CNN
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UN member states have excluded Iran from the main UN women’s rights group just months after Iran’s accession. A freak reversal comes as Iran is rattled by ongoing protests sparked by the death of a young woman in the custody of the country’s so-called “morality police.”
Twenty-nine members of the UN Economic and Social Council on Wednesday voted in favor of a US-sponsored resolution to “immediately remove the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women for the remainder of 2022-2026.” voted. semester. ”
Eight Member States voted against the resolution and 16 abstained.
In a speech to the council on Wednesday, Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas Greenfield said, “Women and activists are asking us for help.”
“They asked us loud and clear to exclude Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women.”
“The reason is simple: the Commission is the primary United Nations body for promoting gender equality and empowering women. What they are doing is an ugly stain on the Commission’s credibility,” added Thomas Greenfield.
Iran condemned the US resolution, calling it an “illegal demand” and said it would undermine the UN’s rule of law.
Iran’s ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Irbani, said the resolution to exclude Iran was based on “fabricated arguments using baseless claims and false narratives,” according to state news agency IRNA on Wednesday. said there is.
Iran had just started a four-year term for the Commission on the Status of Women, which was set up to advocate for global gender equality of 45 people after being elected to the commission in April.
In recent months, mass protests sparked the September death of 22-year-old Mercer Amini, who died after being detained by police forces enforcing a strict dress code for women in Tehran, including compulsory attire. attacking this country. head scarf.
Iranian demonstrations, often led by women, have since led to a range of dissatisfaction with the regime. Authorities have launched a deadly crackdown on demonstrators, with reports that forced detention and physical abuse were used to target the country’s Kurdish minority group.
Another representative of Iran’s delegation to the United Nations said in response to the vote, “My delegation condemns the politicization of women’s rights and rejects all condemnation, especially by the United States and certain EU member states. ” he said.
She also described “efforts to promote and protect women’s rights” driven by Iran’s “rich culture and well-established constitution”.
Iran is a “progressive society that considers needs, listens intently to women and girls, and strives for a better future for them,” she said.
A UN report released in March 2021 said Iranian women and girls are treated like “second-class citizens”. The report cites problems such as prevalent child marriage involving girls between the ages of 10 and 14, weak protection against domestic violence, and lack of legal autonomy for women.
“Blatant discrimination exists in Iranian law and practice and must be changed. “These structures are completely unacceptable and must be reformed now,” said the authors of the report at the time. Javaid Rehman, who is
Iran’s Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said that in early December, after months of protests, Iran’s parliament and judiciary were considering a law requiring women to wear the hijab in public. He said that
However, there is no evidence to suggest any future changes to the law, which came into force after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Louis Charbonneau, UN executive director at Human Rights Watch, said it was a “welcome step” in response to the news that Iran had been disembodied, but from true accountability It remained “far away”.
Charbonneau added in a statement to CNN: ”
