U.N. condemns Iranian crackdown, sets up probe of rights abuses

An independent fact-finding mission will be established by the U.N. Human Rights Council after a vote to condemn Iran's crackdown on peaceful protesters in the wake of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini's death two months ago while in police custody.

The 47-nation council voted 25-6 to approve a resolution by Germany and Iceland on Thursday to condemn the violence in Iran and set up a probe of abuses against women and children. Armenia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan and Venezuala opposed the measure, and 16 other nations abstained.

The United Nations human rights body's special session is a response to Tehran's violence response to the protests that began in mid-September over Amini's death while in the custody of the morality police for violating an Islamic dress code. The protests have since expanded to all of Iran's 31 provinces, including 150 cities.

The crackdown on those protests has led to the killing of at least 426 people and arrests of more than 17,400 people, according to the advocacy group Human Rights Activists in Iran.

Volker Türk, who heads the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said it pains him to see the images of children killed, women beaten in the streets, and people sentenced to death.

"The unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come to an end. The old methods and the fortress mentality of those who wield power simply don’t work. In fact, they only aggravate the situation," Türk told the council.

"We are now in a full-fledged human rights crisis," he said. "Women, young people, men, from across society – students, workers from various sectors, athletes and artists are clamouring for change. With incredible courage. To bring an end to discriminatory laws and practices against women and girls. For the full respect of the rights and freedoms of all the people of Iran."

'The rights we all want to enjoy'

Iran's representative at the council meeting, Khadijeh Karimi, called the resolution an arrogant move to antagonize her country for political purposes.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran deeply regrets that the Human Rights Council is abused once again by some arrogant states to antagonize a sovereign U.N. member state that is fully committed to its obligation to promote and protect the human rights,” said Karimi, Iran's director for international affairs of the vice president.

She decried the "cruel" international sanctions imposed on her country by the United States, Germany and other European Union member nations, and that they lack the moral credibility to call for a special council session on human rights. Karimi said her government has a strong record of "empowering women and girls" in government, higher education and a variety of professions.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, speaking from the floor of the council, said Amini's death for not wearing her headscarf properly makes her one of more than 300 people "who have been killed because the stood up for their rights to determine their own life," including at least 40 children.

"Way more than 15,000 have been arrested and the Iranian regime is now threatening protesters with the death penalty," she said. "And why? Only because these women, men and children want to enjoy the rights we all want to enjoy – to live in dignity and without discrimination."

The resolution creates a fact-finding mission to investigate rights violations linked to the protests and calls on Iranian authorities to grant U.N. investigators unhindered access to the country, including places of detention, and fully cooperate with the council and other U.N. rights treaty bodies.

A report is expected by mid-2023. The council already has a special rapporteur, or investigator, for Iran, whose efforts have been rebuffed by the country.

U.S. Ambassador Michèle Taylor in Geneva told the council the resolution "demonstrates solidarity with the brave people of Iran, notably women and girls, who despite grave risks continue to speak out. We must respond to their cries for accountability in the wake of what they are facing."

"This session and this resolution are necessary because of Iran’s demonstrated unwillingness to investigate numerous credible allegations of human rights abuses by members of its security forces and other officials," she said., adding she was "appalled" at an attempt by China to weaken the resolution with an amendment.

Some who have defended the Iranian authorities have sought to cast this merely as a cultural issue," said Taylor. "Let us be clear; no culture tolerates the killing of women and children."