U.S. Ambassador Ronald Goddard on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights today reported that through Iran’s security services, it continues to quash freedom of assembly.
In his statement at the 66th UN General Assembly on “Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.” Mr. Goddard said the Iran’s regime repressed all forms of opposition, precluding accountability of its actions to its own citizens.
He stated that the harassed, abused, intimidated, detained and sentenced human rights defenders, civil society actors, student activists, artists, and thousands of individuals without cause or due process of law, including political leaders Mir Houseein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives. He cited that the authorities jailed journalists, prosecuted human rights attorneys, executed political prisoners, and continues to hold more than 100 juveniles on death row, in contravention of the UN conventions to which it is a party.
“Iran has extended the repression to the exercise of rights online: it blocks access to thousands of websites, jails opposition bloggers, and monitors individuals’ private Internet communications to collect information to support interrogations and fabricate criminal charges.” – Mr. Goddard
He noted that Iran continued to abuse members of ethnic and religious minorities, repressing their practice of faith, denying them their right to equal treatment, and sentencing some to death for their religious beliefs, such as Pastor Nadarkhani.
“One hundred members of the Baha’i community are currently in jail, along with many others of oppressed religious sects.” -Mr. Goddard