This is a picture of a beautiful flower.
Mohammad Mohabbai

The importance of the concept of human rights.

The concept of human rights was the result of the transition from revolutions to modernity, and its history shows that it emerged from the heart of wars and revolutions as a protest against tyranny and an effort to establish civic relationships. The Charter of the Rights of Citizens, which was a product of the wars of independence and republicanism, was created in the late 18th century. At that time, America was a colony of England. The publication of the book “Common Sense” in America, which defended the rights of humans against the despotic power of the King of England, played a crucial role in nurturing the idea of republicanism and civic rights in the American wars of independence. The author of this book was Thomas Paine, an English worker who immigrated to America and bravely fought in the wars of independence. He also wrote another book called “The Rights of Man,” which was the first book on this subject. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which was

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has now become a fundamental principle in international law and a binding document.

Human rights institutions in Iran

National human rights institutions are organizations that were created in various countries based on the principles of the Paris Agreement to support the national human rights system and act as a liaison with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations. These institutions can play a crucial role in promoting and monitoring the effective implementation of international human rights at the national level, a role that has increasingly been recognized by the international community. The Office of the High Commissioner encourages these institutions to prevent torture, degrading treatment, summary trials, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has also emphasized the importance of these institutions in a report to the Human Rights Council. The General Assembly has also acknowledged the role of these institutions in resolution 134/48. National human rights institutions are in contact with each other through the International Coordinating Committee of NHRIs, which was established at the 1993 International Conference in Tunisia and includes 16 members from each of the four continents. This

In most countries and within governments, there are institutions for the protection of human rights, in some countries there is a ministry by this name. In present-day Iran, there are two institutions responsible for human rights within the government; one is the “Islamic Human Rights Commission” and the other is the “Judiciary Human Rights Headquarters”. The former is semi-governmental and the latter is completely governmental.

Islamic Human Rights Commission

The formation of the Islamic Human Rights Commission dates back to February 1995. This commission was formed based on the proposal of Dr. Rajai Khorasani, the representative of Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and former representative of Iran in the United Nations. He initially brought up the idea of forming a committee under the name of “Human Rights Committee” as a subcommittee of the Foreign Policy Commission of the Assembly, with the aim of monitoring the observance of human rights by prison officials and reducing international pressure in this regard. The duties of this committee were written and approved. However, the existence of this committee needed to be approved by the Presiding Board of the Assembly, which ultimately rejected the proposal and it remained unsuccessful. After the 50th session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in 1995, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, sent a letter to Mohammad Yazdi, the then head of the Judiciary, emphasizing the

Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary

The Human Rights Headquarters of the Judiciary was established in 2005; an organization composed of representatives from various branches of the judiciary, executive, and legislative powers. This headquarters, proposed by Ayatollah Hashemi Shahroudi, the former head of the judiciary, was finally approved by the Supreme National Security Council and the Leader, and the Human Rights Headquarters began its work.

According to the decision of the Supreme National Security Council, which this headquarters started its work based on, one of the most important duties of the Human Rights Headquarters is “to focus on the activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the field of human rights issues and to make optimal use of facilities and implement relevant decisions more accurately. In this new structure, while the headquarters is introduced as the national and official reference of the country in all human rights issues, the necessity of communication and coordination of all relevant organizations with this headquarters has been defined and emphasized.” However, it should be noted that there is a legal point here. According to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, legislation is only within the jurisdiction of the parliament. It seems to be a fundamental legal flaw for the Supreme National Security Council to engage in legislation and form an institution based on it.

The executive responsibility of the Human Rights Headquarters, the Judiciary, and the establishment of its secretariat has been under the supervision of Mohammad Javad Larijani since its formation, according to the above resolution. In the same year of its establishment, the regulations of the Human Rights Headquarters were based on Resolution 435 of the Supreme National Security Council. Article 1 of these regulations states: “The Judiciary is responsible for supporting individual and social rights, ensuring justice, and is also obligated to revive public rights and promote justice and legitimate freedoms.”

In the introduction of this regulation, which has an ideological and sloganistic tone, it is also stated: “Based on this, the activities of the human rights system in an aggressive state at various levels, such as clarifying the genuine positions of Islamic human rights and at the same time defending the progressive laws of the system and even the implementation of these laws as a whole, in the collection of correspondence of this headquarters with international organizations and the presence of members of the headquarters in these organizations, a new chapter is dedicated to expressing the positions in defense of the rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran in these areas.”

“When we visit the website of the Judiciary Human Rights Headquarters, we see nothing but slogans, definitions, and praise for this organization: “A decade has passed since the coordinated human rights activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. With new activities and movements based on professional behavior and in parallel with the establishment of the new Human Rights Council in Geneva and the use of new mechanisms in this council, including periodic global monitoring, this headquarters has become a national reference and at the same time a coordinator and policy-maker in human rights issues. In this regard, the principles related to the rights of the nation, which outline the fundamental framework of human rights, are explained in Articles 19 to 42 of the Constitution.”

But when the activities of this committee are examined from the outside, even in the most optimistic scenario, it is not possible to give a passing grade to this committee. From denying the existence of political prisoners in Iran to justifying and staunchly defending executions in criminal laws and the implementation of Shariah limits, it is evident that this important issue shows that this committee fundamentally does not believe in and therefore does not adhere to the requirements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Of course, Mohammad Javad Larijani’s criticism of executions in drug-related crimes can only be considered as the only positive suggestion of this committee to the authorities. Although this suggestion is not in line with human rights standards, which have raised concerns about the ineffectiveness and lack of deterrent effect of executions in drug-related crimes. And in recent days, the law on combating drugs has been amended and if finally approved, the number of cases punishable by death will be reduced and trading and producing more than 100 kilograms of traditional

In the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran and in the chapter on the rights of the nation, in 27 articles, in fact, 27 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are mentioned. But this is one side of the coin; on the other side of the coin, it is stated in all these principles that “Islam” is mentioned.

The final point is that the contradiction between international standards and universal human rights and the legal standards of the Islamic Republic is fundamental, theoretical and strategic. It is unrealistic and futile to expect institutions that advocate for human rights in the government of the Islamic Republic to take action to promote human rights.

Sources:

1. Brothers, Monireh, on the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Awake, 15 Dey 1387.

2. Ziyayi, Yaser, Introduction of the Iranian Islamic Human Rights Commission, Public International Law Blog of Allameh Tabatabai University, 9 Khordad 1389.

3. Islamic Human Rights Commission website