UN Watch Briefing
Latest from the United Nations

UN WATCH ELICITS GLOBAL MEDIA COVERAGE:

• Le Figaro (France): Iran elected to the UN Commission on the Status of Women

“'Iran’s persecution of women is blatant and systematic, both in law and in practice. The UN Secretary-General himself has pointed out the ‘persistent discrimination against women and girls’ in Iran,' protested Hillel Neuer, lawyer, human rights activist and head of UN Watch, a non-governmental organization based in Geneva.

• Voice of America (United States): Iran’s Election to UN Women’s Body Draws Outrage From Rights Activists, US Silence

"Hillel Neuer, the executive director of the Geneva-based group UN Watch, said in an online statement that while ECOSOC typically rubber-stamps regional groups’ nominations for the Commission on the Status of Women, the US exercised its authority as an ECOSOC member to call for a vote. 'I commend the Biden administration for forcing the vote, but they should also speak out to condemn the obscene election of [Iranian Supreme Leader] Ayatollah Khamenei’s regime to a women’s rights body,' Neuer said."

• Daily Mail (United Kingdom): Outrage as Iran is selected to sit on UN women’s rights panel despite laws banning female sports, making the hijab compulsory and forcing married women to get their husband’s permission to leave the country

"Hillel Neuer, director of the Geneva-based group UN Watch, tweeted: 'No joke: UN elects Iranian regime to top women’s rights body. Electing Ayatollah Khamenei’s Islamic Republic of Iran to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief. This is a black day for women’s rights, and for all human rights. Iran’s persecution of women is gross and systematic, both in law and in practice. Iran’s fundamentalist mullahs force women to cover their hair, with many arrested and attacked daily under the misogynistic hijab law. They require a woman to receive permission from her father to get married.'"

• Bild (Germany): Women's rights body accepts Iran

"According to the UN-critical non-governmental organization UN Watch, at least four of the following 15 western democracies must have voted for Iran: Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, France, Latvia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, the United States and Portugal. According to UN Watch chief Hillel Neuer, the election of Iran to the women's rights commission is like making an arsonist into the fire chief. He suspects that backroom political deals led to this maddening election."

• Telegraaf (Netherlands): Fury over Iran joining UN Commission on Women's Rights: "As if proclaiming a pyromaniac as a firefighter"; Foreign Ministry remains silent about voting behavior in the Netherlands

"UN watchdog UN Watch is also angry and calls on European member states and the United States to condemn the election of Iran. 'Like proclaiming a pyromaniac as a firefighter,' said UN Watch head Hillel Neuer. 'Absurd and morally reprehensible.' He calls Iran's accession 'a black day for women's rights and human rights in general.'"

Click here to see more media coverage.

PARLIAMENTARIANS & MEDIA DEMAND ANSWERS: The UN vote was by secret ballot. But thanks to UN Watch, angry opposition MPs pressed their governments to come clean on how they voted.

• Canada: Foreign minister Marc Garneau twice refused to say a word of condemnation of Iran’s election, saying: "Of course, we recognize that the UN, including the Women's Rights Commission is not perfect, but let me be clear - our strong position on the human rights situation in Iran, including women, has been expressed repeatedly both in public and in private and we will continue to do so." When pressed again, he stated: "Votes at the United Nations on these kinds of appointments are done by secret ballot." Click here to see more reactions from Canadian politicians.

• UK: The issue was raised in Parliament by MPs Nus Ghani and Laura Farris, who called on the government to object to Iran’s election, while Tom Tugendhat, Chair of the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, retweeted UN Watch.

• Norway: In a tense exchange, Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide repeatedly refused to state whether Norway voted in favor of Iran’s candidacy to the UN’s top women’s rights commission, saying: "Norway does not state its vote—in line with rules of procedure in the UN." But, she added, "It is undoubtedly the case that Iran has significant challenges when it comes to human rights." Click here for the full video and transcript of the exchange.

• Germany: The newspaper Bild asked its foreign ministry whether Germany was one of the countries that voted for Iran. The question remained unanswered.
 

• France: Le Point foreign editor Luc de Barochez tweeted that the UN was “making a fool of itself” and asked the French government which way it voted.
 

• Switzerland: Federal parliamentarian Marianne Binder-Keller referred to Iran as “misogynist” and asked whether Switzerland had voted for, against, or had abstained in the vote.

• USA: Several lawmakers condemned Iran’s election. Senator Marsha Blackburn called it “an insult to nations like the US, who have worked to support women across the globe.”

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price repeatedly refused to directly condemn Iran’s election, during yesterday's press briefing. Click here for the full video and transcript.

HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS AND ACTIVISTS: UN Watch's revelation that Iran had been elected to the UN's women's committee prompted a fierce backlash from Iranian activists, including the Association of Iranian Women in France, women's rights activists Masih Alinejad, UN Watch 2020 Gala Award recipient Shaparak Shajarizadeh, and French-Persian novelist Chahdortt Djavann.

UN Watch's material was also shared on social media by Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz, Stockholm Free World Forum chairman Gunnar Hokmark, the Human Rights Foundation, former prisoner of Iran Kylie Moore-Gilbert, UK Muslims Against Anti-Semitism chairman Ghanem Nuseibeh, and human rights activists Dashni Morad and Farahnaz Ispahani.

INFLUENCERS: Major influencers who shared UN Watch's outrage at Iran's election on social media included former UN Security Council president Diego Arria, BBC Persian journalist Reihaneh Mazaheri, CNN & Washington Post columnist Frida Ghitis, Nikki Haley's Stand For America, UK House of Lords member Lady Karren Brady, Iranian journalists Nazenin Ansari & Saman Arbabi, Iranian-American author Dr. Nina Ansari, British Olympic swimming medalist Sharron Davies, Brazilian Olympic volleyball medalist Ana Paula Henkel and Canadian football player Jeff Hecht.