U.N. condemns Iran's crackdown on protests, establishes probe into alleged abuses
The U.N. Human Rights Council voted to condemn the crackdown on peaceful protests in Iran and to investigate alleged abuses.
The U.N. Human Rights Council voted Thursday to condemn the bloody crackdown on peaceful protests in Iran and create an independent fact-finding mission to investigate alleged abuses, particularly those committed against women and children.
A resolution put forward by Germany and Iceland was backed by 25 countries, including the United States and many European, Latin American, Asian and African nations. Six countries opposed the move — China, Pakistan, Cuba, Eritrea, Venezuela and Armenia — while 16 abstained.
The United Nations’ top human rights official had earlier appealed to Iran’s government to halt the crackdown against protesters, but Tehran’s envoy at a special Human Rights Council on the country’s “deteriorating” rights situation was defiant and unbowed, blasting the initiative as “politically motivated.”
The protests were triggered by the death, more than two months ago, of Mahsa Amini who was arrested by morality police on Sept. 13 for allegedly violating the country’s strictly enforced Islamic dress code. She died in hospital three days later.
Thursday’s session in Geneva is the latest international effort to put pressure on Iran over its crackdown, which has already drawn international sanctions and other measures.
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