Safe World for Women
We have no hesitation in supporting the One Million Voices for Iran Campaign.
As a women’s rights organisation, the atrocities carried out by the Iranian Regime are of utmost concern to us.
We are astounded, time and again, at the apparent powerlessness of the United Nations, at the ineffectiveness of the countless UN Resolutions, and at the silence of governments.
Iran is a founding member of the United Nations and is a signatory to many international covenants.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted on the 10th December, 1948 by 48 Member States, including Iran.
Iran was one of the first countries to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in 1975, before it came into force in 1976.
Iran has also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Iranian Regime repeatedly contravenes articles 3, 5, 8, 10, 18 and 21 of the Declaration of Human Rights.
It is contravening articles 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17, 21, 22 and 25 of the ICCPR.
According to Amnesty International, the Iranian Regime is continuing to carry out execution of juvenile offenders, in contravention of the Rights of the Child.
It is also in contravention of numerous articles in the UN Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners.
The fact that Iran was elected onto the UN Commission on the Status of Women, back in April, is beyond belief. We now read that Iran is ‘close to gaining a seat’ on a new United Nations agency, ‘UN Women’, which aims to promote equality for women!
In 2003, during a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of women, the delegate from Iran objected to the inclusion of a paragraph in the Declaration for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which calls on governments to ‘condemn violence against women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition, or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination’.
The United Nations is made up of nations, of governments. Governments which, according to the Declaration of Human Rights, are there to represent the people: ‘The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government’.
The apparent inability, or unwillingness, of governments to tackle the atrocities carried out by member states brings into question the purpose of the United Nations and the time and money spent on drawing up resolutions.
It is disheartening that it takes a public outcry before governments will take effective action to ensure that member states enforce the resolutions. In addition, governments need to each take a close look at their own human rights records.
In the sincere hope that a united voice from the people will help to unite nations and end human rights abuses, we wholeheartedly support One Million Voices for Iran.
Chris Crowstaff & Fer Amaral
Trustees
Safe World for Women Campaign
Healing the Green Soul
As a therapist who specializes in the treatment of survivors of trauma, I hold a hope one day my services will not be needed because no one has to endure abuse or torture. One of the ways I work to achieve this goal is to speak for those whose voices are not heard. Please join me in supporting the One Million Voices for Iran Campaign to speak for the brave people who have survived the grievous human rights abuses inflicted by the Iranian Regime and bring an end to the oppression of the courageous people of Iran.
- Julianne Davis, creator of Healing the Green Soul, an English-and-Persian-language handbook for supporting victims of violent trauma.
Voices on Video
They Need Your Voice
Video from wonderful campaign supporters
One Million Voices – “Shiny Things” – jadt65
Million Voices Campaign – greenthumbnails
