Activities of Iranian Resistance's Women in Beijing

On the fifth day of the formal U.N. conference in Beijing, the delegation of Iranian Resistance's women met with more United Nations officials and government representatives, urging them to firmly defend equal rights for women and reject the conspiracies of Iran's ruling clerical regime to impose its fundamentalist views on the Platform for Action to be ratified by the Fourth World Conference in Beijing.

Mrs. Maryam Matin-Daftary, chair of the NCR Committee on the Rights and Freedoms of Women and head of the Iranian Resistance's delegation to the World Conference, met with the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women. Mrs. Matin-Daftary presented the Iranian Resistance's proposals for the Platform for Action. The U.N. Special Rapporteur emphasized that she will put up a firm defense of the universality of human rights as well as equal rights for men and women.

The Platform for Action will be the most important achievement of the FWCW in Beijing and 16 women NGOs supporting the National Council of Resistance of Iran have presented a 34 article platform, offering specific solutions for countering fundamentalism and suppression of women under the name of religion. It was presented to the World Conference by the Iranian Resistance delegation.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights also had a meeting with Mrs. Soona Samsami from the Iranian Resistance's delegation. While endorsing the Iranian Resistance's viewpoints, the High Commissioner for Human Rights reiterated that the issue of equality between women and men and the universality of human rights are not subjects of compromise, but a matter of common concern.

In another development at one of the U.N. workshops following up on the strategy from Vienna to Beijing, the UN special representatives and rapporteurs emphasized the importance of defending women's rights and its indivisibility from human rights. Referring to the legalization of the Khomeini regime's violation of women's rights, the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, said she had reported on rights abuses of women in Iran. Since themullahs' regime is not a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination and the U.N. can only expose the relevant matters on Iran.

NCR Committee on the Rights and Freedom of Women - Beijing September 10, 1995


Back Home