U.N. human rights investigator condemns abuses in Iran

Dr Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations special rapporteur on Iran, said on Thursday that at least 753 people were believed to have been executed in Iran last year, the highest number since 2002.

The U.N. human rights investigator called on the regime in Tehran to revoke laws restricting freedoms of the press and expression, free some 30 detained journalists and bloggers and halt satellite jamming and blocking of websites.

According to the investigator, Hassan Rouhani has failed to create a freer society since he became the president of the clerical regime in 2013.

Ahmed Shaheed urged Tehran authorities to rescind capital punishment for drug offences and juveniles, in line with international law, and to uphold fair trial standards.

"High priority should be placed on amending laws and policies that undermine or violate internationally recognized rights and standards," Shaheed said in his annual report to the U.N. Human Rights Council, which he will address on Monday.

Laws that "restrict the press, criminalize expression, limit access to information and give rise to the ongoing arrests of civil society actors and members of vulnerable groups, including religious and ethnic minorities", should be rescinded, he said.

Shaheed, a former foreign minister of the Maldives, has not been allowed to visit Iran. His report is based on interviews with dozens of people contacted in the Islamic Republic and with exiles in Western Europe.

"Journalists arrested or prosecuted are often accused of contact with foreign media and are seemingly targeted due to their criticism of government leaders or for discussing sensitive policy issues," Shaheed said.

"The blocking and filtering of websites also continues to be ubiquitous and is apparently ordered by multiple agencies."

Shaheed voiced concern at several draft bills that appear to "further negate human rights" in Iran through provisions that would expand government influence over the media, civil society, political organizations and the legal community.