UN investigator: Iran appears more willing to talk human rights
UNITED NATIONS - Iran could be on track to execute more than 1,000 people this year, even as it seems more willing to engage with the United Nations on human rights after a nuclear deal with world powers, a UN investigator said on Monday.
UN special rapporteur on Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, suggested that human rights violators should be named and shamed and targeted with sanctions such as a travel ban.
Shaheed described his latest report to the United Nations as "marginally more optimistic than my previous reports" and told reporters he had witnessed more "meaningful" engagement between Iran and the world body.
He said he met for the first time with members of the Iranian judiciary and security forces in Geneva last month. "Their response to my current report has been the most substantive over the past 4-1/2 years," he said.
"But other developments in Iran over the past 12 months gives us pause on why we should not put too much weight on this because there have been rising executions," Shaheed said, adding that women are still treated as second-class citizens.
