Western hypocrisy on human rights

Hasteh made the remarks in response to the committee’s recent ratification of a resolution sponsored by Canada accusing Iran of human rights violations.

The Iranian representative criticized the committee for its negative attitude toward some countries and underlined the fact that the politically motivated measures of certain countries would not lead to the improvement of the human rights situation in the world.

Over the past few decades, there are countless examples of Western countries using the human rights issue to create problems and actually placing obstacles in the way of international cooperation to improve the human rights situation.

Some Western countries are in the habit of using the human rights issue as a means to realize their political objectives and even refer bilateral disputes to international organizations.

No country can claim to have a perfect record on human rights and the Islamic Republic of Iran is no exception, but at the same time Iran has always done its best to improve the human rights situation in the country.

By contrast, historically, Canada has a bad record on human rights, having violated the rights of minorities, immigrants, and its indigenous population.  

The murder of 18-year-old Iranian national Keyvan Tabesh in 2003 by Canadian police and Ottawa’s efforts to acquit the defendants in the case is another clear instance of the violation of immigrants’ rights in Canada. 

The Canadian government has hypocritically sponsored a resolution about alleged human rights violations in Iran, while it is pressuring the Tabesh family to stop pursuing the case of the murder of their son.

At the same time, the UN General Assembly's human rights committee has ratified the Canadian sponsored resolution against Iran while the world media are broadcasting images of death and destruction in Iraq.

But the UN human rights committee has remained silent in the face of the ongoing massacre of innocent Iraqi civilians in Falluja and other Iraqi cities by the U.S. occupying forces and has also failed to make any response to the slaughter of Palestinians by the Zionist regime.

However, the UN special rapporteur on human rights is constantly delivering reports on the systematic and blatant violation of human rights by the Zionist regime in the occupied territories, but to no avail, unfortunately.

In addition, the imposition of xenophobic and anti-Islamic measures against Muslims living in Western countries and religious intolerance in the West, such as discrimination against and persecution of Muslim women who wear hijab (Islamic headscarf), are some examples of human rights violations in the countries which have voted to ratify the resolution accusing Iran of human rights abuses.

Yet, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the only country in the region that has invited UN Human Rights Commission inspectors to visit and is cooperating with many other countries, including European Union countries, to facilitate the process of exchanging experiences and information on human rights.

Clearly, the out-of-date policy of using the pretext of alleged human rights violations to pressure Iran is not only unjustified and unfair but also sets back efforts at cooperation to improve the human rights situation throughout the world.

SA/HG

End

MNA