The non-governmental human rights organization UN Watch welcomed today’s announcement by Vice-President Kamala Harris that the U.S. will lead the effort to remove Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
“Obviously, a regime that persecutes and subjugates women should never have been elected in the first place, and we welcome this decision to undo that obscenity,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.
UN Watch was the first to expose Iran’s election in April 2021 - revealing that at least four Western democracies voted for Iran - and to mobilize a global outcry.
More recently, UN Watch led a campaign to expel the Iranian regime, including by preparing a draft resolution that was submitted to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and raised in the State Department press briefing.
This week, Canada, New Zealand, and the Senate of the Netherlands declared their support for the removal of Iran.
“Every day, we see more and more how little Iran respects women’s rights and human rights, and so we commend political leaders and lawmakers in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and the Netherlands for supporting the removal of this moral obscenity, which is casting a shadow upon the reputation of the United Nations as a whole,” said Neuer.
“Not only is it the height of hypocrisy for the Islamic regime of Iran to hold a position of leadership on women’s rights - it is dangerous. The mullahs are using their membership on the UN’s top women’s rights committee as a platform for propaganda to suggest the Tehran regime has a legitimate concern for women’s rights. They do not.”
“It’s time to put an end to enabling murderous dictatorships like Iran to spread disinformation to justify their gross abuses against women and girls, and against the population at large.
“Now is the time for action. UN member states must show the world that they can work responsibly to oust the Iranian regime,” said Neuer.
Based on the most recent UN vote on human rights in Iran, UN Watch is predicting the vote will pass by an overwhelming 70 percent majority.
