Tag Archives: rights

25Feb/11

Iran & rights: another UN farce

By MEHRTASH RASTEGAR & NIR BOMS

New York Post

While the Iranian police are using tear gas and electric prods to crack down on antigovernment protesters, the UN Commission on the Status of Women is preparing to welcome the Islamic Republic as its newest member when its 56th session gets under way in New York today.

Iran will sit on the commission for a four-year term — though it certainly ranks among countries least able to judge the actions of others on the “elimination of all forms of discrimination and violence against the girl child” and “gender equality,” two commission themes. Beyond its violence against protesters (including women), there is its adamant refusal to ratify the key international women’s-rights law — the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women — and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s recent statement that feminism is “a cry of protest from crushed women in a capitalistic system.”

Indeed, many laws and practices in Iran violate the sanctity of women, the proper treatment of girls and gender equality, purporting to rely on religious principles.

A few examples:

Continue reading