Iran defended its human rights record on Friday, after a wave of Western criticism of its execution of a woman for murdering a man she said had tried to rape her.
Mohammad Javad Larijani, secretary general of Iran's High Council for Human Rights, was speaking at a more than three hour-long debate in the U.N. Human Rights Council to review Tehran's record.
Reyhaneh Jabbari was hanged on Saturday in Tehran's Evin prison for the killing. The dead man's relatives had refused to grant her a reprieve within a 10-day deadline set by sharia law, in force since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
"We were not successful to solicit forgiveness from the hearts of victims. So the execution went on. Though we are very sorry that two nationals lost lives, but capital punishment or 'qisas' is a unique particularity of our system. I think it worth Western countries to look into it," Larijani said.
"The idea that only good things in western community -- the 'West and the rest' -- this is a very destructive idea of human rights," he said.
Larijani said he had asked the man's relatives to forgive Jabbari and spare her life.
"Unfortunately we were not able, perhaps one reason for that was the huge propaganda that was created against this case. In my last meeting with the son of the victim, I requested him very humbly to forgive, I told him: 'you lost a loved one, forgive, this is the teaching of Koran'.
"He said 'we had the intention to forgive. But with this media blitz, officials are accusing our father of being engaged in force and violent rape, we cannot have his humiliation'."
Due process and the independence of Iran's judiciary was enshrined in its constitution, Larijani said. Judicial and prison staff were being trained in human rights.
Iran did not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, or religion and allowed activist groups to work, he said.
But U.N. sanctions imposed on Iran for its nuclear program and "unilateral coercive measures against our citizens" created obstacles to economic and social rights, Larijani said.
Syrian ambassador Hussam Eddin Aala praised Iran's efforts to improve its legal framework and urged its ally to "continue efforts to highlight the negative repercussions of both terrorism and unilateral coercive measures".
"SHARP INCREASE" IN EXECUTIONS
Britain, Australia, Canada, France and the United States were among those speaking out at alleged rights violations in Iran in the debate, which was part of the U.N. council's regular examination of every U.N. member state every four years.
"There are continued reports of government harassment towards members of religious minorities. Journalists have been arrested, detained or prevented from doing their work," U.S. ambassador Keith Harper said in a speech.
He urged Iran to release Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter detained since July, "to demonstrate its commitment to freedom of expression".
Rezaian, a dual Iranian-American national, has been based in Tehran since 2008. The two states have no diplomatic relations. This month Iran released his wife, an Iranian journalist, on bail after more than two months held without charge.
Britain's deputy ambassador Mark Matthews voiced concern at a "sharp increase in executions in Iran over the past year".
"We note with concern continued widespread discrimination against minority religious groups, particularly the Baha'is and Christians, and the reported harassment, interrogation and detention of journalists and human rights defenders," he said.
Canada raised the case of Jabbari, regretting "Iran's failure to apply standards of due process and rule of law".
REUTERS