UN rights council votes to maintain Iran scrutiny

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday prolonged by a year an independent international fact-finding mission investigating Iran's deadly crackdown on protests that erupted in 2022.

The United Nations' top rights body extended the mission, and the mandate of the council's special rapporteur on Iran, Javaid Rehman, with 24 votes in favour, eight against and 15 abstentions in the 47-member chamber.

It said the extension for Rehman was necessary to "continue to monitor the ongoing situation of human rights, including civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights".

It also decided to keep up the fact-finding mission to allow it to complete its work, "including by ensuring that the large amount of evidence of human rights violations" relating to the protests, "especially with respect to women and children, is fully and effectively documented, verified, consolidated and preserved".

Iran was rocked by widespread demonstrations sparked by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rule for women based on Islamic sharia law.

Tehran does not cooperate with either Rehman or the fact-finding mission and they have not been allowed on Iranian soil.

The resolution called on Iran to cooperate fully with the rapporteur and the international investigators, "and to grant them unhindered access to the country and to provide all information necessary" to fulfil their mandates.

Argentina, Chile, France, Germany, Japan, Morocco and the United States backed the resolution.

The countries voting No were Algeria, Burundi, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Indonesia, Sudan and Vietnam.

Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Qatar, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates abstained.

The 55th session of the Human Rights Council closes on Friday.