Why did the UN let Iran chair a human-rights forum?

Spiked -Nov 9th2023

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held its annual Social Forum. Such events are usually just an opportunity for the global ambassador class to mingle with representatives from well-funded intergovernmental organisations and put the world to rights over champagne and fine dining. Normally, these lavish conferences pass with barely a mention in the media.

But this year’s Social Forum was noteworthy. The theme was using ‘science, technology and innovation [for] the promotion of human rights’. As usual, discussions were steered by a chair appointed by the Human Rights Council from candidates put forward by regional groups of UN member states. Back in May this year, the chair was announced as Ali Bahreini, the UN ambassador from Iran. Bahreini’s chairmanship of the Social Forum was then approved by the president of the UN Human Rights Council, Václav Bálek, from what was, apparently, a shortlist of one.

The idea of a global summit to discuss the promotion of human rights being led by a representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran – a country responsible for some of the worst human-rights abuses on the

But this year’s Social Forum was noteworthy. The theme was using ‘science, technology and innovation [for] the promotion of human rights’. As usual, discussions were steered by a chair appointed by the Human Rights Council from candidates put forward by regional groups of UN member states. Back in May this year, the chair was announced as Ali Bahreini, the UN ambassador from Iran. Bahreini’s chairmanship of the Social Forum was then approved by the president of the UN Human Rights Council, Václav Bálek, from what was, apparently, a shortlist of one.planet – truly beggars belief. Bahreini presumably has the official blessing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei – a head of state who oversees a regime of deadly brutality against its own citizens.

Bahreini’s appointment must have seemed like an especially sick joke to the friends and relatives of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in police custody last year. Amini’s crime had been to show her hair in public. In Iran, this is a punishable offence. Women must wear the hijab outside of the home and make sure their arms and legs are covered by loose-fitting clothing.

Since Amini’s death, brave Iranian citizens have repeatedly challenged the regime’s so-called morality police and their enforcement of strict Islamic dress codes, despite protests often being violently squashed. Tragically, last month, Iran mourned the death of another young woman – 17-year-old Armita Geravand, who died after an altercation with the police on the Tehran metro left her in a month-long coma.

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https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/11/08/why-did-the-un-let-iran-chair-a-human-rights-forum/