UN Votes Out Iran From Women's Rights Body Over Crackdown on Protests

The UN has removed Iran from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women over the government's crackdown on anti-hijab protesters.

Iranian women gather during a protest outside the United Nations mission headquarters as they chant slogans in support of women's rights ahead of the voting to oust Iran from the UN Commission on the Status of Women on December 13 in Tehran. ( Image Source :Getty Images )

The United Nations on Wednesday removed Iran from a women's rights body over the country’s crackdown on women-led protests. 

According to news agency AFP, 29 members of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to expel the Islamic republic from the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW). 

At the vote, eight nations voted against the decision while 16, including India, abstained. A simple majority was needed to adopt the resolution to expel Iran. The resolution was proposed by the United States.

Iran has been facing nationwide protests after a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody for not wearing her headscarf properly. People are protesting to express their rage over decades of oppression, misogyny in the name of religion, and international isolation.

"Today, in a historic vote, UN acted to remove Iran from Commission on the Status of Women in response to the Iranian regime’s systemic repression of women and girls. This vote is another sign of growing international consensus on Iran and demands for accountability," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.

"The US is working with our allies and partners around the world to hold Iran accountable for abuses it's committing against its own people, notably peaceful protesters, women and girls, and the violence it is enabling against Ukrainian people as well as its destabilizing actions in Middle East," he added.

Iran on Monday carried out the execution of a second prisoner detained and convicted amid nationwide protests opposing the country’s theocracy. Iran claimed the footage aired on state television showed him stabbing two guards to death and running away.

Courts in Iran have awarded jail terms to over 400 people for up to 10 years on charges related to the protests. Judiciary chief for Tehran province Ali Alghasi-Mehr informed that the judges had handed down the rulings to ‘rioters’, a term officials use for all demonstrators who defy its hardline theocratic rule.

 UN human rights experts stated that more than 14,000 people are held across the country since the protest began in mid-September. The UN office of the high commissioner for human rights has said more than 300 people have been killed in the crackdown, including at least 40 children. Iranian authorities executed two men earlier for their alleged role in the months-long protests. Nine more people are sitting on death row.