Iran criticises Dr Shaheed following human rights report

Justice Minister of Iran Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi has severely criticised Maldives former Minister of Foreign Affairs, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Dr Ahmed Shaheed, following his report on the human rights situation in Iran.

In a statement issued on 18 January 2014, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi called Dr Shaheed a “corrupt person”.

The statement reads, “Ahmed Shaheed is not even a jurist and he has entered the arena as a political operative. From the outset, he has taken a stand against us; in essence we are against having a Rapporteur.”

Dr Shaheed has served as Foreign Minister in the governments of former President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom as well as former President Mohamed Nasheed.

On 22 January 2014, Dr Shaheed and United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns called on the government of Iran to urgently halt the abrupt surge in hangings in the country since the start of 2014.

“We are dismayed at the continued application of the death penalty with alarming frequency by the authorities, despite repeated calls for Iran to establish a moratorium on executions,” the independent experts said.

Dr Shaheed earlier told Sun Online that the suspicions raised by Iran are baseless.

“Those suspicions [by Iran] are baseless. They are designed to divert attention from the human rights situation in Iran,” he said.