Considering the recent positions of the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, including his attendance at several meetings organized by the MeK terrorist group, Habilian addressed in a letter the head of the Human Rights Council and also the UN secretary general expressing concern over his unconventional relationship with the MeK, and requested these officials to put a comprehensive investigation into this matter on the agenda.
The letter reads as follows:
Reviewing the recent positions took by Mr. Javaid Rahman, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including his numerous appearances in meetings organized by the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (MeK), one can observe an unconventional and worrying relationship between this official and that notorious terrorist group.
Since Rahman’s appointment as the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran in 2018, he has provided numerous reports and comments furthering the MeK’s agenda and retouching its background and character.
Rahman’s biased approach towards the MeK has coincided with ignoring requests by the Iranian families of terror victims whose relatives were massacred by this terrorist group according to reliable international documents. The families and survivors of terror victims in Iran have written to him twice in 2018 and 2023 hoping that their voices will be heard. But they received no answer. However, at the same time, he was participating in the meetings organized by the MeK or its front organizations so much so that one can say he has become the spokesperson for the MeK terrorist group.
Javaid Rahman’s approach towards terror victims in Iran is different from the former Special Rapporteur on human rights situation in Iran Mr. Ahmad Shahid. For example, during a meeting between this person and Habilian Association Secretary General in Geneva in 2012, the former Special Rapporteur carefully listened to the concerns of the Iranian families of terror victims, despite his criticism of the Iranian government. As a result of that meeting, Shahid mentioned the issue of Iranian terror victims in his report.
Contrary to his predecessor’s approach and in a totally biased and unprofessional manner, Rahman, however, has been supporting a notorious terrorist group, which has a history full of violence, sectarianism and criminality such as human rights violations even towards its own members. It was due to this background that the US, the EU and some Western countries such as the UK put the MeK on their list of terrorist organizations.
If previously it were not clear whether Javaid Rahman backs the MeK knowingly or out of ignorance, now there is no doubt that he has fallen prey to bribery activities of this group, just as some other politicians have. It is mentioned in various international reports that one of the MeK’s methods of attracting officials and politicians is through paying them huge fees.
We consider Rahman’s attempt to not hear the voice of terror victims’ families as an escape from the truth and a planned action in favor of the MeK who are worried about the revelation of the facts, especially regarding their bloody crimes during the 1980s against thousands of ordinary Iranian citizens. Also, we think that these actions undermine the efforts made by the UN and the Secretary General in commemorating the victims of terrorism in the world.
We urge the United Nations Secretary General as well as the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the unusual communication between the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and the MeK and its front organizations.
Yours Sincerely,
Habilian Association (Families of Iranian Victims of Terrorism)
November 28, 2023