UNITED NATIONS, New York (IRNA) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry Director General for Legal Affairs Hossein Panahi-Azar said here Monday that discrimination on the basis of religious and ethnic origins in many Western countries has been on the rise in the past several years.

Addressing the Third Committee of the 61st Session of the UN General Assembly on the human rights situation and reports of special rapporteurs and representatives, he said Muslims and certain ethnic minorities are subject to verbal and physical attacks as well as discrimination in jobs and housing.

"They are even deprived from practicing their religious duties and requirements in public places such as observing their religious and traditional dress code," the Iranian envoy said.

Muslims are unfairly and falsely branded with and accused of extremist ideas, thus being increasingly and systematically targeted by police and security agents, he said, adding that it is even more unfortunate and alarming that certain politicians in the West are racing to play on public fears on ethnic and religious groups, particularly Muslims, in the West.

As to violation of human rights in Canada, the Iranian envoy said there is a grave concern over the situation of individuals deprived of their liberty while awaiting trial or sentencing, continued allegations of police brutality and of inappropriate use of illicit chemical agents by law enforcement authorities in the context of crowd control, disappearances and murder and extra-judicial summary or arbitrary executions.

Indigenous women and girls continue to suffer from a high level of discrimination and violence, he said, adding that there were also concerns that counter-terrorism practices did not conform with human rights obligations.

Panahi-Azar further urged the international community to pay attention to human rights situations in all corners of the world without exception or ulterior considerations, adding that the time has come to put an end to the practice of overlooking the situation of human rights in the west, where the rights of certain segments of society, particularly minorities and immigrants, are systematically and persistently infringed.

He stressed that the aggressive policies of certain western countries against the independence and integrity of developing countries, which have ultimately given rise to the violation of human rights in the targeted countries and peoples, should receive serious attention and need to be appropriately dealt with.

The appalling situation in Guantanamo Bay, the disclosure of torture in Iraqi prisons by occupying forces especially in Abu Ghraib prison, the existence of secret detention centers in Europe, the inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli regime are but a few examples of gross violations of human rights committed by the so-called claimants and self-proclaimed champions of human rights, the Iranian envoy reiterated.

Yet, the perpetrators continue to maintain stereotypes by blaming and condemning others for violation of human rights, while shirking away from their responsibility for the violations they themselves commit in different forms, he concluded.