The following Draft Resolution has now been proposed by United Nations Watch, a Swiss non-governmental organization in special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), calling for that body to expel the Islamic Republic of Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Next steps needed are for a member state of ECOSOC to formally introduce the resolution. We have approached Secretary of State Antony Blinken to request that the U.S. introduce the resolution. Other democracies on the 54-nation body include Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, New Zealand, Portugal, UK and USA.
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Draft Resolution
Terminating the Membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Commission on the Status of Women
The Economic and Social Council,
Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments,
Expressing grave concern at the reports of gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international human rights law by the Islamic Republic of Iran, recognizing the strong expressions of concern in statements by the Secretary-General, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Procedures and the Committee on the Rights of the Child,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 76/178 of 16 December 2021 and all previous resolutions of the General Assembly on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and regretting the lack of cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the requests of the Assembly made in those resolutions,
Recalling the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,
Recalling further the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women,
Expressing grave concern about the continuing gross and systematic violation of the human rights of women and girls in Iran by the authorities,
Expressing grave concern also at the recent deaths of and injuries caused to peaceful demonstrators, including children and women, by the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Strongly condemning, in this regard, the Islamic Republic of Iran for the wrongful arrest, detention and abusive treatment of Mahsa Amini leading to her death, and stressing the need to promptly ensure accountability,
Strongly condemning the Islamic Republic of Iran for the use of lethal force against peaceful assemblies, the widespread and systematic use of arbitrary arrests and detention, and the practices of enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention, including against human rights defenders, lawyers, artists, and journalists;
Calling upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to release persons detained for the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those who have been detained solely for taking part in peaceful protests, or for removing the compulsory hijab;
Stressing the need for the protection of human rights defenders to allow them to conduct their work freely and without fear of attacks and harassment from any party, and rejecting any attacks against civil society,
Stressing also the need to ensure accountability for all violations of international human rights law by the Islamic Republic of Iran in order to end impunity, ensure justice, deter further violations, and protect the basic human rights of the people of Iran,
- Decides to terminate the membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Commission on the Status of Women, effective immediately;
- Calls for urgent measures to ensure the safety and protection of women and girls in Iran;
- Calls upon the Islamic Republic of Iran to comply fully with its obligations, including as a State party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, taking fully into consideration the concluding observations as well as the general recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women;
- Urges the international community to continue to give special attention to the protection of the human rights of Iranian women and girls;
- Requests the Secretary-General to continue to review the situation, to assist Iranian women and girls by all available means, and to report on the situation of human rights in Iran to the Economic and Social Council at its 2023 session.
Dear @SecBlinken: It is the height of hypocrisy for the #Iran regime to hold a position of leadership on women's rights at the UN—and it gives them a dangerous propaganda platform. We urge you to introduce this resolution to expel the regime from @UN_CSW. https://t.co/4ES5abgDdx pic.twitter.com/x20xU01kKV
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 19, 2022
