JULY 5, 2023
Interactive Dialogue with Fact Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran
Statement by Ambassador Michèle Taylor Permanent Representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council
Human Rights Council – 53rd Session
Thank you, Mr. Vice President.
Experts, we are grateful for your thorough and deeply troubling overview of the human rights situation in Iran. The continuing executions of protestors in Iran are especially horrifying.
The recent executions of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi, and Saeed Yaghoubi following what were widely reported as sham trials demonstrate that the Iranian authorities are using the death penalty to instill fear in society and silence dissent. We are watching, the world is watching, how the regime treats the remaining protestors on death row, including Mohammad Ghodablou. We stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones in their grief and despair and reiterate our call for the release of all political prisoners.
We are particularly concerned by credible reporting of enforced disappearances, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and other human rights violations and abuses committed by Iran. As reflected in your report, there is continued evidence of Iran’s lack of respect for fair trials and use of sentences based on confessions obtained under torture.
We are appalled by the widely reported poisonings of schoolgirls across Iran in recent months and call for an immediate end to and accountability for these abhorrent actions. We call on the FFM to investigate these poisonings.
The United States fully supports the Fact-Finding Mission to investigate these allegations of human rights abuses, which falls firmly within its mandate.
Question: How can the global community center the perspective of civil society in Iran?
I thank you.
