UN should modify approach to human rights issue: Iranian MP

TEHRAN, Dec. 15(MNA) – The chairwoman of the Majlis Human Rights Committee called on the United Nations Security Council to rethink its approach toward the issue of human rights. MP Zohre Elahian made the request in a letter to Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s UN ambassador who holds the rotating Security Council presidency. It is the UNSC’S primary responsibility to preserve peace and security in the world, and undoubtedly the responsibility will not be fulfilled unless the council adopts an unbiased approach toward international issues, the letter said. “Over the past decade, we have witnessed that the United Nations Security Council has tried to maintain peace and security in the countries of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya through deploying NATO forces in these countries under the aegis of Chapter VII of the UN Charter,” Elahian wrote. But the important question is that whether or not the efforts to maintain international peace and security could pave the way for the accomplishment of the “third purpose” of the UN, she stated. According to the UN charter, the third purpose of the UN is to achieve international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion. “Undoubtedly, the answer to the question is no, because we witnessed that the NATO military campaigns against the countries led to the violation of human rights and took the lives of thousands of innocent people in the countries,” she added.