December 14, 2022 — New York
American Jewish Committee (AJC) CEO Ted Deutch praised today’s landmark vote by UN member states to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
“We applaud the 29 members of the UN's ECOSOC who declared today that they will no longer allow Iran, a country that relentlessly persecutes women and girls, to serve as a member of the Commission on the Status of Women. Its immediate removal for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term corrects a grave mistake,” said Deutch. Today’s action marks the first time a member of the commission has been removed.
The resolution, adopted by a vote of 29 to 8, with 16 abstentions, expressed “serious concern” over Iran’s actions since September “to 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, by administering policies flagrantly contrary to the human rights of women and girls and to the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women, as well as through the use of lethal force resulting in the deaths of peaceful protesters, including women and girls.”
Deutch said that U.S. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield’s words before the vote powerfully explain why today’s action is so important. “The Commission is the premier UN body for promoting gender equality and empowering women,” said Thomas-Greenfield. “Iran’s membership at this moment is an ugly stain on the Commission’s credibility.”
Since the beginning of the protests in Iran in September, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in custody after she was detained by the so-called “morality police,” AJC has called international attention to the brutal measures employed by the Iranian regime against its own people.
Last month, AJC praised the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to establish an “independent international fact-finding mission” on Iran that will “thoroughly and independently investigate” human rights violations committed by the regime in its deadly crackdown on escalating protests.
