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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 56 countries join declaration on Iran rights |
| 2010-06-16 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Some 56 countries on Tuesday signed up to a declaration calling on Iran to investigate a deadly crackdown on street protests following the contested presidential election a year ago. Norway and the United States have spearheaded a bid at the Geneva forum to chastise Iran for its violent suppression of demonstrations, including arrests and executions of dissidents, following presidential elections a year ago. Some 55 states from across all regions -- half of them European Union (EU) members -- have endorsed the statement, which calls on Iran to uphold fundamental freedoms of expression, of the media and of assembly, diplomats say. As Norway's ambassador Bente Angell-Hansen began to read out the text, Iran's ambassador Hamid Baeidi Nejad interrupted, invoking procedural grounds to object to being singled out. Pakistan, speaking for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), as well as African and non-aligned countries, swiftly backed Iran. The objection was to Iran's record, a "country-specific situation", being addressed under an agenda item on a landmark human rights meeting held in Vienna in 1993. "Allowing this to happen ... is leading to a repeat of the practice of the Human Rights Commission where 'naming and shaming' was the name of the game and led eventually to the demise of the Commission," Pakistan's envoy Zamir Akram said, referring to the Council's largely discredited predecessor body. Belgium's ambassador Alex Van Meeuwen, who currently chairs the forum, said that as long as a text addressed a relevant human rights situation it was admissible. He adjourned the session for several hours to allow private negotiations. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Condemning IRAN for human rights is a joke, Not condemning ISRAEL for killing.these countries are having no respect in society.UN is of no value to the free world.having UN like org is a joke with world it needs to be abolished. |
| Posted by: wazdan 2010-06-16 04:28 |