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| Iran |
| Iran Postpones Visit of U.N. Rights Official |
| 2003-07-15 |
| Iran has postponed a planned visit by a top U.N. official charged with promoting free speech after a string of arrests of pro-reform journalists, the United Nations said Tuesday. Ambeyi Ligabo, the U.N. Commission for Human Rights special rapporteur on promoting the right to freedom of opinion and expression, had been due to arrive in Tehran Thursday for a 10-day visit on the government’s invitation. "The mission to Iran of the special rapporteur...was postponed today at the request of the government," the office of the UNCHR said in a statement. You invite him and then you cancel, why’s that? Iran’s official IRNA news agency said the visit was postponed due to problems arranging Ligabo’s schedule.The visit would have coincided with a renewed crackdown on reformist media in the Islamic Republic. Oh, that’s why. Around a dozen journalists and newspaper editors have been arrested since violent protests last month against clerical rule. A Canadian-Iranian photojournalist died last week after being arrested for taking pictures outside a Tehran prison. Note that they don’t mention how she died. The U.N. said Ligabo was in contact with the Iranian government to reschedule his visit for later this year. Come back after the protests have been crushed, we’ll have lunch. Iran welcomed back U.N. human rights investigators for the first time since 1996 earlier this year after the U.N. Human Rights Commission lifted an 18-year censure of Iran. A U.N. team visited several prisons and interviewed jailed political dissidents in February. French jurist Louis Joinet, who headed the team, said many of those interviewed had been jailed for expressing their views. "The problem is less one of freedom of expression as freedom after expression," he said. Clever turn of phrase An unnamed Iranian Foreign Ministry official insisted Iran was keen to work with the United Nations on human rights. "Cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran with the United Nations human rights groups has entered a new phase," IRNA quoted the official as saying. "Not a good phase, but a phase just the same." |
| Posted by:Steve |