Iran refuses to take critical UN resolution on human rights lying down
By Channel NewsAsia's Iran Correspondent Roxana Saberi
TEHRAN : Iran is calling a recent United Nations resolution criticising its human rights record "worthless" and "politically motivated."

A UN committee had approved the resolution accusing Tehran of human rights violations such as torture and the suppression of free speech

The latest UN move is adding to the recent pressures Iran has been facing on the international scene.

At a recent rally at the University of Tehran, demonstrators called for the release of reformist professor Hashem Aghajari.

He was condemned to death last year after questioning the rule of Iran's powerful Shiite clerics.

Now Aghajari is awaiting a review of that sentence.

"The cruelty that is done to Aghajari is cruelty to the great nation of Iran," said reformist MP Mohsen Armin.

The criticism has been echoed in a recent UN committee resolution, rebuking Tehran for breaches of human rights.

The resolution accuses Iran of suppressing press freedom, jailing political dissidents, and discrimination against women and religious minorities.

"I think that the issuance of this resolution was a clear message to the Iranian government, especially the conservatives, including the judiciary, that they should change their course of action regarding the human rights field," said Hossein Hafezian, Center for Middle East Strategic Studies.

Iran's human rights scene had already been thrust into the spotlight by several recent developments; three examples come to mind.

Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer working in the fields of human rights and democracy, became the first Iranian to win a Nobel Peace Prize.

The death of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi, while in Iranian custody, has ignited tensions between the two countries.

There is also increasing disillusionment with the slow pace of reforms, which many accuse the country's hardliners of blocking.

UN human rights monitor Ambeyi Ligabo, who visited Iran in November, says part of the problem are unclear laws that seem to provide for freedom of expression but often do not.

"They seem to lack appropriate precision and definition, criteria and are therefore open to wide interpretation when implemented," said the UN Special Rapporteur.

Iran has responded to the resolution by saying it is based on a "selfish agenda" and contradicts Iran's efforts to promote human rights at home and abroad.

Some Iranian leaders have said women and religious minorities enjoy many liberties, including posts in the country's parliament.

They also claim that recent student demonstrations are clear signs of "political openness."

Indeed, some Iranians, like the demonstrators at an annual anti-Israel rally (picture), say the critics are being hypocritical.

"America only speaks about human rights. It doesn't know anything about human rights. They don't even know the ABC's of human rights," said one protestor.

The renewed focus on Iran's human rights record is intensifying pressures on Tehran, which Washington has accused of pursuing nuclear weapons - a charge Iran denies.

The UN draft resolution now goes to the full General Assembly.

Observers expect it to get a vote of approval. - CNA