The Human Rights Council of the United Nations has appointed three experts, including a Bangladeshi lawyer, to a fact-finding mission on alleged human rights violations in Iran.
Sara Hossain of Bangladesh will serve the mission as its chair with Shaheen Sardar Ali of Pakistan and Viviana Krsticevic of Argentina as two other members of the panel, according to bdnews24.com.
The council decided to launch an international fact-finding mission to “investigate alleged human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran related to the protests that began on Sept 16, especially with respect to women and children”, the UN agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
Three months ago nationwide unrest erupted across Iran after the custodial death of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by morality police enforcing Iran’s mandatory dress code laws.
The Middle Eastern nation hanged a man in public on Dec 12 with state media saying that he had been convicted of killing two members of the security forces. It was the second public execution in less than a week of people involved in protests against Iran's ruling theocracy.
The president of the Human Rights Council, Ambassador Federico Villegas, sought recommendations from various stakeholders and expressions of interest to find highly qualified and impartial candidates to fill these positions.
The fact-finding mission members, who will serve in their personal capacities, were requested to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council during an interactive dialogue at its fifty-third session in June 2023 and to present to the council a comprehensive report on its findings during an interactive dialogue at its fifty-fifth session, scheduled to be held in March 2024.
Sara Hossain, a barrister, practises constitutional, public interest and family law at the Bangladesh Supreme Court. She is a partner in the law firm of Dr. Kamal Hossain and Associates and serves pro bono as the honorary executive director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust. She was educated at Wadham College, Oxford University.