Statement by

Ms. Fatemeh Arab Bafrani

Second Secretary

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

Before the Third Committee of the 77th Session of the General Assembly

On Agenda Items 68 (a, b, c, d): “Promotion and Protection of the Human Rights”

General Discussion

New York, 19 October 2022

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Mr. Chair,

Multilateralism and international solidarity are considered a prerequisite for advancing human rights issues as well as dealing with long-standing and contemporary needs and challenges, including the realization of the right to development, the multi-layered socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, and continued colonial policies in new forms such as the imposition of UCMs against developing countries.

In this vein, the human rights mechanisms should not shy away from dealing with systematic violations of human rights, including those that breach the right to development as well as the right to self-determination of other sovereign States.

It is regretful that the systematic apartheid of the Israeli regime combined with raids, occupation, colonization, intimidation, and the unlawful and inhumane siege continues unabated with the unconditional support of the U.S. and other western countries. Millions of Palestinians continue to live in despair in their homeland. History wouldn't forgive such silence against this level of savagery.

The grave violations of human rights by the United States should also be treated the same way. Racial and ethnic profiling and inequality before the law resulted in the incarceration of a disproportionate number of minorities, and hate speech by high-ranking politicians against Muslims, Afro-decedents, women, native Americans, migrants, and refugees show no recess. Police forces' ruthlessness continues with impunity. The United States has undertaken multi-folded attempts to destabilize legitimate and independent governments and stir conflict, disorder, and unrest, attack multilateralism and resort to unlawful and inhumane economic sanctions, and advance a foreign policy based on interference in the internal affairs of the sovereign States by violation of the UN Charter and international law.

In Canada, systematic and historic drawbacks against indigenous peoples regarding their right to life, access to health, education, and employment has caused their over-representation in courts and prison settings. Besides, hate crimes and hate speech against members of racial and religious minorities, particularly Muslims remain a matter of grave concern.  

In the EU member states, discrimination on the basis of religion, race, and ethnicity have been on the rise in the past several years. Muslims and certain ethnic minorities are subject to hate speech as well as discrimination. On many occasions Muslim’s holy book, the Quran has been burnt which caused great sorrow and indignation in the Islamic world. Some of these countries are a safe haven for terrorist groups despite the fact that acts of terrorism truly violate the most basic human rights and humanitarian law and as such States are under very established legal obligation either to extradite or to prosecute the alleged terrorists.

Mr. Chair,

The Islamic Republic of Iran as a country of diverse cultures, religions, ethnicities, and languages, is committed to the promotion and protection of human rights and dignity. We will continue to ensure a prosperous and peaceful society that peruses the equal implementation of human rights.

The Islamic Republic of Iran attaches high importance to cooperation and interaction with non-discriminatory intergovernmental human rights mechanisms, including Universal Periodic Reports of the Human Rights Council. In this regard, the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights has also completed her visit to Iran this May. I vehemently urge you to flip through her report to perceive the endless and grave violation of Iranians` human rights, including women, children, youth, and those with rare diseases and medical conditions emanating from the illegal imposition of the US unilateral coercive measures.

It is also critical to safeguard the UN human rights machinery from politicization and double standards to assure universality, impartiality, objectivity, and non-selectivity. The country-specific resolutions and the ensuing mandates that manipulate and instrumentalize human rights for political rivalries are categorically and constantly rejected by Iran. We believe that politically motivated schemes to stigmatize certain countries are a well-worn path that by narrowing the possibility of cooperation, further questions the rationale behind establishing the GA.

Mr. Chair,

I wish to conclude my statement by “rejecting whole the falshoods and baseless allegations made by some specific countries against the recent developments in Iran” and wishing that 

• multilateralism becomes the cornerstone of the UN system 
• all human rights receive equal attention.
• human rights issues wouldn’t be manipulated for political intentions 

I thank you