Informal note on the Press Conference by Mr. Maurice Copithorne, Special Representative of the Commission on Human Rights on the Islamic Republic of Iran

Geneva, 15 April 1998



In introductory remarks, Mr. Maurice Copithorne expressed some concern at a misunderstanding by some members of the press of the tenor of his report. In the interest of putting forward his perspective he had asked for this meeting today. Without referring to agencies he recalled two reports that came to his attention. One was, ?with the situation continuing to worsen? Mr. Copithorne wrote, the new Government should recognize the importance and urgency of reversing the present trend. The Special Representative said he was not aware those words appeared any where in his report. In another press agency story, it was said the U.N. Special Investigator rebuked Iran, in the report issued on Wednesday, saying human rights had deteriorated under Khatami's new Government. Again, the Special Representative said he was not aware of having used this combination of words anywhere in his report. The report covered the three months of last fall, (October, November and December) and was submitted at the end of January, he added. It did not, therefore, contain the latest information and this was made clear in the report.

One correspondent noted the phrase ?reversing the present trend? could be read in paragraph 20, page 7 of the report. Responding, Mr. Copithorne said this was confined to executions and was not the way it was carried in the press story. He accepted the correction but noted the words were not in the context implied in the wire story.

Another correspondent remarked the above mentioned misunderstanding was exactly what the Iranian delegation had been saying all along and the reason for which they did not want the Special Representative to visit last year; that in spite of the progress reflected in the report, the resolutions and, in this case the Western press, had not taken these into account. Did the Special Representative believe the Iranians were right and agree that the Commission was not reflecting positive developments in that country? Responding, Mr. Copithorne said he was not prepared to jump to that conclusion. He felt the situation was unfortunate, in the two ways mentioned, namely in the Commission itself and with the press. He did not think it was his position to cast a judgement about it one way or the other, in particular to say whether the Iranians were correct or not.

Asked whether he would like to see the resolutions reflect the positive developments he mentioned in his report, Mr. Copithorne said ?of course?. He considered his role to be a primitive sort of fact-finding mechanism. Special Rapporteurs were ?creatures of the Commission? and the raison d?être of their existence was for their reports to be useful to the Commission in its debates and ultimatly lie in its resolutions.

Asked why the Commission had not reflected the positive developments in its resolutions, Mr. Copithorne said one could take various views on what was happening in Iran. It was a complex and dynamic society and depending how one was focused, one could find a lot of positive and negative things; it was then a matter of judgement how one balanced these. The Special Representative said he set out what he believed was the right balance. He felt that at present, as compared to one or two years ago, the balance was in favour of the positive.

Bearing in mind the political situation within Iran, a correspondent asked whether the Special Representative thought that an outside eye like his could influence the situation at the moment. Responding, Mr. Copithorne said this question went through his mind; the impact he could have and what to do to maximise the prospects of an impact. It was self deceiving, however, to think that an individual could change the human rights situation in a country, he added. What one could do was to encourage domestic tendencies for change in a positive manner and discourage negative tendencies by drawing attention to them, not only in terms of publicising them before the Commission, but also within the country concerned. This is what he sought to achieve.

Responding to a question on the number of executions carried out in 1995 and 1996, Mr. Copithorne said the sharp growth in executions, referred to in the report, was based on the cases mentioned in the Iranian press. Moreover, in the last report which he submitted to the General-Assembly, he had noted that if the current trend for 1997 continued until the end of the year, it would have resulted in a quadrupling in 24 months. That is, it would have gone from approximately 50 cases, two years ago, to approximately 200 in 1997.

Referring to the struggle between the more liberal presidency and more conservative judiciary, a correspondent asked whether the President would be able to implement the reforms he had been talking about. Responding, Mr. Copithorne expressed the hope that he would be successful but that it would be imprudent to make judgements on what would happen. It was clearly an on-going contest for power between the executive on the one hand and the judiciary on the other. This was a short-hand way of capturing the key players on two sides of this question of liberalising or creating a more human rights sensitive society.

A correspondent asked how Special Rapporteurs were chosen and how countries were targeted. Was he relying only on Western press to see what was going on in Iran ? Responding, Mr. Copithorne said he had many sources of information which included the Western and Iranian press. He was not short of information given to him by Iranians, whether it be the Government, NGOs or scholars. Information communicated to him in farsi was usually translated. With regard to the appointment of Special Rapporteurs, Mr. Copithorne said, his personal view, was that the Special Rapporteur system was part of the ?special procedures? process of the Human Rights Commission. It grew up in an ad hoc way, without a constitutional basis. The Iranian mandate was one of the oldest and he was now the third Special Rapporteur for Iran.

Asked for additional information on issues that may have taken place after submission of the report, Mr. Copithorne said the spirit which he attempted to capture in the report continued. The President was intent in his efforts to establish an Islamic civil society under the criteria mentioned in the report, namely that clear parameters be established for individual conduct that would be free from State intervention. His impression was clear that the trend continued and the executive maintained its commitment to establish a more tolerant, more civil rights oriented society.

Asked if this included the end of barbaric practices such as stoning, Mr Copithorne responded that he hoped it would. He would continue to take the view that they should cease.