Iran Bid for Seat on UN Women’s Rights Panel Rejected

November 10, 2010
In a rare bit of sanity by the United Nations, the UN rejected Iran’s bid for a seat on the UN Women’s Rights Panel on Wednesday.

No doubt emboldened by its appointment to a four year seat on the UN Commission on the Status of Women back in April, the theocratic regime must have considered itself to be a shoe-in for the seat on the Women’s Rights Panel.  Indeed, it was odd that Iran, which uses

Iran Protester Neda Agha-Soltan

Iranian protester Neda Agha-Soltan who was killed by Iran government security forces in aftermath of disputed Iranian presidential election

stonings and lashings to punish women for being “immodest”, was appointed to a seat at an human rights council which declares on its official website that it is “dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women”.  The Status of Women homepage reads: “Every year, representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.”

Iran was initially guaranteed an uncontested seat on the women’s rights panel, which was surprising, even for the UN, given last year’s General Assembly resolution noting “deep concern” over Iran’s increasing use of executions, torture, flogging and amputations, and discrimination against minorities. But East Timor later entered itself into the running and eventually won the seat.

What may have hurt Iran’s bid was the international outcry over Tehran’s recent decision to sentence to death by stoning a woman convicted of adultery. It seems that the din of protest over the stoning sentence, together with public outrage over Iran’s heavy-handed suppression of dissenters following its disputed presidential election back in 2009, may have swayed even the clueless diplomats at the UN.

Iran received 19 votes of the 28 necessary for confirmation. We have to wonder what possessed 19 of those voting countries to feel that Iran merited a seat on the panel, but such is the United Nations.

Not wishing to stray too far from the hypocrisy that permeates the organization, the United Nations accepted Saudi Arabia’s bid for a seat on the UN Womens Rights Panel, prompting protests from human rights activists. Also, the UN awarded uncontested seats on the agency to such women’s rights stalwarts as Libya and Congo.

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