In view of the violence used by security forces against demonstrators during the ongoing protests in Iran, Germany and Iceland have requested a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. They sent a letter to the Council Secretariat on Friday evening, according to the German Embassy in Geneva.
The special session is scheduled to take place the week beginning November 21. The application is supported by more than 40 countries, including more than 15 that are represented on the UN Human Rights Council, said the German Embassy in Geneva. The 47 member countries of the Council cannot impose sanctions. However, they can adopt a resolution condemning the violence and set in motion a mechanism to investigate the situation more closely.
The members of the Council are elected by the UN General Assembly for three-year terms. In addition to Germany, these currently also include Cuba, Eritrea, Venezuela and the USA. “We will also give an international voice to the courageous women and men in Iran who have been taking to the streets for weeks for their rights,” said the German Ambassador in Geneva, Katharina Stasch. “We want facts to be able to be collected independently and human rights violations to be brought before national and international courts.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian threatened Germany on Twitter on Thursday with consequences if the German government decides to confront the government in Tehran. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock rejected such threats. They are not a means of foreign policy and international relations. Ambassador Stasch said: “In any case, we won’t let ourselves be intimidated.”
In Iran, people have been protesting against the government and the Islamic system of rule since mid-September. The trigger was the death of the 22-year-old Iranian Kurd Mahsa Amini in police custody. The morality police had arrested her because, according to her, the young woman had violated Islamic dress codes.