UN picks Pakistani professor to probe Iran's crackdown on protesters

GENEVA – Despite Tehran's opposition, the UN on Tuesday named a panel of three women to lead a rights investigation into Iran’s violent crackdown on women-led protests, which have rocked the Islamic republic for more than three months now.

Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain, Pakistani law professor Shaheen Sardar Ali and rights activist Viviana Krsticevic from Argentina will be the independent members of the fact-finding mission, UN Human Rights Council head Federico Villegas has announced.

Sara, a long-time human rights activist, will chair the investigation, the council presidency added.

Shaheen is a law professor at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, focussing on Islamic law, human rights, and women and child rights.

Iran is highly unlikely to allow the trio to enter the country and carry out their mission as Tehran is fiercely opposing the creation of the international investigation that 47 rights council members voted for last month.

The three women will document the Iranian authorities’ repression of the protests and potential human rights violations with a view to possible legal action against officials in Iran or elsewhere.

🔴 Human Rights Council president @FVillegasARG has appointed the members of the new Fact-Finding Mission on #Iran:

- Sara Hossain, chair (Bangladesh)
- Shaheen Sardar Ali (Pakistan)
- Viviana Krsticevic (Argentina)

PRESS RELEASE ▶️ https://t.co/XB7ZPKFDSy pic.twitter.com/O6AjXwYyqb

— UN Human Rights Council 📍#HRC52 (@UN_HRC) December 21, 2022

Mass demonstrations, unprecedented since the 1979 revolution, have swept across the country since September after the death in custody of Iranian-Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, leading to violent and sometimes deadly clashes with security forces.

The 22-year-old had been arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly flouting rules on wearing headscarf, triggering nationwide unrest in favour of women’s rights.