Human Rights Official Urges UN to Deal with Terrorism in Iran Like It Does with Others

In separate letters to the UN Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, mentioning the terrorist act committed against the Iranian prominent nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizade, the Secretary of High Council for Human Rights in Iran Ali Bagheri Kani wrote that inaction against this criminal and terrorist act and failure to spotlight it in the relevant UN reports would further question the credibility of the reports and may be considered as offering legitimacy to terrorism and would also result in the further spread of radicalism and terrorism, entailing international responsibility for the United Nations, the High Council for Human Rights reported.

Bagheri also reminded the UNSG’s of his clear stance with respect to terrorist acts in other countries including Austria (statement on 03 November 2020) and France (statement on 17 September 2020) and asked the UNSG to stress the necessity of greater cooperation among countries for the administration of justice against terrorists and ultimately draw the attention of the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations to this state-orchestrated assassination and violation of international peace and security in accordance with the implementation of Article 99 of the United Nations Charter.

“Within the framework of these thoughts and approaches, the newly-emerged concept of “state terrorism” is being exploited as an instrument by the powers to advance their illegitimate and illegal policies which would ultimately threaten and violate peace, security and human rights more than any other time”, HCHR Secretary added.

Regarding the politicized approach taken by western countries towards the vicious phenomenon of terrorism, Bagheri wrote the mentioned countries’ double standards and decriminalization of terrorism in “terrorism-laundering” frameworks have exposed the global community to new challenges in connection with international peace and security.

Stressing that this assassination is a blatant breach of peremptory norms and inviolable international human rights (such as the right to life) as stipulated in Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the HCHR Secretary said that this terrorist act would entail the international responsibility of the perpetrator and sponsor governments as well as the individual criminal liability of the accomplices and participants in this murder crime. The international responsibility of this flagrant violation of peremptory principles is also incumbent upon countries, the Western advocates of human rights and international organizations which adopted silence and inaction specifically, he added.