In a decisive vote, the United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution denouncing the serious human rights abuses occurring in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Although Iran’s ambassador to the UN Mohamad Khazaee tried to prevent the vote from taking place, he failed in the attempt. The resolution, sponsored by Canada, was approved 89-30 with 64 abstentions. That was the largest margin ever in the nine times that a General Assembly resolution deploring human rights conditions in Iran has been approved.
A wide range of abuses were mentioned in the resolution, including the alarming use of the death penalty in “the absence of internationally recognized safeguards” for crimes “lacking a precise and explicit definition.” Also cited were torture, cruel and degrading treatment in detention; the targeting of human rights defenders; pervasive violence against women; “the systematic and serious restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly” and “severe limitations and restrictions on the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief.”
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland welcomed the approval of the resolution by the General Assembly:
“This record 89 vote [in favor of the resolution] demonstrates a growing international consensus against the increasing repression and rampant human rights violations carried out by the Iranian regime.”
“While Tehran attempts to whitewash its record through repeated denials of UN-documented abuses,” said State Department spokesperson Nuland, “international bodies, including the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran appointed by the Human Rights Council in 2011, continue to highlight ongoing torture, repression of individual expression and religious freedom, and the ongoing detention of all who dares to speak out against the regime.”
The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution denouncing the serious human rights abuses occurring in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
