The Committee to Protect Journalists today joined 40 human rights groups calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to support the resolution to renew the mandate of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. A vote on the resolution is scheduled to take place during the 34th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, which ends March 24.
The letter highlights Iranian authorities’ use of arbitrary detention to stifle and punish dissent, including among journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, and others who are simply exercising rights protected under international law. Renewing the special rapporteur’s mandate would send a powerful message to Iran that its actions are a concern and that improvements are expected, the letter says. Eight journalists were jailed in Iran at the time of CPJ’s most recent prison census. Nearly all of them are held on anti-state charges.
A copy of the letter can be viewed here.