UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran

Date: July 10, 2018

No:   2095-18

The Honorable Mr. Javid Rehman

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran

Your Excellency, 

On behalf of the Iran National Council for Free Elections, I wish to extend my sincere congratulations to you on your appointment as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. Iran National Council for Free Elections is a nongovernment organization with our ultimate objective to create the preconditions for free, fair and transparent elections of a constituent assembly, for the purpose of drafting a new secular and democratic constitution.

The fundamental principles relating to periodic free and fair elections shall be based on the will of the people as expressed in periodic and genuine elections. The Iranian electoral system suffers from serious structural problems that undermine free and fair elections due in part to the influence of the hardline Guardian Council. Ultimate power which rests in the hands of the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the unelected institutions under his control. These institutions, including the security forces and the judiciary, play a major role in the suppression of dissent and other restrictions on civil liberties.

The Iranian regime has used corruption as a tool to stay in power. Therefore, a powerful system of political patronage, nepotism and cronyism pervades in all sectors of the economy. Irregular payments and bribes are often exchanged to obtain services, permits, or public contracts. The Iranian economy is the victim of the rampant corruption. Sadly, the Iranian environment is a silent victim of this kleptocratic system.

Recently the late-year protests led to violent clashes with security forces across the country, leaving several people dead and thousands in detention. The Iran National Council acknowledges this corruption as fundamental and inalienable human right’s violations. In order to prioritize openness and transparency enforcement as a matter of policy needs to occur to put an end to the corruption and to create the preconditions for free, fair and transparent elections in Iran.

I look forward to working with you to communicate the human rights violations, in particular the corruption cases,  on all levels in Iran.

Yours truly, 

Nazila Golestan

Special Envoy for Human Rights

Iran National Council for Free Elections