U.S., Europe politicize human rights issue to pressure others: Official

In an interview with Press TV’s Face to Face program, Kazem Gharibabadi, the Judiciary chief’s deputy for international affairs and secretary of the country’s High Council for Human Rights, said the Islamic Republic is against imposing a set of “unified rights standards” on other countries and urges respect for cultural diversity in this regard.

“Human rights is human rights. If it is violated, it is bad everywhere, whether in Iran or other countries. We do not have bad or good violation of human rights, but what we are witnessing is a political approach toward human rights,” he explained.

“The Western European countries and the United States have this selective approach, unfortunately. So, the countries that are not allies to these states are under political pressure in international human rights mechanisms and structures because they are going to abuse human rights as a political tool to achieve their own foreign policy goals.”

Gharibabadi also noted that there are countries with no democratic structures, which are immune from being criticized at international organizations.

Iran’s strategy toward human rights is based on three pillars, including engagement with international rights treaties, a proactive policy through highlighting violations by the self-proclaimed rights advocates, and the promotion and protection of people’s rights at the domestic level, he said.

“So, we are protecting and promoting the rights of the people at the domestic level and simultaneously our policy is to explore the achievements on the path of protecting human rights at the global level.”

Terrorism, sanctions

Asked about his statement to the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, the official said that he had, among other topics, drawn attention to rights violation against the Iranian nation via terrorism and sanctions.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, more than 17,000 innocent Iranians have lost their lives due to terrorist operations by terror outfits whose members are now living in Europe.

Gharibabadi said the European countries “claim that they are against terrorism, but they are hosting terrorist groups”.

The Iranian nation, he added, is under the strongest unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and this is against the UN Charter and the international law.

‘Yemen needs aid’

Touching on the protracted war waged by the Saudi-led coalition on Yemen, the Iranian rights official said the international community has failed to respond to the catastrophe in the impoverished country.

“The people are dying there, specifically women, children and the elderly, but what we hear is only some slogans to protect human rights. So, if you want to protect human rights you should go to Yemen and protect the rights of the people, not the aggressors,” he stressed.

He added Iran’s policy is to provide humanitarian aid to Yemenis while calling for an end to the attacks against the innocent people and underlining the need for intra-Yemeni talks.

“Yemen now, in my view, is the most important exhibition of violation of human rights in different fields.”

He also called for the formation of a campaign at the international level against arms sales by the United States and the European countries to the Saudi-led coalition and in the face of the aggressors and to remove the obstacles on the way of humanitarian assistance to Yemen.

Palestine capacity

Meanwhile, Gharibabadi said that Palestine has the capacity to unite Muslim states and that normalization with the Israeli regime is against the interests of the innocent Palestinian people.

“Muslim countries should see Palestine as a cause for their own unity. Because now the Islamic countries have been separated and there are several differences among them,” he emphasized.

“Israel should be high on the agenda of international human rights mechanisms, specifically the Human Rights Council.”