UN expels Iran from women’s rights body over brutal protest crackdown
- The move, which follows a US-led campaign, strips Iran of its membership of the UN Commission on the Status of Women with immediate effect
- Iran has been gripped by protests since the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women
The United Nations on Wednesday voted to remove Iran from a women’s rights body over Tehran’s brutal crackdown of women-led protests.
Following a campaign led by the United States, 29 members of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to expel the Islamic republic from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term.
Eight countries voted against and 16 abstained. A simple majority was needed to adopt the move, which had been proposed by the United States.
The resolution says it strips Iran of its membership of the commission with immediate effect.
The text says the Iranian leadership “continuously undermine and increasingly suppress the human rights of women and girls, including the right to freedom of expression and opinion, often with the use of excessive force”.
It adds that Iran’s government does so “by administering policies flagrantly contrary to the human rights of women and girls” and the commission’s mandate “as well as through the use of lethal force resulting in the deaths of peaceful protesters, including women and girls”.