US envoy slams UNHRC for allowing Iranian minister to address council

The United States envoy to the United Nations, Nikki Haley has slammed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for allowing Iranian Justice Minister Alireza Avayi to speak at the body’s 37th annual session in Geneva.

Haley said the council should be “ashamed” of itself for allowing Avayi to address the body.

She described the Iranian official as a “violator of human rights”, calling on him to be arrested and tried.

“Avayi is responsible for some of the worst human rights violations in Iran, including the denial of political freedoms as well as the promotion of repression, violence and extrajudicial killings,” she said.

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“Yet again the council discredits itself by allowing serial human rights abusers to hijack its work and make a mockery of its mandate to promote universal human rights. This does nothing but reinforce the United States’ call for much needed reforms at the Council for it to be viewed as a good investment of our time and money,” she said.

Sanctions have been placed on the Iranian minister by the EU and Switzerland; the host country of the UNHRC.