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April 24, 2014
Iran Elected to UN Commission to Protect Women After Scheduling Execution of Raped Woman
On April 14, Ahmed Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, reported on the case of an Iranian woman who was scheduled to be executed for killing in self-defense an Iranian Intelligence Ministry official who she claimed lured her to his apartment and sexually assaulted her. Shaheed demanded that
The Iranian authorities should review her case and refer it back to court for a re-trial, ensuring that the defendant due process rights guaranteed under both Iranian law and international law.
This case follows a well documented history of incidents in Iran of women being stoned to death under government auspices.
An article in the Daily Telegraph on May 30, 2013, reports on Iranian progress in human rights. The Iranian regime passed a law allowing for the hanging of adulterous women instead of burying them up to their necks and stoning them to death as was previously the punishment. Men are given a better chance. According to the Telegraph article, they are only buried up to their waists and if they can free themselves they can avoid being stoned to death.
On April 24, 2014, Iran was re-elected to a coveted post on the Commission on the Status of Women in the United Nations Economics and Social Council charged with promoting women's rights. The appointment has received minimal coverage in the media. An internet search on the morning of April 24 revealed, so far, articles in the Canada Free Press and CNS news discussing the topic in any detail.
While alternate media like the Canada Free Press draw attention to such stories, The New York Times meanwhile publishes an Op-Ed in its April 13 edition "Are Iran and Israel Trading Places?" suggesting that Iran is liberalizing and Israel becoming a theocracy. The Times Op-Ed brazenly states, "One is liberalizing while the other is flirting with theocracy." Right.
Posted by SS at April 24, 2014 10:03 AM
Comments
There is no "UN Commission to Protect Women". There is the "Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women", but it is represented by individuals, not countries. And none of the individuals is Iranian. See http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/members.htm
Posted by: Joe P. at April 28, 2014 04:12 PM
It is the Commission on the Status of Women and it does have Iranian representation. The blog post title is for your information. The actual name of the Commission has been added to the article to resolve confusion. The Iranian representative was actually first elected in 2010. The recent outrage and news reports are due to the re-election of the Iranian representative for another 4 year term on the heels of the publicity of the case mentioned. The UN announcement in 2010 is copied below to show that the commission does in fact exist:
Next, the Council elected 11 new members to fill an equal number of vacancies on the Commission on the Status of Women for four-year terms beginning at the first meeting of the Commission's fifty-sixth session in 2011 and expiring at the close of its fifty-ninth session in 2015. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Zimbabwe were elected from the Group of African States; Iran and Thailand were elected from the Group of Asian States; Estonia and Georgia were elected from the Group of Eastern European States; Jamaica was elected from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States; and Belgium, Netherlands and Spain were elected from the Group of Western European and Other States.
Posted by: ss at April 29, 2014 11:43 AM
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