Iran's FM turns Annan's attention to US' human rights violations

Islamic Republic News Agency:

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on Friday, in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, voiced Iran's concern over the increasing human rights violations of the US and Islamophobia in the West. READ MORE

In a letter to the UN secretary-general submitted by Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN, Mottaki criticized the US for its hidden prisons established all over the world, particularly in European states, and its use of torture in the interrogation of prisoners in such prisons, particularly terrorist suspects, as well as the increase in Islamophobia and mistreatment of Muslims in the West.

Mottaki, in his letter, also called on Annan to appoint a special envoy to investigate cases of human rights violations by the United States such as the reported hidden prisons established in particular countries and the use of torture in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

"Reports recently received on US hidden prisons in some European states and the use of torture and other violations of human rights in prisons in Western states cause concern.

"Today, human rights guaranteed under the most fundamental international regulations including prevention of torture are being violated systematically under the pretext of fighting terrorism.

These moves violate Article 6 and 7 of the UN Charter guaranteeing political and civil rights.

"The Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay prisons are now regarded as symbols of the US Administration's gross neglect of human rights.

Currently, hundreds of people of different nationalities are kept at Guantanamo Bay in inhuman conditions and the US is adding insult to injury by preventing UN human rights reporters from having access to these prisons to look into their situation," Mottaki said in his letter.

The minister pointed to harsh measures against Muslims and religious minorities in Western states, saying these include statements derogatory to Islam and Muslims, attacks on mosques and long-term detentions without charges.

"The recent summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), in its final statement, strongly condemned the rise in Islamophobia in the world as an evidence of racism and discrimination being practiced in violation of human rights." Mottaki ended his letter with a call on Annan and UN human rights bodies to put an end to these violations.