Azerbaijanis Denounce Iran for "Blatant" Prisoner Claim at the UN Human Rights Council, March 1, 2010
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AdvocacyNet
News Bulletin 198
March 1, 2010
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Vancouver, March 1, 2010: Advocates for the Azerbaijani minority in Iran are
furious at the government of Iran for using the UN's premier human rights body
to deny that Iran holds political prisoners.
The claim was made in Geneva at a February 15 meeting of the governmental UN
Human Rights Council, during a review of Iran's human rights record. In a
31-page document, the Iranian government claimed that 70 percent of the prison
sentences in Iran last year were related to drug offenses and trafficking. A
team of 33 Iranian government officials then defended the report before the
Council.
Iran's case was ridiculed yesterday by the Association for the Defense of
Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP), an advocacy group that works
from Vancouver and partners with the Advocacy Project (AP).
Iranian Azerbaijanis make up more than 25% of the population, but have suffered
widespread persecution. Their plight has been eclipsed by the emergence last
summer of the Iranian opposition following the disputed elections.
Last summer, AP sent a Peace Fellow,
Farzin Farzad, to help
ADAPP publicize its work. ADAPP now sends out a bulletin, and the
latest issue charges the Iranian authorities with gross misrepresentation at
the UN Council. The ADAPP expresses concern at the plight of several Azerbaijani
activists who have been sentenced to jail terms. These include Said Matinpour
(right, photo) who was detained for 278 days in solitary confinement, drugged,
and allegedly tortured before being sentenced to 8 years at Evin Prison.
Another Azerbaijani activist, Behrouz Alizadeh, received electric shocks and was
water-boarded. "Azerbaijani prisoners are denied proper access to legal counsel
and visits from their families," said the ADAPP bulletin.
Under the UN review process, known as the Universal Periodic Review, civil
society is invited to submit evidence and the ADAPP's submission was included in
a summary by the UN secretariat. It reads: "The Azerbaijani language is banned
in schools, Azerbaijani language journals and journals are shut down...Shops
with Azerbaijani Turkish names are effectively shut down.... Many advocates of
broader linguistic and cultural rights for Azerbaijanis are detained
arbitrarily, held indefinitely and tortured, on occasion murdered, in custody."
The ADAPP welcomed the fact that its submission was included and fairly
summarized. But the group also expressed concern that the UN review process will
put little pressure on Iran and may even backfire by allowing the government a
platform.
The US spoke out against Iran during the recent UN debate, but Western
governments on the Council are heavily outnumbered and Islamic governments often
vote as a bloc. The task of summarizing the review will be left to a "troika" of
three Council members - Mexico, Senegal, and Pakistan. Pakistan made its
position clear by speaking of the need for "cooperation" instead of criticism
when it comes to human rights.
Adding to the ADAPP's concern, Iran is lobbying hard for a seat on the Council.
Iran's election, in May, would provide the regime with a strong weapon against
its critics and discourage NGOs that have sought to keep abusive governments off
the Council.