UN Watch Slams Iran's Bid for 34-Member UN Committee as November Vote Nears

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 14

November's U.N. General Assembly vote could place Iran on the 34-member Committee for Programme and Coordination, a three-year post UN Watch says would give Tehran sway over how human rights and women's rights initiatives are carried out.
April's nomination by the U.N. Economic and Social Council is widely expected to be approved as a formality, even though the committee is administrative rather than a treaty-writing or enforcement body.
UN Watch's Hillel Neuer called the prospect "Orwellian," citing Iran's record of crushing dissent, restricting women, using lethal force against protesters and publicly hanging two men in July after anti-government demonstrations.
The criticism also targets the U.N. system more broadly: countries with poor rights records already sit on major U.N. bodies, and Neuer said Western democracies often avoid confronting such nominations for political convenience.