« The Iranian authorities denied violations, and pretended that they were victims of a political instrumentalization of human rights by Western countries. This is adding insult to injury for the victims of serious human rights violations perpetrated on a daily basis in Iran, in particular since the general election of June 2009 », stated Karim Lahidji, President of LDDHI and Vice-President of FIDH.
As stated by many States during the interactive dialogue, peaceful protests are harshly repressed, more than 3,000 political prisoners are behind the bars, and torture appears to be carried out on a daily basis in the Iranian jails. Last but not least, several political prisoners have been condemned to death, and two of them have even been executed last month.
« Interestingly, the Universal Periodic Review witnessed the decreasing support to the current regime among the international community », added Dr. Lahidji. « States praising the situation in Iran were a very small minority, and most states participating in the Review expressed their deep concern about the current situation in the country ».
The Iranian authorities did not provide any concrete reply, thereby refusing to cooperate with the international community in order to end human rights violations. The result of this exercise will be a draft report, which will be made public on 17 February, and will include a set of recommendations addressed to the Iranian authorities. The latter will then have the possibility to state whether they accept or reject them.
« There is still a possibility for the Iranian government to offer to cooperate with the international community, and in particular the UN human rights mechanisms. We urge the Iranian authorities to engage on this path: the ball is in their camp », concluded the FIDH Vice-president.