The United Nations has been accused of “rewarding” Iran for major human rights abuses akin to its mass crackdown on protesters after it handed the regime a number one position at a human rights discussion board.
Israeli officers and Iran human rights teams have poured scorn on the UN after it appointed Iranian ambassador Ali Bahreini as chairman of the UN Human Rights Council Social Discussion board 2023.
The appointment was confirmed in a Might 10 letter signed by Václav Bálek, the president of the UN Human Rights Council.
The transfer was strongly criticised because it got here shortly after Iran hanged two males on blasphemy costs and continued its crackdown on anti-regime protesters, who in some circumstances have been put to dying after trials lasting as little as quarter-hour.
The regime, which says the dying sentences are vital to keep up legislation and order, has been gripped by a mass protest motion that erupted final yr over the dying in police custody of Mahsa Amini, 22.
Ms Amini was beaten to death by Iran’s so-called morality police for incorrectly carrying her hijab. Her dying triggered nationwide protests and a brutal counter-response by the regime which left at the least 300 folks useless.
Meirav Eilon Shahar, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, stated in response to the appointment:
The transfer was additionally condemned by the US-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran. “The appointment of an Iranian official to chair a UNHRC physique, whereas the Council is investigating the Islamic Republic’s slaughtering of hundreds of peaceful protesters, displays a surprising moral blindness,” stated the group’s government director Hadi Ghaemi.
When approached for remark, a United Nations spokesman confirmed the appointment however stated the Social Discussion board 2023 was not a UN physique or mechanism and merely a two-day occasion.
A spokesman stated: “For this yr’s version of the Social Discussion board, the President of the Human Rights Council despatched a letter to all regional teams of the United Nations in early April inviting them to submit nominations for the position of the chair.
“The President obtained one nomination of H.E. Mr Ali Bahreini, Ambassador and Everlasting Consultant of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as Chair Rapporteur for the 2023 Social Discussion board, from the Asia-Pacific regional group. No different nomination has been introduced by another regional group.”