HRW slams Iran’s ‘undeserved’ nomination to UN women’s committee

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has denounced Iran’s nomination to the UN women’s committee, citing the country’s “deplorable women’s rights records.”

Last week, Iran was elected by 54 UN member states to the Commission on the Status of Women, a New York-based body aimed at promoting gender equality and female empowerment.

On its website, HRW lists a plethora of regressive Iranian laws that disproportionately target women.

For example, Iranian law allows girls to marry at 13 and boys at 15, there are widespread travel restrictions aimed exclusively at women, and female human rights campaigners are systematically targeted.

HRW also criticized the way the UN body’s nominations were made. It said normally elections to UN bodies are made through competitive votes between member states, but “last week, the 54 member countries of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) did things the wrong way by holding uncompetitive elections.”

The result “was undeserved prizes to abusive governments, notably Iran,” HRW said. “UN delegations shouldn’t be giving credibility to abusive states by rewarding them with human rights posts.”

Their records “should now receive extra scrutiny,” it added. “In the future, UN member states should avoid voting for abusive governments whenever possible and insist on competitive slates for all. Anything less only undermines the standing of UN bodies on human rights.”