U.S. incompetent to be reelected to UN Human Rights Council: Iran

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Saturday that the United States is not competent enough to be reelected as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Mehmanparast made the remarks in response to the fact that the United States recently announced its candidacy for a seat on the Human Rights Council.

The election of 18 members of the council will be held on November 12. The council shall consist of 47 member states, which shall be elected directly and individually by secret ballot by the majority of the members of the UN General Assembly.

The members of the council shall serve for a period of three years and shall not be eligible for immediate reelection after two consecutive terms.

Mehmanparast stated, “The United States, by the admission of many international organizations, is itself one of the violators of human rights on its territory and beyond its borders and is not competent to be a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council.”

The U.S. candidacy has been announced while the UN Human Rights Council only allows those countries that have a transparent and positive human rights record to be elected as members, he added.

Mehmanparast also stated that the killing of civilians, especially women and children, the torturing of inmates in secret U.S. prisons around the world, the promotion of anti-Islamic campaign, and unconditional support to the Zionist regime that has been violating the rights of the Palestinian people are instances of human rights violations by the U.S.

“It is obvious that the U.S. government, with its negative human rights record and actions that run contrary to the criteria and standards stipulated in the United Nations human rights conventions and agreements, lacks competence to be a member of the Human Rights Council, which is regarded as the most important international human rights mechanism,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman noted.

The Islamic Republic of Iran calls on UN members, particularly the developing countries that played a key role in establishing the Human Rights Council, to oppose the membership of the U.S., he said.