United Nations report: Worsening of civil freedoms in Iran

A United Nations report into the human rights situation in Iran, released on Tuesday, details the worsening of civil freedoms in the country. The author, Special Rapporteur to the United Nations, Mr. Ahmed Shaheed, shed light onto the various civil, judicial and social rights violations under President Hassan Rouhani after conducting interviews with over 70 Iranians based in Iran and Europe.

The findings of the report do much to undermine the image projected by President Rouhani as a moderate reformer prior to his election in 2013, and which set him apart from his conservative predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Despite this, Mr. Shaheed said during his briefing at the United Nations in New York, there exists “a strong disconnect between the professed policy of engagement and the behaviour of authorities on the ground”.

Particularly, legal rights have faced assault. Defendants are now only able select lawyers from those approved by the judiciary. There has been an upswing in the number of executions, mostly for non-violent drug offences, to a rate higher than that seen at any time during the past 25 years. This year alone, Mr. Shaheed reported, at least 694 people had been hanged.

Attacks on freedom of speech are many and frequent, claimed Mr. Shaheed. The use of arbitrary detention on journalists, bloggers and other public voices has also increased. Jason Rezaian, a correspondent for the Washington Post in Tehran, has been detained since July 2014 for alleged acts of “espionage”. Similarly, poets Fatemeh Ekhtersari and Mehdi Mousavi were arrested and charged with promulgating anti-state propaganda in December 2013.

However, Iranian officials have consistently rebuffed Mr. Shaheed’s claims, arguing that they are politically motivated and lack legitimacy.  

Mr. Shaheed’s report comes just months after the historic nuclear deal between Iran and the world’s major powers and the same day as the President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, Maryam Rajavi, condemned Iran’s human rights infringements at a conference in Paris.