GENEVA, November 24. /TASS/. The special session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Iran, initiated by Germany and Iceland, is counterproductive, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva Gennady Gatilov said, addressing the meeting on Thursday.
"We would like to point out that the current special session is counterproductive," the diplomat said. "Such initiatives have nothing to do with concern for human rights because their goal is to pin labels and put pressure on unwelcome states, using human rights as an excuse," Gatilov added.
The Russian mission’s head highlighted the "apparent ignorance" of the fact that Iran "provides detailed information about measures aimed at promoting and protecting human rights and implementing its obligations in the field." "However, those who initiated the special session don’t care about it much," Gatilov went on to say. "Their main goal is to adopt another politicized resolution in order to destabilize the domestic political situation in Iran," he noted.
The Russian envoy stressed that the idea of creating a fact-finding mission without the Iranian authorities’ consent was "in fact, illegitimate." The initiative is included in a draft resolution submitted to the session by a group of countries, most of which are Western nations. The UN Human Rights Council is expected to vote on the document on Thursday night.
Gatilov called for "stopping interference in Iran’s domestic affairs and destabilizing the situation in the country."
Western countries criticized Tehran at the meeting, while Iran’s envoy slammed the move to convene the special session as politically motivated. The Belarusian representative, in turn, stated that the meeting’s goal was to exert pressure on Iran. The delegations of China and Venezuela voiced concern about the increasing politicization of the UN Human Rights Council’s activities, and the envoys of Cuba and Syria blasted the special session as another example of double standards in the field of human rights.
Unrest in Iran erupted after the funeral of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16. According to the official version, this girl was detained by the morality police for not wearing her headscarf properly and died of a heart attack during questioning. Social media, however, circulated information that Amini had been beaten by the police. Iran's Forensic Medicine Organization said in an official report on October 7 that the girl had not suffered any injuries.