During the Annual Full-day Meeting on Women's Human Rights held last week at the Human Rights Council, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and member states expressed their opposition to the idea of setting up a new Special Rapporteur who would monitor laws that discriminate against women. According to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the establishment of this new mechanism has been under consideration since 2005 and is supported by both the Secretary-General and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Active OIC opposition - common on all human rights fronts at the UN - introduces a major impediment to realizing this idea for the better protection of women's rights.

Pakistan, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), "disagreed" with the proposal because "The solitary focus of this mandate would lead to more polemics that surround contemporary discussions on issues such as universality versus respect of cultural, legal and religious diversities. It would also lead to further polarization in the system as it may be perceived as against certain regional and religious groups…The OIC believes that the international community needs to be afforded ample time and opportunity with full respect to cultural diversity and better coordination of existing standards to graduate to universally-agreed standards."

Egypt "did not favor" this idea..."It will lead to unnecessary duplication and waste of resources…No single individual would be able to follow laws on all countries and have knowledge of different legal systems in the various parts of the world, let alone apply common yardstick to evaluate them…This might lead to polarization and politicization because some groups might feel specially targeted."

Algeria argued that "We shouldn't lose sight of the importance of taking into account national and regional special characteristics and historical and religious diversity...[W]e must insure there is no proliferation of mechanisms on the subject."

At the end of the debate, Iran suggested a "remedy" for violence against women:"National and regional particularities as well as various cultural historical and cultural background should be taken into account in an appropriate manner…I would like to…emphasize the role of chastity on strengthening crime prevention to eliminate violence against women and girl children…"

Why the opposition to close monitoring of laws that discriminate against women:

In Pakistan rape is frequent, prosecutions are rare and there is no specific legislation prohibiting domestic violence.

In Egypt spousal rape is not illegal and the law does not prohibit domestic violence or spousal abuse. The law requires any kind of assault victim to produce multiple eyewitnesses, a difficult condition for a domestic abuse victim to meet. The law does not specifically address honor crimes.

In Algeria spousal rape is not illegal and the penal code [which is applicable in domestic violence cases] states that a person must be incapacitated for 15 days or more and present a doctor's note certifying the injuries before filing charges for battery.

In Iran the constitution bars women from becoming president or serving as supreme leader or as certain types of judges. Adultery is a capital offense punishable by stoning. Spousal rape is not illegal and domestic violence is not specifically prohibited by law.

Source: Eye on the UN