A delayed human rights report issued this week by the State Department was harshly critical of Iran, The Hill reported yesterday.
The Obama administration accused Iran of “severe restrictions on civil liberties,” “disregard” for people’s physical safety and general abuse of human rights on Thursday, days before a deadline for reaching a nuclear deal. …
Among other abuses, the State Department chided the Islamic nation for “disappearances,” “unlawful killings” and “judicially sanctioned amputation and flogging.”
A total of 721 people were reportedly executed last year, it said, many after trials that “did not adhere to basic principles of due process.”
The Washington Post reported that the human rights report was issued four months past its deadline, noting that while the report often misses the deadline, it has never been delayed by so much before. The delay prompted questions from critics “whether the State Department was delaying the release to avoid embarrassing Iran until after the June 30 deadline.” According to the State Department, the delay was due to Secretary of State John Kerry’s busy travel schedule.
A United Nations panel recently reported that Western nations were ignoring Iranian sanctions violations, possibly reflecting “a political decision by some member states to refrain from reporting to avoid a possible negative impact on ongoing negotiations.” This was followed by a report made by the Government Accountability Office that the State Department was failing to apply sanctions against Iran in a timely fashion. Delays of this nature could “diminish the credibility of the threatened sanction.”
Earlier this week, the State Department issued a terrorism report that flagged Iran as a state sponsor of terror and a proliferation concern.
Though he was elected as a reformer two years ago, the human rights situation under Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has actually deteriorated. Last year in Iran featured a dramatic spike in executions, international observers have noted religious minorities being oppressed more than ever before, and increasing restrictions have been placed on the press.
The deterioration of human rights under Rouhani was highlighted in Should the U.S. Take Iran’s Human Rights Problem More Seriously?, which was written by Tower senior editor Ben Cohen for the April 2015 issue of The Tower Magazine.
When I spoke to [the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran Ahmed] Shaheed shortly after the release of his latest report, he cautiously expressed hope that there were figures around Rouhani who might be open to a more substantive engagement on human rights. He also speculated that a lifting of sanctions in the context of a nuclear deal might also lead to greater international engagement with Iran, “and therefore exposure and pressure on Iran to improve its human rights record.” Shaheed told me, however, that “overall the country is getting worse on human rights practices, certainly since I’ve been observing it.”
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