lslamic Republic of
PermonentMission the Uni Notions to ted

I RAN
Statementby H.E.Mr. Mohammad Khazaee of Iran to the United Nations

Ambassadorand Permanent Representative the Islamic of Republic

before the Third committee of the 62nd Session the of GenerarAssembry on Agenda item 70c: Human Rights situations New york, 20 November2007 Pleasecheckagainstdelivery In the Nameof God, the Compassionate, Merciful the Mr. Chairman, we are witnessing,once again, Canada'sattempt to abuse the UN human rights mechanism presentingyet anothernon-objectiu", by .onirontational and counter-productive draft resolutionagainstthe Islamic Republicof Iran to the Third committee. By resortingto suchan approach, Canadaseemsto be determined, the dismayof international to community for its ulteriorendsandillegitimate politicalinterests.

::ffi:::tJn,,:10""::1, ?:-11:,"'-:"1::'+'rv i"' "1::lo:l n "31n* r,r, *" I"'* ;;
*:y",f:

:t.11.-::rld. paradigmr.und . pu.u-"t"., or'l,"liiirJ -iir,i,.#;,;ffi#; :T::::il.:,:1,,i: s]"gircold war legacy. -l:: of the eventuallylead to revival
Mr. Chairman,

ff ; jll rffi T,o':n# suchanrTli:: and;; ;;"J""pp.;; ;;;i;il; Jffi ;t;;: il:1, :,,.1 unhear thy ffi;ffi

*5, ',' l'll] ",nH ll,,i "*XT:":i il", $T, ::H:':,i F,ffi :, ;ift o'",i "ffi -Ju"t"iil pur,, rirmry :i:l':ll support simlar u."

It is deeply unfortunatethat manipulationand abuseof the united Nations numan l

A close review of the draft resolutionL.43 shows that it lacks credibility, reliability and objectivityin termsof both substance procedure. and The contentof draft resolutionL.43 reflectsanythingbut the truth' It containsflawed, inaccurate over-exaggerated and claims,and

622Intrd New NY Ave, York, 10017 (212)P87-2020 (212) Tel: Fax: 867-7086 iran@un.int email:

unfounded allegations. casesin point.are-many I just referto few. In but PP4,regrethasbeenexpressed that no special procedure beenpermitted visit the country has to sinceJuly 2005.In 2002,when the EU draft resolutionagainstIran was defeated in the then Human Rights commission,Iran voluntarily extended standing invitationto all thematic mandate holdersof the HumanRights commission Special Procedures. Since then, 6 mandateholders of the special procedures havevisitedthe country.l It should also be noted that the information contained in the List of country visits by Special Procedures, which is availableon the official website of the uNoHcHR, clearly revealsthat the number of visits made by the SpecialMandateHolders to the Islamic Republicof Iran is well abovethe average of the Siecial Rapporteurs, visits accommodated by othercountries includingCanada. It is also noteworthythat the level of cooperation with the Specialprocedureof united Nations by the Islamic Republic of Iran ranki amongstthe highestwithin the internationar community'Furlhermore, additionto the above in menioned si><-visits the manoate by holders to the country,Iran has also been the host to the substantive visit of professorpinherio,the Independent Expert for the uN Secretary General'sstudy on violence againstchildren in May 2007 during which he, amongothers,visited Juvenilecorrection and Educationcentre. He admiredthe professional services beingrendered children,and also expressed to the view that the saidcentre can be a role modelfoithe south -south cooperation. Furthermore, UN High commissionerof the Human Rights, Madam Louise Arbour, was invited as the specialguest to Tehran NAM Ministerial Meeting on Human rights and cultural Diversity held in September 2007. During ner uirir, ,rr" mei and exchanged views relevanthigh ranking Iranian officials anJvisited differenrplacestnctuoingwomen #tili" Another notabledeficiencyin the operative sectionof the draft resolutionL.43 is the "g" sub-paragraph of oP3 which tlearly shows that in the absence any legitimateand valid of human rights claims, the authorsof tire draft resolutionL.43 have desperately resortedto certainrecommendations containedin the one decadeord report of uN SpecialRapporteur, andcall upon the Government the Islamic of Republicof Iran to implementthem now. The list continues, but due to the time constraint, declineto go I further.I just raised ''sR
on therightto freedom.of o-qnion expression and (3-11/l 1/2003),Report ElCN.4/2004/62/Add.2 wG on arbitrary detention.(15-iztztzoosl,Report E/cN.4/2004 /3lAdd.2and corr.l SRon thehuman rights migrants of Report 1zz-Lstzto+1, E/CN.4/2005 /g5/Add.2 SRon violence against women January- February (29 6 2005), Report ElcN.4/200616r/Add.3 sR on adequate housing (19-30 zoosi,R"portElcN.4/2006/41/Add.z July sR on thehuman rightstituation Afgha;;iu-,i in lr"oruuryiooii n.p",i'A/s5/346

thesefew examples illustratehow the Canadian to Government resorted illusionaryand has to non-existing claims and allegations gain the supportof this august to body for its invalid move. Mr. Chairman, As we all have witnessed,the Governmentof Canadaarrogates to itself a leading global role on human rights advocacy, while certain parts of its own populationespecially minorities,immigrants,foreignersand indigenou,p"opl. suffer from humanrights violations underits watch and in the exercise its diicriminatorypolicies. of As a result,cinada,s human rights violations have been well-documented uuiiou, by human rights monitoring bodies particularlythe UN humanrights mechanisms. The discriminatorytreatment the Aboriginalpeopleby the of Canadian Government is kown to all' The reportsof the Royal Commissionon^Aboriginalpeoples indicatesthat few canadianAboriginal people havejobs and many of them are left behind the bars for a long period' The Commissionhas also described health the statusof Aboriginal peoplesin Canada as both a tragedyand a crisis' In addition,the Native women Associationof canadaand other institutionshave also reportedthat hundereds Aboriginal of women have been murderedor reportedmissing over the past 16 years.In brief, vari|us reports indicate that, in Canada, social exclusionpolicies, blatantracism and racial discriminaiion have led to the significant disparities which exist between minorities and the rest of the population in areas of employment public services and suchashealthandeducation. At the internationallevel, Canada's record in dealing with the situationsof human rights violationsis appallingand indefensible. Canadais one of the very few countriesthat stand against the overwhelming majority of uN member states to condemn the Israel,s systematic and grossviolation of Palestinian humanrights by opposingthe resolutions the on issuein the General Assembly in theHumanRightsLouncil. or You may recall that, in the courseof aggression Lebanon into in August 2006 and the brutal killing of many innocentLebanese peopleespecially children by Israj, canadaopenly supportedIsraeli brutalities and atrocities,ind vtted against the Human Rights council resolutions-2/l of 11 August 2006,on the situation of h"uman rights in l,ebanoncausedby Israelimilitary operation' Justlast Friday,16 November200T,this committeewitnessed the negative vote of Canada against the resolution on the Human Rights council institution building and code of conduct' we are all aware of canada'sintransingent position and negativevote againstthe UN Declarationon the rights of indigenous peoples,adoptedby the GeneralAssemblyon 13 September 2007. I suffice to thesefew examples, and leavethe judgementto the wisdom of the house on the Canada's claim of sincerity and seriousn.r, ibo,it the cause of huamn rights. It is evident that with such a bleak human rights record, canada cannot claim perfectionand innocence dealing in with humanrightsissues.

other co-sponsors draft resolutioncannot also be proud of of their own record of humanrights' The appallingsituations Guantanamo in Bay, the disclosure torturein the of Iraqi prisonsby the occupying forcesespecially the Abu Gharib prison,the existence in of secretdetentioncentresin different parts of Europe,the situation oi minorities,indigenous peoples and migrantsin many developed countries but few examples grossviolationsof are of rights committedby the so-called claimantsand self proclaimedchJmpionsof human lT:" nsnts. Mr. Chairman, The Islamic Republic of Iran, along with the other developing countriesof the South, actively participatedand positively contributedto the reform processes of the UN human rights machinerywith the view to put an end to its long time politic izationand manipulation by few countriesof the North. By establishing Hum-an the Rights Council, we all intendedto havea mechanism devoid of selectivity,doubiestandard, political bullying when and it comes to humanrights and fundamental freedoms and their promotionandprotectionl To this end, we are of the opinion that the international scrutiny on protectionof human rights in any given country should be carried out objectively, fairly, and free from discriminationand abuseof relevantUN mechanisms. faci, In the tiuman Rlgt r, council,s mechanismof Universal Peer Review (UPR) is envisaged to addressthis issue of high importance. The Islamic Republicof Iran welcomes uPR, which is due to be conducted earlyas as 2008' we are of the opinion that uPR is the most appropriate and efficient mechanism for examiningand safeguarding humanrights situationin the all countries,including in canada and Iran' Therefore'resortingto any duplicativeand overlapping meansfor singling out and scrutinizing human rights situations in any given country, such as presentinga specific country resolution, totallyirrational - unacceptable. is and Mr. Chairman, The Islamic Republic of Iran is committedto its human rights obligationsprescribed by the Islamic principles'its constitution,and the international instruments that it hasadhered to. In Iran's view, human rights cannot be claimed to be the monopoly of any single culture and society' They can be protectedand promoted in a meaningful and effective manner only through genuine respect for cuitural diversity, natioial and regional particularities well as historical and religiousbackgrounds, as traditionsand value systems. Furthermore, are of the opinion that various cultures we and civilizations can and should engagein a constructivedialogue,mutual understanding and fruitful cooperation human on rights, despitetheir differencesand varieties.In this v"ein, we stand ready to engagein a

meaningful dialogue and cooperationon human rights with all interestedcountries and parties,with a view to contributeto makingreal progiessin fulfilling the obligationsthat we areall committed to. At the domesticlevel, the Government and peopleof Iran are determined realize to a society basedon social-justice, compassion, procesiof law and good governance. this due In regard,a wide rangeof measures beentakento securethe well-6elng"orthe has citizensand improve their economic and social conditions especially the less-adiantaged and more vulnerableones- As an example,I wish to refer to ttre tan's ratification oi trre optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the child on the Sale of children, child Prostitution Child pornography July 31,2007. and on At the international level,Iran hascontinued play its activeand constructive in to ^uni role advancinghuman rights worldwide. In this context, upon the decision of the NonAligned Movement Summit in Havana in Septemb 2006, er the Islamic Republic of Iran hostedthe first Non-Aligned MovementMinisterial Meeting on Human Rights and cultural Diversity in Tehran on September 3-4th 2007. Amongst the valuable outcomes and achievements the said Meeting was the establishment of of the NAM centre for Human Rightsand Cultural Diversityin Tehran. In line with our principled position and approach on human rights, which is cooperation-oriented dialogue-based, has tr,ui iu. held and Iran four roundso1 hun-run rights dialoguewith the Europeanunion. At the bilaterallevel, similar dialogueshave been held with Australia' RussianFederation, Switzerlandand Japan.Iran regardssuch dialoguesas a useful mechanism to exchange views, enhanceundirstanding and appraisal of mutual achievements all aspectsof human rights. At the same in time, Iran has maintainedthat cooperationand dialogue cannot be coupled and continued with political pressureand offensive allegations surfaced in the form of presenting and insisting on the country resolution. one hasto choose between cooperation confrontation. and Sadly,Canadaand its partners havechosen path of confrontation presenting the by the draft resolutionL'43 againstthe Islamic Republicof Iran. It is a wrong path, and therefore, should be counteredby other membersoi this august body. Indeed, presentingspecific countryresolutions the Third committee undermines goals to the and mandate the Human of Rights council, as the most competent UN humanrights institution,and shouldtherefore be avoided. In light of what I have tried to elaborate, and in order to preservethe dignity and credibility of the UN human rights system,I humbly invite the membersof the Third committee to opposethis mischievous attemptof the canadianGovernment voting against by thedraftresolution L.43. Thankyou M1. Chairman