Iranian regime faces different situation now than in the past, UN expert says

A demonstrator with an Iranian flag painted on her face, shouts slogans as she participates in a rally outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul on October 17, 2022. (AFP)
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Updated 18 October 2022
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Iranian regime faces different situation now than in the past, UN expert says

  • Special rapporteur on freedom of expression tells Arab News the ongoing protests over Mahsa Amini’s death indicate a new reality for Tehran
  • Pressure is mounting on the UN to adopt a more firm stance regarding the public demonstrations in Iran and the regime’s brutal response

NEW YORK CITY: The protests in Iran over the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini mark the latest chapter in a long history of public demonstrations that have rocked the Islamic Republic since 1999.

All have been met by brutal regime crackdowns that left many people dead or injured and thousands of political prisoners behind bars.

Students took part in widespread and violent protests in July 1999, for example, and returned to the streets four years later demanding justice for those killed and injured during the previous demonstrations.

The election of Mahmood Ahmadinejad in 2009 sparked turmoil that continued well into 2010 and erupted again the following year and in 2012. More recently, an ongoing series of political movements, acts of civil disobedience, online activism and demonstrations took place between 2017 and 2021.

But the continuing protests over the death on Sep. 16 of Amini, who had been arrested three days earlier for not following strict rules on head coverings, represent a seminal moment because it is “an uprising of young people, very young people, teenagers, young women,” according to Irene Khan, the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. As a result, she said, the Iranian authorities might well be facing a different situation now that they have in the past.

“The issue was sparked by women’s expression,” Khan told Arab News. “Whether you wear a hijab or not is a woman’s right to expression.”

In her reports, including the latest one presented to the General Assembly this month, Khan tirelessly highlights ways in which women’s rights of expression are suppressed by culture, custom or politics.

“And what we see in Iran is a reaction against that kind of suppression, where young women are now saying, ‘We will not allow our rights to be suppressed in the same way that our mothers’ and our grandmothers’ rights have been suppressed,’” she said.

Another difference with the current protests, Khan said, is that there is growing access to digital technology that is more powerful than ever. Some online platforms have gone out of their way to make it as easy as possible for civilians in Ukraine to access and use information, for example, and Khan has recommended to the General Assembly that that similar commitment to the use of technology to preserve human rights be adopted and applied across the board worldwide.

“In Iran, platforms, social media, digital technology is playing a very important role,” she said.


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“Take that, (along) with what’s happening with young women, take the whole issue of youth unemployment, youth frustrations, and the Iranian authorities may be facing a different situation now than in the past.”

Khan said her message to Iran’s leaders is plain and simple: “Stop violating people’s rights. People have the right to peaceful protest. Women have the right to wear a hijab or not wear a hijab. I have said that for a long time.

“These issues of fundamental freedom of expression, of human dignity, of women’s autonomy over their own bodies, should be left to them to decide and the government should do the right thing and follow the human rights standards.”

In 2009, the UN General Assembly issued a resolution condemning human rights violations committed by the Iranian regime. Fact-finding missions have taken place to monitor the violations and compile evidence in the hope that one day the world would be able to hold the perpetrators to account.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told Arab News that human rights mechanisms have been activated in Iran and that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following the situation there “very carefully.”

However pressure is nonetheless growing on the UN to take an even stronger stance on what is happening in Iran in terms of human rights, amid warnings that the situation continues to worsen by the day.

Khan told Arab News that although certain rules and regulations prevent experts such as herself from making all information public, and despite the fact that authorities in Iran will not allow the UN special rapporteur to visit the country, “we are certainly working very hard behind the scenes — and very soon, publicly — to put as much pressure as possible to ensure that people can protest peacefully within their rights.”

She added: “For us, because we’re appointed by the (Human Rights) Council we have a code of conduct that says we have to inform the government (of Iran) before we publish something. We have published certain things about the Mahsa Amini case. We are going to do more. We’d like to do more.

“So in a way, the mechanisms have been activated for a while. The question is, what more is needed in a situation where there are mass violations taking place and where the country of origin has not allowed the special rapporteur to visit, for example. So in a way, you know, we have a problem here.”

But as investigations take place and evidence is compiled, does she believe that anyone will ever be held to account for the crimes committed against the people in a country such as Iran, where the authorities frequently resort to violent crackdowns against dissent that have left hundreds dead, thousands injured and thousands more in jail.

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“I wish (the accountability) would happen today,” she said. “I take strength from the fact that there have been situations that have taken decades — but accountability is extremely important.

“The UN has many different tools; it needs to use them. Increasingly there are commissions of inquiries being set up. There are special types of rapporteurs being built. So there’s a lot of innovation that is going on there.

“The key lies not in the innovation, it lies in the political will of governments — and triggering the political will is the key. And that is where it requires much more than the UN system.”

She added: “Media, for example, plays a huge role. Digital technology has opened up new doors, information flow, empowering people; now you can see young people in Iran rising up. There are many different ways.

“I recommend a lot of community development in my reports as well, from the grassroots up. So a lot of things have to happen in this multistakeholder, multifaceted, very complex world but we shouldn’t lose hope.”

Special rapporteurs are part of what is known as the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council. They are independent experts and work on a voluntary basis. They are not members of the UN staff and are not paid for their work.

Khan, a Bangladeshi lawyer who previously served as secretary-general of Amnesty International, became the first female special rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion when she was appointed in August 2020.


Palestinian health ministry says one dead in Israel West Bank raid

Updated 7 sec ago
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Palestinian health ministry says one dead in Israel West Bank raid

  • Israeli raids refugee camp, with the military saying it had opened fire at ‘terrorists’
  • Israel has occupied the West Bank since conquering it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The health ministry in the occupied West Bank said one person was killed and nine injured in an Israeli raid on a refugee camp, with the Israeli military saying Saturday it had opened fire at “terrorists.”
An 18-year-old man, Muhammad Medhat Amin Amer, “was killed by bullets from the (Israeli) occupation in the Balata camp” in the territory’s north, the Palestinian health ministry said in a late-night statement, adding that nine people were injured, “four of whom are in critical condition.”
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the raid began on Friday night and triggered violent clashes.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli troops entered the camp from the Awarta checkpoint and “deployed snipers on the rooftops of surrounding buildings.”
In a statement on Saturday, the Israeli military said that during the “counterterrorism” operation, “terrorists placed explosives in the area in order to harm (military) soldiers, hurled explosives, molotov cocktails, and rocks and shot fireworks at the forces.”
“The forces fired toward the terrorists in order to remove the threat. Hits were identified,” the statement said.
Violence in the West Bank has intensified since war broke out in the Gaza Strip after Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Since then, at least 815 Palestinians have been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah.
In the same period, Palestinian attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 25 Israelis, according to official Israeli figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since conquering it in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Fragile Israel-Hezbollah truce holding so far, despite violations

Updated 04 January 2025
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Fragile Israel-Hezbollah truce holding so far, despite violations

  • The deal struck on Nov. 27 to halt the war required Hezbollah to immediately lay down its arms in southern Lebanon
  • It gave Israel 60 days to withdraw its forces there and hand over control to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers

BEIRUT: A fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has held up for over a month, even as its terms seem unlikely to be met by the agreed-upon deadline.
The deal struck on Nov. 27 to halt the war required Hezbollah to immediately lay down its arms in southern Lebanon and gave Israel 60 days to withdraw its forces there and hand over control to the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers.
So far, Israel has withdrawn from just two of the dozens of towns it holds in southern Lebanon. And it has continued striking what it says are bases belonging to Hezbollah, which it accuses of attempting to launch rockets and move weapons before they can be confiscated and destroyed.
Hezbollah, which was severely diminished during nearly 14 months of war, has threatened to resume fighting if Israel does not fully withdraw its forces by the 60-day deadline.
Yet despite accusations from both sides about hundreds of ceasefire violations, the truce is likely to hold, analysts say. That is good news for thousands of Israeli and Lebanese families displaced by the war still waiting to return home.
“The ceasefire agreement is rather opaque and open to interpretation,” said Firas Maksad, a senior fellow with the Middle East Institute in Washington. That flexibility, he said, may give it a better chance of holding in the face of changing circumstances, including the ouster of Syria’s longtime leader, Bashar Assad, just days after the ceasefire took effect.
With Assad gone, Hezbollah lost a vital route for smuggling weapons from Iran. While that further weakened Hezbollah’s hand, Israel had already agreed to the US-brokered ceasefire.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on Oct. 8, 2023 – the day after Hamas launched a deadly attack into Israel that ignited the ongoing war in Gaza. Since then, Israeli air and ground assaults have killed more than 4,000 people in Lebanon, including hundreds of civilians. At the height of the war, more than 1 million Lebanese people were displaced.
Hezbollah rockets forced some 60,000 from their homes in northern Israel, and killed 76 people in Israel, including 31 soldiers. Almost 50 Israeli soldiers were killed during operations inside Lebanon.
Here’s a look at the terms of the ceasefire and its prospects for ending hostilities over the long-term.
What does the ceasefire agreement say?
The agreement says that both Hezbollah and Israel will halt “offensive” military actions, but that they can act in self-defense, although it is not entirely clear how that term may be interpreted.
The Lebanese army is tasked with preventing Hezbollah and other militant groups from launching attacks into Israel. It is also required to dismantle Hezbollah facilities and weapons in southern Lebanon – activities that might eventually be expanded to the rest of Lebanon, although it is not explicit in the ceasefire agreement.
The United States, France, Israel, Lebanon and the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, are responsible for overseeing implementation of the agreement.
“The key question is not whether the deal will hold, but what version of it will be implemented,” Maksad, the analyst, said.
Is the ceasefire being implemented?
Hezbollah has for the most part halted its rocket and drone fire into Israel, and Israel has stopped attacking Hezbollah in most areas of Lebanon. But Israel has launched regular airstrikes on what it says are militant sites in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley.
Israeli forces have so far withdrawn from two towns in southern Lebanon – Khiam and Shamaa. They remain in some 60 others, according to the International Organization for Migration, and around 160,000 Lebanese remain displaced.
Lebanon has accused Israel of repeatedly violating the ceasefire agreement and last week submitted a complaint to the UN Security Council that says Israel launched some 816 “ground and air attacks” between the start of the ceasefire and Dec. 22, 2023.
The complaint said the attacks have hindered the Lebanese army’s efforts to deploy in the south and uphold its end of the ceasefire agreement.
Israel says Hezbollah has violated the ceasefire hundreds of times and has also complained to the Security Council. It accused Hezbollah militants of moving ammunition, attempting to attack Israeli soldiers, and preparing and launching rockets toward northern Israel, among other things.
Until it hands over control of more towns to the Lebanese army, Israeli troops have been destroying Hezbollah infrastructure, including weapons warehouses and underground tunnels. Lebanese authorities say Israel has also destroyed civilian houses and infrastructure.
What happens after the ceasefire has been in place for 60 days?
Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese towns has been slower than anticipated because of a lack of Lebanese army troops ready to take over, according to Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, a military spokesman. Lebanon disputes this, and says it is waiting for Israel to withdraw before entering the towns.
Shoshani said Israel is satisfied with the Lebanese army’s control of the areas it has already withdrawn from, and that while it would prefer a faster transfer of power, security is its most important objective.
Israel does not consider the 60-day timetable for withdrawal to be “sacred,” said Harel Chorev, an expert on Israel-Lebanon relations at Tel Aviv University who estimates that Lebanon will need to recruit and deploy thousands more troops before Israel will be ready to hand over control.
Hezbollah officials have said that if Israeli forces remain in Lebanon 60 days past the start of the ceasefire, the militant group might return to attacking them. But Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Kassem said Wednesday that, for now, the group is holding off to give the Lebanese state a chance to “take responsibility” for enforcing the agreement.
Over the final two months of the war, Hezbollah suffered major blows to its leadership, weapons and forces from a barrage of Israeli airstrikes, and a ground invasion that led to fierce battles in southern Lebanon. The fall of Assad was another big setback.
“The power imbalance suggests Israel may want to ensure greater freedom of action after the 60-day period,” Maksad, the analyst, said. And Hezbollah, in its weakened position, now has a “strong interest” in making sure the deal doesn’t fall apart altogether “despite Israeli violations,” he said.
While Hezbollah may not be in a position to return to open war with Israel, it or other groups could mount guerilla attacks using light weaponry if Israeli troops remain in southern Lebanon, said former Lebanese army Gen. Hassan Jouni. And even if Israel does withdraw all of its ground forces, Jouni said, the Israeli military could could continue to carry out sporadic airstrikes in Lebanon, much as it has done in Syria for years.


Hamas wants Gaza ceasefire deal as soon as possible, senior official says

Updated 04 January 2025
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Hamas wants Gaza ceasefire deal as soon as possible, senior official says

  • Qatar, Egypt and the US have been engaged in months of back-and-forth talks between Israel and Hamas that have failed to end Gaza war
  • The new talks will focus on agreeing on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, senior Hamas official Basem Naim

CAIRO: Hamas said a new round of indirect talks on a Gaza ceasefire resumed in Qatar’s Doha on Friday, stressing the group’s seriousness in seeking to reach a deal as soon as possible, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said.

The new talks will focus on agreeing on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, he added. 

Mediators Qatar, Egypt and the US have been engaged in months of back-and-forth talks between Israel and Hamas that have failed to end more than a year of devastating conflict in Gaza.

A key obstacle to a deal has been Israel’s reluctance to agree to a lasting ceasefire.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had authorized Israeli negotiators to continue talks in Doha.

In December, Qatar expressed optimism that “momentum” was returning to the talks following Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States.

But a war of words then broke out with Hamas accusing Israel of setting “new conditions” while Israel accused Hamas of creating “new obstacles” to a deal.

In its Friday statement, Hamas said it reaffirmed its “seriousness, positivity and commitment to reaching an agreement as soon as possible that meets the aspirations and goals of our steadfast and resilient people.


UN experts slam Israel’s blatant assault on health rights in Gaza

Updated 04 January 2025
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UN experts slam Israel’s blatant assault on health rights in Gaza

  • Reiterating charges that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, two independent UN rights experts said they were “horrified” by the raid last Friday on Kamal Adwan, northern Gaza’s last functioning major hospital
  • UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the world body

GENEVA: UN experts have denounced Israel’s raid on an embattled hospital in northern Gaza, demanding an end to the “blatant assault” on health rights in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Reiterating charges that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, two independent UN rights experts said they were “horrified” by the raid last Friday on Kamal Adwan, northern Gaza’s last functioning major hospital.
“For well over a year into the genocide, Israel’s blatant assault on the right to health in Gaza and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory is plumbing new depths of impunity,” the experts said.
The joint statement was from Francesca Albanese, the independent UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, and Tlaleng Mofokeng, the special rapporteur on the right to health.

FASTFACT

The joint statement was from Francesca Albanese, the independent UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, and Tlaleng Mofokeng, the special rapporteur on the right to health.

Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva dismissed the statement as “far removed from the truth,” saying it “completely ignores critical facts and the broader context of Hamas’s exploitation of civilian infrastructure for military purposes.”
The Israeli military has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals as command centers, something Hamas denies.
The military “undertook every effort to protect civilians,” the Israeli mission said, insisting its “actions highlight Israel’s commitment to international law and the protection of civilian infrastructure, even under the most challenging circumstances.”
Israel’s military said it had killed more than 20 suspected militants and detained more than 240, including the hospital’s director, Hossam Abu Safiyeh, describing him as a suspected Hamas militant.
In their statement, Albanese and Mofokeng said they were “gravely concerned” at Safiyeh’s detention and demanded his “immediate release.”
“Yet another doctor to be harassed, kidnapped, and arbitrarily detained by the occupation forces,” they said.
“This is part of a pattern by Israel to continuously bombard, destroy, and fully annihilate the realization of the right to health in Gaza.”
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the world body.
The experts also highlighted “disturbing reports” that Israeli forces had allegedly carried out extrajudicial executions of some people near the hospitals, including a Palestinian man reportedly holding a white flag.
They pointed to figures provided by the Health Ministry in Gaza indicating that at least 1,057 Palestinian health and medical professionals have been killed since the war erupted following the Palestinian group’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack inside Israel.
The World Health Organization has repeatedly denounced the high number of attacks on health care staff and facilities in the war: 1,273 attacks on health care in Gaza and the West Bank have been recorded since the start of the war.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on X that the pace of desperately needed medical evacuations out of Gaza was “excruciatingly slow.”
“Only 5,383 patients have been evacuated with support from WHO since October 2023, of which only 436 since the Rafah crossing was closed” last May, he said.
He said more than 12,000 people were awaiting medical evacuation from Gaza.
“At this rate, it would take 5-10 years to evacuate all these critically ill patients, including thousands of children,” he added.
“In the meantime, their conditions get worse and some die.”

 


Lebanon’s PM discusses with Syria’s de facto ruler relations between two countries

Updated 04 January 2025
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Lebanon’s PM discusses with Syria’s de facto ruler relations between two countries

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, in a phone call on Friday with Syria’s de facto ruler Ahmed Al-Sharaa, discussed relations between the two countries, according to a statement from Mikati’s office posted on X, and said that he received an invitation from Sharaa to visit Syria to discuss common files.
Sharaa also affirmed that Syrian authorities took the necessary measures to restore calm on the border between the two countries, the post on X said.