- 15 April 2010
- 7 Comments
- Human Rights in Iran, UN
So Iran wants to be on the UN Human Rights Council… (VIDEO)
15 April 2010 Posted By Patrick Disney
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BloggingheadsTV had Mark Leon Goldberg of UN Dispatch talking with Suzanne Nossel of the State Department yesterday about Iran’s bid for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council.
Yes, you heard that right. This, apparently, is how the Human Rights Council works — the countries most qualified to speak about human rights are the ones who have first-hand experience violating human rights themselves.
Cynicism aside, this is an incredibly important issue, and the Obama Administration has to get it right. In the absence of direct diplomacy, and in the context of the sanctions push that is still ongoing, the US is doing very little to actually promote human rights in Iran.
The least — and I mean the very least — they can do is work to stop Iran from making a mockery of an important international institution for the promotion of basic universal rights.
7 Responses to “So Iran wants to be on the UN Human Rights Council… (VIDEO)”
Patrick, there’s more to human rights than merely those espoused by certain Western nations, such as the United States. For example, just to name a few, there’s:
– access to food
– access to basic health care
– access to education
In Iran, higher education is free to those who qualify. In the US? Tens of thousands of dollars.
In Iran, basic heath care is a right. In the US, a program has just been established, yet it is somehow opposed by a majority of Americans!
Kahrizak has been closed. Has Guantanimo?
How many wars of aggression has Iran initiated in the past two centuries? How many has the United States?
How many arrests without due process has the US carried out against Iraqi and Afghani citizens? 25,000 plus. How many were tortured? Thousands.
How many innocent Iraqi and Afghanis citizens have been killed in America’s wars? Hundreds of thousands.
How many drone attacks have killed innocent Afghanis citizens? Hundreds.
And you, Patrick, have the hypocritical audacity to advocate the US prevent Iran’s inclusion on the UN Human Rights Council?
You have obviously never personally endured an American war and occupation, or an American assisted war against your homeland. If you had, you would never make such outlandish remarks.
Haha… That’s rich.
The worst is that the chances are big, that in a little while, we WILL see Iran is becoming a member…. As we are seeing them applying all kinds of technology that they shouldnt be applying. ppl are being imprisoned, raped, tortured, killed in Iran for 31 years now and so far not 1 leader of any country has even tried the least to put an end to this. The future will show us how big of a mistake is being made on the subject of Iran. I believe it is a BIG mistake. But probably they wont notice until a nbomb drops on their lawns…. With love from Iran….
Hoping 4 the best, yet expecting the worst.
Pirouz has clearly never been to Iran. I say that giving him the benefit of the doubt, because while it does not take a genius to realize Iran is far from a prosperous and pleasant country to live in, it would take a real fool to land in Iran and still talk about the “human rights” in Iran. I have been to almost every major city in the US. You can not even compare it with Tehran. The streets of Tehran are full of homeless, crippled people. You can not stop at a light without a young boy that should be at school coming to your car window with the incense to make some money. It really is sad. “access to food”, “access to basic health care”? That is an absolute joke to those of us who have actually been to Iran. Shiraz and Isfahan are not much different.
“access to education” is also quite a ridiculous claim to make. From my cousins to friends who have recently come to the US from Iran, I have literally not heard one person speak well of Iran’s “access to education”. Actually, my uncle teaches at Tehran University. I visited the university. Just going to the university it is clear the facilities are not nearly what they are in an average university here in the US. It is a shame, because there are some very bright students there.
While I find your opinions based on US action in Afghanistan and Iraq foolish, at least they are based on some truth. Your opinions about life in Iran are simply not based on anything that resembles the truth. Your notions of what life is like in Iran are almost completely imaginary. You really should take a trip…
Sorry, but saying that Kahrizak has closed, in baseless. It has been closed, but it is a fact that ppl are being treated the same in numerous jails all over Iran. On health care: If an average Iranian can pay for it, he will have acces. If not, too bad. Education? Only if you apply to government standards. Which means: if you are political active (or maybe not active, just attend some meeting(s)) you will be “starred” and expelled. If you are a Baha’i, it is unlikely you will ever even enroll to university, and if you do, they will find an excuse to kick you out long before the final exams. The Baha’i that took part in concour (entance-exam) never had acces to their results, nor were they allowed into universities. Please do not tell us that Iran has human rights at a high standard, not before you have been to Iran and seen the homeless, addicted, poor people that work from the early morning until late at night, to be able to buy a piece of bread. I have to agree with Iranian-American on this. In every country there are some things that could be better / should be better, but Iran has many of those. A lot more then America or your average European country.
As long as children roam the streets to wash car windows, clean shoes, sell things, just to have something to eat, there is no Way all ppl in Iran have access to food, access to basic health care and access to education. On paper maybe it is all good in Iran, but as you may know, they don’t even respect their own laws, let alone the basic human rights. It just doesnt matter to them. They dont care. But they are very good at seeming to care. That is why they implement laws and sign treaties, not because they care or believe in it….
Now Sara sounds like someone who has been to Iran…
I have been actually, multiple times actually, to visit family 🙂