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Iran’s possible election to a major United Nations (U.N.) committee with influence on the shaping of policy concerning human rights, women’s rights, and counterterrorism is “Orwellian,” the head of a U.N. watchdog group says.
In November, the U.N. General Assembly is slated to vote on whether to admit Iran to the Committee for Programme and Coordination, a 34-member body whose member states serve three-year terms. The upcoming vote is widely expected to pass as a formality.
The committee doesn’t draft human rights treaties or issue condemnations of human rights abuses, but plays an influential administrative role in how human rights initiatives are executed across the U.N. system.
The U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) nominated Iran in April despite Tehran’s documented history of systematic human rights abuses, strict crackdowns on women’s rights, mass surveillance and lethal force against political dissenters.
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Global bodies also consider Tehran a leading state sponsor of terrorism that funds proxy militant groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. In addition, Tehran has attacked neighboring Gulf states in recent months amid a war with the United States.
“It’s the last government in the world that should have any influence,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch, told Fox News Digital.
“Sadly, at the United Nations today — an organization founded after World War II out of great idealism to bring international peace — it is a case of the lunatics running the asylum,” Neuer added. “You have the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that beats, blinds, tortures, rapes, and imprisons women for standing up for their rights or showing a few strands of hair.”
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Iranian Permanent Mission to the U.N. for comment.
Iran’s appointment would not be unprecedented. The U.N. Human Rights Council’s 47 member states currently include nations with severely criticized human rights records, including China, Cuba, Pakistan and Eritrea.
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“The United Nations speaks out in the name of values and principles such as human rights, democracy, freedom, equality and women’s rights,” Neuer said. “The reality is that, sadly, at least half the U.N. is made up of dictatorships.”
Tehran continues to brutally suppress basic freedoms. In July, two men were publicly hanged for participating in nationwide anti-government demonstrations, while hundreds more remain jailed or killed for demanding regime change.
In addition, the U.N. has been accused of bias for heavily criticizing Israel’s military actions in Gaza, while often failing to pass formal resolutions or issue direct condemnations against Hamas.
According to Neuer, the most disappointing aspect of Iran’s potential committee appointment is the willingness of Western democracies to acquiesce.
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“The short answer is interests, cynicism, politics, dealmaking, and a culture of ‘go along to get along,'” Neuer said. “If you are the French, Canadian, or German ambassador, you don’t want to pick a fight with dozens of countries or trigger friction with Iran. They would rather simply avoid it.”
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