Iran Rejects “Baseless” Claims about Environmentalist’s Suicide

“Following intense attacks by foreign media spreading baseless and hostile claims against the Islamic Republic of Iran with regard to suicide committed by Kavous Seyed Emami, Iran’s High Council for Human Rights has released a statement to shed light on the truth about the case,” the Council said in a Friday statement.

The following is the full text of the statement:

In the name of God, the Compassionate the Merciful

Following the suicide committed by Kavous Seyed Emami who was under arrest for espionage charges under the cover of environmental activities, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme Mr. Erik Solheim has stated that “Environmental rights are human rights, and we all have an obligation to protect them. We are closely following these cases in Iran and urge that the work of environment defenders – both in Iran and around the world – be promoted and respected.”

In this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights would like to raise the following points to be considered by Mr. Solheim.

First, the United Nations and its family of affiliated organizations are neither Non-Governmental nor media organizations, but organizations formed by independent countries, thus necessary to respect authority of member states and consider consultations with the respective country and request an official interpretation from a country before publishing any official statement about any country. Unfortunately, this point has not only been ignored, but also turned into a precedent.

Second, the Islamic Republic of Iran, while confirming supports for and development of environmental activities, assertively warns against cover-up abuse of such activities pursuing hostile objectives, particularly military invasion or terrorist activities. The United Nations and its related organizations are expected to strongly warn the United States and other countries who are deliberately taking advantage of “environmental activist” to pursue their covert illegal, hostile and aggressive objectives. In fact, credit of the UN and its family of organizations is the main victim of such abuses.

Third, a wider abuse has been accompanied by unjustifiable negligence of the UN which is providing a cover for terrorist activities under the pretext of “human rights defenders.”

The UN secretary general and his colleagues are certainly aware that in recent years, members to dangerous terrorist organizations such as MKO, PJAK, Komala, Rigi, etc. who have committed numerous crimes against innocent Iranian citizens and have exploded mosques and worshipping places filled by people, have been introduced and supported in official reports by representatives of the UN as supporters of human rights!

Fourth, the insistence on and significance of protection of environment in the Islamic Republic of Iran which roots in Islamic teachings, is evident given the vast budget annually allocated to this area. Iran expects honest supports, free of tendentious infections by dangerous countries and enemies of environment like the US and its subordinates.

It needs no assertion that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights considers it a basic and essential duty of itself to defend the rights of every single citizen, including suspects and convicts and inmates and works closely with judicial authorities to fulfill this responsibility.

Today, the High Council of Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the main defender of civil rights and its honest activities has made it the place for every single citizen, whether inside or outside the country, to refer to it for seeking justice.