UN human rights commissioner: situation in Iran “worrying”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has described the situation in Iran as critical given the growing violence. In the past two months, more than 300 people have died in anti-government demonstrations, the Türks office announced today in Geneva.
“The increasing number of deaths in Iran, including children at the weekend, and the tougher stance of the security forces underline that the situation in the country is critical.”
Among the 300 dead, the Office of the High Commissioner is responsible for more than 40 children. Deaths have been reported from 25 of the 31 Iranian provinces. “We call on the authorities to respond to people’s demands for equality, dignity and rights, rather than using unnecessary or disproportionate force to repress the protests,” the High Commissioner said.
Special session of the UN Human Rights Council
On Thursday, at the request of Germany and Iceland, a special session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place in Geneva on the situation in Iran. The countries have tabled a resolution calling for the establishment of a commission to investigate the situation further. The 47 member countries of the Council are to vote on this.
According to information from the UN Human Rights Office, the presence of security forces in Kurdish cities has increased significantly in recent days. In the past week, more than 40 people have died in Kurdish cities, it said. The bureau also denounced the authorities’ apparent conditional release of the bodies of those killed.