of a double standard for criticizing Iran’s human rights conduct but standing totally silent when it comes to human rights violations in Bahrain and in the Palestinian lands occupied by Israel.
The accusation was leveled by Mohammad-Ali Hossaini, Iran’s ambassador to Italy, when he met with Pietro Marcenaro, the chairman of the Italian Senate Committee on Human Rights.
The Fars news agency said Hossaini complained of the indifference shown by the so-called advocates of human rights toward the violations of human rights. He cited specifically the West’s “total silence” on the continued crimes in Bahrain and Palestine.
However, the voluminous annual human rights reports published by the US State Department discuss violations over dozens of pages covering Bahrain and Palestine.
Just one paragraph from the 2011 report on Palestine says: “Human rights problems related to Israeli authorities included reports of excessive use of force against civilians, including killings; abuse of Palestinian detainees, including minors and political prisoners, particularly during arrest and interrogation; austere and overcrowded detention facilities; improper use of security detention procedures and incommunicado detention; demolition and confiscation of Palestinian property; limitations on freedom of expression and assembly; and severe restrictions on Palestinians’ internal and external freedom of movement.”
The report on Bahrain included these summary sentences: “The most egregious human rights problems reported in 2011 included the inability of citizens to peacefully change their government; the dismissal and expulsion of workers and students for engaging in political activities; the arbitrary arrest and detention of thousands, including medical personnel, human rights activists, and political figures, sometimes leading to their torture and/or death in detention; and lack of due process.
Other significant human rights concerns included arbitrary deprivation of life; detention of prisoners of conscience; reported violations of privacy and restrictions on civil liberties, including freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and some religious practices. In some instances the government imposed and enforced travel bans on political activists. Discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, nationality, and sect persisted, especially against the Shia population. The government demolished multiple Shia religious sites and structures during the year. There were reports of domestic violence against women and children. Trafficking in persons and restrictions on the rights of foreign workers continued to be significant problems.”
Meanwhile, the Majlis has passed a law allocating $20 million to the government to produce quarterly reports on human rights violations by the United States and Britain, but no other countries.
And Judiciary Chairman Sadeq Larijani also accused the West of silence about what is happening in Bahrain and Palestine.
Larijani went on to say, “We know that most of the developed countries that are talking about the issue of human rights and portray themselves as advocates of the issue are among the violators of human rights.”