Iran was expelled from the U.N.’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Wednesday over policies contrary to the rights of women and girls.
The move was proposed by the United States following the death of Masa Amini, the 22-year-old woman killed by Iran’s “morality police,” and adopted by the 54-member U.N. Economic and Social Council.
The Iranian regime has begun executing protesters as unrest continues to brew over Amini’s death. Protests have been ongoing since mid-September.
The first protester to be executed was 23-year-old Mohsen Shekari. He was executed on Dec. 8. Four days after his death, 23-year-old Majidreza Rahnavard was executed by hanging, following a secret trial in Iran’s Revolutionary Court.
Majidreza Rahnavard was executed less than a month after he was alleged to have fatally stabbed two members of a paramilitary force. He purportedly carried out the attack after becoming angry about the country’s security forces killing protesters.
Iran’s state TV also released a report, alleging Rahnavard’s intended escape to another country before his arrest but offered no motive for the attack.
A further 12 people have been sentenced to death in relation to the protests. This was confirmed by Iranian authorities while human rights groups discovered that another 12 are under indictment, with charges that also carry the death penalty in Iran. According to deathpenalty.org “the charges violate core principles of international human rights law that limit the death penalty to the ‘most serious crimes,’ and prohibit it for non-lethal offenses.”
Nearly 500 people have been killed since protests first ensued in mid-September. The group Human Rights Activists in Iran has been closely monitoring the protests, which have seen a further 18,200 people arrested by authorities, according to Time.
