Press release
May 11, 2023
ADAPP condemns appointment of Islamic Republic of Iran’s representative as the chair of upcoming Human Rights Council’s Social Forum.
Iran has one of the worst records, when it comes to human rights. Since tragic death of Jina Amini thousands of Iranians from different ethnic backgrounds arrested, tortured, raped and hundreds of them including tens of ethnic Azerbaijanis shot dead in Streets of Iran. Also, Iran has serious systemic racism issue against its ethnic minorities which must be addressed. Ethnic minorities deprived from all their rights and Iran continues ethnocide and linguicide policies against its minorities. For instance, approximately 30 million Azerbaijanis do not have any single school in their mother language. Addition, high number of child marriage in Iran specially in Azerbaijani provinces puts Islamic Republic of Iran in the worst position to be the chair of Human Rights Council’s Social Forum.
Despite the fact that international community knows enough about these serious human rights violations, it is unacceptable to let Iran’s representative lead one of branches of UN human rights council. Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran(ADAPP) urges international community to support ethnic minorities and women in Iran and we ask the free world to block and repeal Iran from chairmanship of Human Rights Council’s Social Forum.
Yashar Hakak Pour Maraghi
Director of the Association for the Defense of Azerbaijani Political Prisoners in Iran (ADAPP)