Rights groups ask UN to condemn rights abuses in Iran
Updated: Monday, November 16, 2009
Photographer: US State Department Photo
UN General Assembly
16:20GMT—11:20AM/EST
Washington, 16 November (WashingtonTV)—A group of 109 human rights and civil society organizations from around the world have called on the United Nations to condemn human rights violations in Iran, an Iranian human rights group reported on Monday.
In a letter to the UN General Assembly dated 11 November, the signatories, including local groups from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, also urged Iran to abide by its international human rights obligations.
“Human rights conditions in Iran have deteriorated dramatically since the General Assembly’s 2008 resolution,” the letter read, according to New York-based rights group, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.
“It is incumbent upon the international community and a matter of the utmost moral urgency to emphasize to the government of Iran that common human rights standards must be upheld,” it said.
The rights groups said that since Iran’s disputed presidential election in June, “thousands of Iranian citizens have suffered grave violations of their internationally protected human rights.”
The groups condemned what they called the “grossly disproportionate force against peaceful protesters” and the “show trials” against the nearly 140 people on charges related to the post-election unrest.
They also voiced concern about “credible” reports of torture, rape and ill-treatment of detainees.
“The General Assembly must take a firm stand on behalf of universal human rights principles, and on behalf of the people of Iran,” they wrote.
The signatories also urged delegations at the UN to support a resolution introduced by Canada that criticized the human rights situation in Iran.
Source: International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran
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