Polémique : M. Motaki au Conseil des droits de l'homme
Mme Micheline Calmy-Rey a rencontré, hier, à Genève, le Ministre iranien des Affaires étrangères, Manouchehr Motaki, a indiqué le DFAE.
Des ONG ont protesté contre la présence de M. Motaki au Conseil des droits de l'homme.
Hier, dans un communiqué émanant de UN Watch, un appel a été lancé par une coalition internationale de défenseurs des droits de l'homme enjoignant neuf ministres européens, en visite à Genève, à sanctionner l'Iran ; pays où la répression est pratiquée à l'égard des femmes, minorités religieuses et ethniques.
Dans le communiqué, Hillel Neuer, directeur de UN Watch dénonçait "l'utilisation de ce forum par l'Iran pour légitimer son gouvernement, au moment où Téhéran commet des violations systématiques des libertés fondamentales".
L'appel, adressé à Mme Calmy-Rey ainsi qu'à plusieurs ministres européens, a été signé par la Fédération des Femmes pour la Paix dans le Monde, l'organisation Espoir pour l'Afrique, l'OSI (Open Society Institute) ainsi que par 20 autres organisations non gouvernementales, à travers l'Europe, l'Amérique du Nord, l'Afrique et l'Asie pour protester contre la présence de M. Motaki, au Conseil de Droits de l'homme de l'ONU et appeller les ministres à protester également, chacun à leur tour, à la tribune du Conseil, contre l'Iran.
Pour mémoire : M. Motaki a organisé la conférence négationniste sur l'Holocauste, tenue à Téhéran, en décembre dernier.
Texte de l'appel ci-dessous :
To: President Calmy-Rey of Switzerland; Foreign Minister Steinmeier of Germany, Foreign Minister Asselborn of Luxembourg, Foreign Minister Verhagen of the Netherlands, Foreign Minister Bildt of Sweden, Foreign Minister Moratinos of Spain, Justice Minister Clement of France, Foreign Minister Kieber-Beck of Liechtenstein, and Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Johansen of Norway
March 12, 2007
"All of you will address the United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday, March 12, 2007—as will Mr. Manouchehr Mottaki, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We, the undersigned human rights non-governmental organizations, are deeply concerned that Minister Mottaki will seek to use the forum and authority of the new Council to legitimize his government at the same time as it perpetrates systematic violations of fundamental individual liberties. Accordingly, we urge you, as representatives of free and democratic states, to use the occasion today to speak out strongly against Iran’s gross violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to endorse efforts to restore the mandate of the independent expert into the situation of human rights in Iran.
Iran’s abysmal human rights record is well known and documented. Recently, the UN General Assembly, in Resolution 61/176 of 19 December 2006, cited Iran for numerous gross violations of human rights, including:
• violence against women
• harassment and intimidation of journalists, human rights defenders, political opponents, and workers’ advocates
• absence of due process
• torture
• public execution
• increasing discrimination, including violent crackdowns, and other human rights violations against Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis and Kurds, as well as Baha’is, Christians, Jews, Sufis and Sunni Muslims.
Just last week, security police arrested more than 30 women for peacefully exercising their internationally-protected rights to free expression and assembly. Although the regime has since released most of them, it has promised to re-arrest the women if they assemble again.
In addition to all of this, the government of Iran, in violation of recent UN resolutions, has led an international campaign to deny the genocide of the Holocaust, including in statements and an official letter submitted to the Human Rights Council. It is unconscionable for Iran to exploit the UN’s foremost human rights forum to perpetrate, in the words of French President Jacques Chirac, “a crime against the truth, the absolute perversion of the soul and spirit.”
Iran also has shown its contempt for the Council by sending an official implicated in brutal abuses—the man responsible for the torture and murder of Ms. Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian-Iranian journalist—to represent it at the Council’s inaugural session.
In light of all of the above, the Iranian Foreign Minister’s appearance at the Council podium cannot pass in silence. We appeal to you to hold Iran accountable for its gross violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to endorse efforts to restore the mandate of the independent expert into the situation of human rights in Iran".
Signed by :
International Humanist and Ethical Union
Dr. Rob Buitenweg, Vice President
The Netherlands
Indian Social Institute
John Thoonunkaparambil, Coordinator, Human Rights and Law Unit
India
Institute for Humanist Studies
Larry Jones, President
U.S.A.
Open Society Institute
Mike Amitay, Senior Policy Analyst
U.S.A.
Worldwide Organization for Women
Afton Beutler, Vice President of International Affairs
Switzerland
Thailand Burma Border Consortium
Sally Thompson, Deputy Executive Director
Thailand
International ARC PEACE
Sven Thiberg, Professor Emeritus
Sweden
Hope for Africa International
Dr. Charles Mwape, Regional Director
Zambia
Transnational Radical Party
Matteo Mecacci, UN representative
United Nations Headquarters
Greek Helsinki Monitor
Panayote Dimitras, Spokesperson
Greece
Women Environmental Programme
Priscilla M Achakpa
Nigeria
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East
Edward S. Beck, President
U.S.A.
Presentation Congregation Lismore
Sr. Anne Shay, Justice Contact
Australia
World Federation of Scientific Workers
Dr. Shreesh Juyal, Vice President
Canada
United Nations Watch
Hillel C. Neuer, Executive Director
Switzerland
Association of World Citizens
Virginia Swain, ECOSOC Representative
U.S.A.
WUPJ
R. Francois Garai, Main Representative
Switzerland
Endeavour Forum
Babette Francis, National & Overseas Coordinator
Australia
International Council of Jewish Women
Léonie de Picciotto
Switzerland
Fédération International des Femmes des Carrières Juridiques
Virginia S. Mueller, Representative
U.S.A.
World Federation for Mental Health
Anne Yamada, Representative
Switzerland
Women’s Federation for World Peace, International
Elisabeth Riedl, European Secretary General
Austria
Sources : 20 minutes - 13 mars 2007, UN Watch - lundi 12 mars 2007