New York, Apr 18 (Just News): Today, the UN voted to overturn the denial of access to two U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that work on human rights.
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center works to establish a comprehensive and objective historical record of the human rights situation in Iran, and the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea is a leading organization in the field of human rights research and advocacy on North Korea.
In February, the UN’s 19-member NGO Committee voted against granting consultative status to the organizations, and following extensive efforts by the United States and Canada, those votes were overturned by the UN’s 54-member Economic and Social Council.
Today’s votes follow yesterday’s election results where the Economic and Social Council members voted to remove Iran and Venezuela from membership on the NGO Committee.
“These votes are wins for human rights. For far too long, the NGO Committee has been overrun by serial human rights abusers that ruin the UN’s credibility on human rights. Voting Iran and Venezuela off the Committee was a positive step, but more needs to be done. Countries with abysmal human rights records should never be allowed to police NGO access, and credible NGOs should never be blocked from participating at the UN, especially when their work sheds light on some of the world’s worst human rights abuses,” said Ambassador Haley.
(Justnews/ys/2340hr)
