But the worst joke of all is the United Nations. Here is a headline from April: U.N. Elects Iran to Commission on Women’s Rights.
Without fanfare, the United Nations this week elected Iran to its Commission on the Status of Women….
Just days after Iran abandoned a high-profile bid for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, it began a covert campaign to claim a seat on the Commission on the Status of Women, which is “dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women,” according to its website.
Buried 2,000 words deep in a U.N. press release distributed Wednesday on the filling of “vacancies in subsidiary bodies,” was the stark announcement: Iran, along with representatives from 10 other nations, was “elected by acclamation,” meaning that no open vote was requested or required by any member states — including the United States.
Fast-forward three months, to today’s headline: Iran human rights chief defends stoning sentence.
Head of Human Rights Headquarters [!] of Iran’s Judiciary, Mohammad Javad Larijani slammed Western protests against stoning emphasizing that stoning exists in Iran’s constitution and it is “legal.”
He responded to the recent campaign in international media backed by Western politicians to stop the stoning sentence of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, saying that Iran’s judicial system will not change its direction because of “Western attacks” and “media pressures.”
As you have probably read, Ms. Ashtiani was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of adultery in an Islamic court. She confessed to adultery after receiving 99 lashes and has been imprisoned for the last five years. As a result of an international campaign inspired by her son, the mullahs have now said that she will not be stoned to death–a barbaric form of execution that would involve burying her up to her chest and having a crowd of volunteers pelt her with stones that, by Islamic law, are not big enough to kill her quickly.
The ultimate point, I think, is that opinions vary widely as to what “the status of women” should be. For the United Nations to appoint a committee that pretends to harmonize Western notions of dignity and equality with Iranian notions of subjection and sadism is a species of insanity.
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