Iran ousted from UN women's commission amid nationwide protests after Mahsa Amini's death

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, December 16, 2022

The United Nations adopted a resolution to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) amid nationwide protests kickstarted by the arrest and death of a young woman accused of not wearing her hijab properly. 

In a Wednesday statement, the U.N. announced a new Economic and Social Council resolution removing Iran from the commission for the remainder of its 2022 to 2026 term. Twenty-nine countries voted in favor of the resolution, while eight voted against it and 16 abstained from voting. 

The list of countries opposed to the resolution consisted of Bolivia, China, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Russian Federation and Zimbabwe. 

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The Social Council expressed concern over the Iranian government's actions since September 2022 "to increasingly suppress human rights of women and girls, using lethal force that has resulted in the deaths of peaceful protestors." 

A representative from the United States said that the vote "answers the call of civil society voices in Iran," according to the U.N. statement. 

"Iranian women have clearly called for us, here at the United Nations, to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women. It was a sensible request," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement. "Iran’s membership directly undermines the commission’s work. Its membership was a stain on our credibility."

Nikki Haley, the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. during the Trump administration, believes that kicking Iran off the U.N. women’s commission is the “bare minimum” that the intergovernmental organization can do. 

“Iran’s evil regime has murdered hundreds of protesters, including women and children,” Haley tweeted Wednesday. “It’s embarrassing that they were ever given a seat.” 

Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad celebrated the move in a Wednesday tweet, writing that this is “a victory for Iranian revolutionaries who have been facing guns & bullets as they fight this gender apartheid state.”

“This is the flame of #IranRevolution lit by #MahsaaAmini,” she continued. 

In a separate tweet last week, Alinejad shared a video of Iranian women resisting the morality police on a bus in Tehran. The video shows burqa-clad women fighting with several others who were not wearing a hijab. 

“We remove our hijab everyday and no longer accept bullies from morality police,” the woman who sent the video to Alinejad reportedly stated. 

Protests erupted in Iran after the Islamic Republic's "morality police" arrested 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for wearing her hijab improperly. Per the dress code in Iran, women must wear conceal their hair with a head covering. Amini died in custody on Sept. 16 after she was beaten to death. 

In October, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom called for a United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Iran after the country’s response to the protests reportedly resulted in the deaths of nearly 200 protesters, including at least 23 minors. 

"Iran's use of excessive and lethal force against protesters asserting their religious freedom is a deplorable violation of international law for which there must be full accountability," said USCIRF Chair Nury Turkel. "Iranian protesters are asking that their voices be heard. We urge the Biden administration to support a U.N. Commission of Inquiry on Iran to ensure that Iranian security forces cannot silence Iranians seeking religious freedom with impunity."