Human rights situation in Iran

Conectas requests information Brazilian government on its position in the UN concerning human rights violations in Iran

 

 

On February 12, Conectas Human Rights sent a letter to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations containing two specific requests on the severe human rights violations that have taken place in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

First, Conectas asked for additional clarifications on the reasons for Brazil?s abstention when voting on the UN General Assembly resolution (A/C.3/64/L.37) addressing the matter, in November last year. The resolution, approved in spite of Brazil’s abstention, recognizes the severe and systematic human rights violations in Iran that are documented in numerous official UN reports. It also calls for the Iranian government to combat these violations, primarily those related to all forms of torture, public executions, discrimination against women and repression of minors.

Brazil’s abstention in the General Assembly came just one month after the official visit by Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to Brazil. On the occasion, Conectas Human Rights, in conjunction with five other NGOs, had already sent an official letter to the Brazilian government appealing for due consideration to be given to the human rights agenda during the visit, and for Brazil’s policy of systematic abstention in the General Assembly be revised.

Furthermore, Conectas requested that the Brazilian government seize the opportunity of Iran’s passage through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), of the UN Human Rights Council, on February 15, to make concrete and measurable recommendations to the Iranian state. “An  important recommendation made by Brazil was for a moratorium on the application of the death penalty. However, we believe that the Brazilian government could have been more explicit in repudiating the gross and systematic human rights violations occurring in Iran, including those that occurred before, during and after the most recent elections”, claimed Oscar Vilhena Vieira, legal director of Conectas Human Rights.

The UPR mechanism assesses the human rights situations of each of the 192 UN member states every four years.

 

Click here to read the letter (in Portuguese).