Statement by Ambassador Susan E. Rice, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, on the Human Rights Council's Establishment of a Special Rapporteur on Iran Human Rights

Susan E. Rice
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations 
U.S. Mission to the United Nations 

New York, NY

March 24, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I welcome the Human Rights Council’s vote today to create a special rapporteur to investigate human rights abuses in Iran. This action gives the Iranian people an independent voice within the international community as they face brutal efforts by their own government to choke off their determined and peaceful dissent.

The Council’s action follows the UN General Assembly’s decision in December to adopt, by the broadest majority yet, a resolution that shined a spotlight on the growing scale of Iranian repression: arbitrary arrests, crackdowns on opposition leaders, eroding protections for women and minorities, and ruthless restrictions on a broad, peaceful segment of civil society, including members of the media, artists, lawyers, and scientists.

The United States worked with more than 50 nations from all regions of the world to establish today’s new country-specific mandate, the first since the Human Rights Council was created in 2006. This is progress both for the Council and for all who are profoundly alarmed by Iran’s failure to live up to its international obligations and respect the rights of its people.

###