The death of the “twitter revolution” and the struggle over internet narratives
March 17, 2011
As Strong as Our Signal
March 24, 2011
The UN Human Rights Council has appointed a Special Rapporteur for Iran. There were 22 votes in favor, 7 against, and 14 abstentions.
During discussions concerning the measure, Pakistan stated their opposition to country specific resolutions, stating that the Universal Periodic Review should be the mechanism that determined actions concerning specific countries.
Cuba also criticised the initiative, which they insisted was politically motivated.
The representative of Uruguay expressed concern about the human rights situation in Iran and, in particular, the practice of stoning and the use of the death penalty. Despite this, there were unsure of whether or not the Special Rapporteur was the best way forward and abstained from voting.
Brazil expressed support for the resolution and called for a worldwide moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
The results of the vote on the resolution to appoint a Special Rapporteur for Iran were as follows:
Yes: 22
No: 7 (Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Pakistan, Russia)
Abstain: 14 (Bahrain, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Jordan, Malaysia, Mauritaioa, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Uganda, Uruguay)
No Vote: 4 (Angola, Kyrgytzan, Libya, Qatar)
The Special Rapporteur will be appointed in June at the 17th Session of the Human Rights Council and will present a report at its 19th session (March 2012).
Read about the vote in Persian here: http://persian.iranhumanrights.org/1390/01/hrc_geneva_24_march/
