New York, Dec 15, (dpa/GNA) – A United Nations body has decided to exclude Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which is tasked with strengthening the position of women and girls in society, following the country’s brutal crackdown on protests in recent months, sparked by the death of a young woman.
The Economic and Social Council of the UN in New York, voted on Wednesday with 29 votes of its 54 member states in favour of a resolution, put forward by the United States. Russia and China, among others, voted against the resolution.
The Commission, with its 45 members elected for several years, is supposed to strengthen gender equality and the role of women.
The Economic and Social Council on Wednesday, also expressed deep concern over the actions of Iran “since September 2022, 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.”
In Iran, people have been protesting against the country’s political elite and system, since mid-September.
The anti-government protests were triggered by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, on September 16. She died in police custody just days after being arrested, for violating strict Islamic dress codes.
GNA