Fox Exclusive: U.N. Elects Iran to Commission on Women's Rights
Without fanfare, the United Nations this week elected Iran to its Commission on the Status of Women, handing a four-year seat on the influential human rights body to a theocratic state in which stoning is enshrined in law and lashings are required for women judged "immodest."Just days after Iran abandoned a high-profile bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, it began a covert campaign to claim a seat on the Commission on the Status of Women, which is "dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women," according to its website.
Buried 2,000 words deep in a U.N. press release distributed Wednesday on the filling of "vacancies in subsidiary bodies," was the stark announcement: Iran, along with representatives from 10 other nations, was "elected by acclamation," meaning that no open vote was requested or required by any member states — including the United States.
This news comes after major headlines a couple days ago informed the world that Iran "warned suntanned women and girls who looked like "walking mannequins" will be arrested as part of a new drive to enforce the Islamic dress code"
Flashback, March 2010:
As sports stadiums closed the doors to women attending sports events; as family courtrooms denied the rights of women to custody in divorce; as “proper” women’s dress became part of a hidden discourse of Iranian social criticism calling dress code enforcement officers “Chastity Guards” and “Morality Police;” women working in the field of speaking publicly on the issues of gender equality have been placed in ever increasing danger.
“The women’s rights movement has borne the brunt of this repression, in particular since the launch of the ‘One Million Signatures’ Campaign, in August 2006. This campaign seeks to provide education on women’s rights at the grassroots level and to obtain a repeal of discriminatory laws against women. To this end, the Campaign collects signatures that it plans to submit to the Parliament,” said the International Federation for Human Rights in an August 2007 appeal to the IRI.
The IRI is “in full compliance with the relevant international commitments it has taken on in a genuine and long-term approach to safeguard human rights,” said Secretary General of Iran’s High Council for Human Rights, Mohammad Larijani, at a recent United Nations review of human rights violations at the February 2010 UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva.
If a woman collects signatures on a petition to change discriminatory laws in Iran, she is currently likely to be detained and sentenced to prison terms. Upon release, if it has been decided that she could leave incarceration, bails are set at a high and publicly punitive amount. Access to family, to legal council and to dignity in these cases have been largely undermined.
The key paragraph from the UN Press release:
In addition, four members were elected to the Forum by acclamation. They included Simon William M’Viboudoulou (Congo), endorsed by the African States group; Paimaneh Hasteh (Iran), endorsed by the Asian States group; and Helen Kaljuläte (Estonia) and Andrey A. Nikiforov (Russian Federation), both endorsed by the Eastern European States group.
You would think this was nothing more than a bad joke if it wasn't the UN.
Un-freakin-believable.
[Update] As a side note, where the hell are the liberal bloggers and the media? They claim to be for women's rights, feminism, etc.... yet reactions from this travesty, for the moment, are only coming from the right.... birds chirping on the left at the moment.
HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOO? Is anyone home? Where is your outrage people.. say something for heaven sake. This is an issue where the left and the right could finally unite, agree on... isn't it?
[Update #2] Obama didn't lift a finger nor raise an objection, via Commentary Magazine:
As Jen noted, in refusing to lift a finger in opposition to Iran’s bid to join the Commission on the Status of Women, the Obami have once again abdicated the traditional role America has played at the UN: as a moral firewall preventing the incineration of Turtle Bay in a blaze of Orwellian farce. This is not only another example of smart diplomacy in action, but of the frequently noted phenomenon that all Obama’s promises come with an expiration date. Instead of helping to reform the UN’s appalling human-rights system, the United States is now complicit in it. Maybe Obama will say that we are “bearing witness.”
Hat Tip to NO QUARTER for finding the below video (one of many on their site about this issue today).
UNWatch at the UN in 2008 talking about women’s rights in Iran
I hope Obama is proud of reversing Bush's policy and joining the UN Human Rights Council.
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