about the perpetrators.
Iran announced, I think over 100 person were arrested in relation to those attacks.
Do you believe?
Do you trust?
Iran to shed the light on those attacks and prosecute the real perpetrators.
OK, thank you.
So on on the point about these coordinated chemical attacks, as I said, we are in the process of investigating because we have to be sure that these come into the ambit of of crimes against humanity conducted by state authorities.
So what we know for a fact is that the state denied initially that this poisoning was happening and then there was an attempt to hide what was going on.
But we still have to establish to, to come within the definition of crimes against humanity.
These have to be a state instigated.
So therefore, I am less forthright and rather reluctant to to make this claim without having the substantial substantive evidence in front of me at this point.
But we are looking into that and we will look into the state, state operations themselves as to how and why these chemical attacks have been happening.
There was a second related question if I can if I can just have a repeat of that please?
Jeremy, could you please repeat your second question?
Yes.
Now you can hear me.
Yeah, Yeah.
It was more about the the, the announcement by Tehran that people have been arrested.
Do you believe Iran is in a position to prosecute those people and the real perpetrators?
Yeah.
So, so this is related to, to, to the point that we have been discussing, well, we need to have further evidence of who they've arrested and on what charges these individuals have been arrested and what offences they're being charged with.
I would say that there must be fair trial for everybody who has been arrested.
The fair trials must incorporate the provisions of Article 14 of the ICCP Art.
Which Iran is a state party.
There must be, there must not be any torture involved.
They, those individuals must have lawyers to defend themselves and we need to know the details of who these individuals are and and then ultimately there is state responsibility as well.
The state is ultimately responsible for the protection of these girls and children at school.
So the state will have to be held accountable for all of the violations these girls are suffering from.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any other questions for the special rapporteur, just A.
Quick question, what is the situation right now on the on the field?
What, what, what?
Do you see?
Protests are continuing.
Is the state doing something different or what?
What is?
Your recent views on that.
Thank you.
So what what the information we're receiving is that the intensity of the protests is variable.
So the the intensity that we found, you know, after 16th of September and all of last year is not quite there.
So, so, so protests have subsided, but that does not mean that the pro people have stopped protesting.
People are still protesting.
People are asking for justice and accountability.
That is a consistent theme that we come across.
And I think that the Iranian people are looking towards the international community because they're aware that an international fact finding mission has been established.
They're looking towards my mandate, what further I can do.
And I'm, I'm committed to, you know, promoting and, and, and publicising the whole issue of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Do we have any other questions?
Thank you again.
The yesterday you spoke about the drug.
There's the the execution of people on drugs offences which have been so dry.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, or so.
And I believe you have mentioned the fact that the United Nations drugs authorities, sorry, what action would you like the United Nations drugs authorities, which work in cooperation with the Iranian authorities, to take?
Because there have been comments that they're not responding like this.
Yeah, thank you for the question.
You're right that the number of people executed have risen exponentially, as I mentioned yesterday.
And that number is alarming because of the the the increase, the dramatic increase and the alarming nature of executions of people charged with drug offences.
So what I have recommended and what I would recommend is that the United Nations and those states which have been supporting the drug offenders rehabilitation programmes in Iran should be talking to Iranian authorities as to the reasons why executions of these individuals have escalated to that level.
You would remember and I I think people here would remember that in 2017 a law was passed where which resulted in in considerable reduction of executions because drug executions were reduced.
And now the question is why suddenly in the last year or two, these individuals, the the people who are convicted of drug offences are again being executed at such large number.
And, and one of my very serious concerns is that a significant proportion of the people who are executed are from ethnic and religious minorities, the Balochis, the Kurds, the so, so these people are vulnerable and the state is repressing them and persecuting them, denying them the right to fair trial.
So in response to your question, I think the international community, the United Nations, the European Union, members of the European Union, many of the states who have in good faith supported Iran in its drug rehabilitation programmes in the in the drug office in Tehran should be engaged with authorities to inquire as to this alarming development of, of the numbers of individuals now being executed.
The numbers are there for you from last year.
So this is this is my main concern in that.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Do we have any other questions, any questions online?
If we have no further questions, then we will close this press conference.
With Many thanks to the special Ratata and thank you to everyone for joining.