Human Rights Council and Treaties Division Complaint Procedure
OHCHR-UNOG 1211 Geneva 10Switzerland
Complaint:
The 10th presidential elections in Iran were not free and democratic. The Presidential Election 2009 in the Islamic Republic of Iran has clearly violated the principles of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Guardian Council illegally filtered the 471 candidates who had registered to stand for election, sanctioning only four candidates who were considered to be a part of the establishment. Therefore, this election did not enjoy the merits of a free and democratic election. Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won his second presidential term by virtue of a totally rigged election and the subsequent coup d’état organized and orchestrated by the similarly unrepresentative leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. On June 12, millions of Iranians headed to the polls to elect their next president in an election with only four candidates, who had been handpicked by the Guardian Council. By all accounts, the alleged winner – Mr. Ahmadinejad - was not the one the people of Iran had voted for. Noticing that their vote had been hijacked, the people took to the streets to reclaim it. In response, the vigilante groups and the security forces brutally attacked the peaceful demonstrators and opened fire, killing tens of people and injuring many more. Many more were arrested and taken to prisons and other detention centers where they were subjected to barbaric torture, including rape of men and women as confirmed by other presidential candidates as well as by the internationally renowned human rights organization, Amnesty International. A number of them were forced to incriminate themselves in front of TV cameras by “confessing” to crimes they had not committed or to actions that are not crimes even under the unfair laws of the country. We are registering our complaint based on the inalienable civil and political rights and also based on: Article 25 of International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights: Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity, without any of the distinctionsmentioned in Article 2 and without unreasonable restrictions:
(a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives;
(b) To vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the electors;
(c) To have access, on general terms of equality, to public service in his country. We demand an investigation to be conducted into the election fraud according to the complementary protocol and section 4 of the ICCPR and the government of Iran, as the violator of the above rights, be pressed to abide by the laws and also change the discriminatory laws when necessary. Our objections are based upon:
1. Lack of freedom for peaceful activities of political parties and associations in the country.
2. Denial of the rights to be nominated and to freely elect the candidates of one’s choice, and to enjoy the pertaining rights based on the provisions of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the ICCPR, on the pretext of lacking “Practical Commitment” to Islam and absolute dominance of the Supreme Leader.
3. Prohibition of the religious minorities from holding office and assuming responsibility at the higher levels of executive, legislative and judicial branches of the government.As stipulated by Article 2 of the complementary protocol and section 4 of the ICCPR, complainants must file their complaint within Iran. Whereas the IRI Constitution has not anticipated any organizations to investigate such complaints, we submit our complaint possibly to the head of the IRI Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani.
With respect
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