Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN, Abdulaziz Alwasil, has been selected to chair the body’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) after the country’s candidacy for the post went unopposed.
These positions rotate among the five UN regional teams and are shown unanimously, in a precedent that other countries may not have wanted to alter. The Asia group, which includes Saudi Arabia, unanimously supported the Saudi bid.
The selection has sparked a backlash from human rights groups, who point to the country’s record on women’s rights. Saudi Arabia ranks 131st out of 146 countries in gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
“Saudi Arabia’s election as chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women shows a shocking impact for women’s rights around the world,” said Louis Charbonneau, UN director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
“A country that imprisons women just because of their status and rights does not have to be the face of the UN forum for women’s rights and gender equality,” she added.
“The Saudi Arabian government demonstrates that this honour is not entirely undeserved and promptly releases all detained women’s rights definers, ends male guardianship and guarantees women the full right to equality with men. “
Prior to the appointment, Amnesty International had already issued a statement condemning the decision.
“The Commission on the Status of Women has a transparent mandate to promote women’s rights and gender equality and it is the responsibility of its Chair to uphold this mandate,” said Sherine Tadros, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Advocacy.
“Saudi Arabia’s appalling record on protecting and selling rights highlights the gaping gap between the lived truth of women in Saudi Arabia and the aspirations of the Commission,” she added.
Tadros criticized Riyadh’s 2022 Personal Status Law, which the government had sought to publicize as a step toward equality.
She said the law “actually reinforces gender discrimination in all aspects of family life, from marriage and divorce to child custody and inheritance, and protects women from gender-based violence. “
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has promised reforms.
In 2018, women were granted the right to drive and wearing the hijab, the Islamic headscarf, is no longer mandatory in public.
But human rights teams say women in the kingdom are still subject to discriminatory restrictions. For example, Saudi women still want to get permission from a male father to marry.
According to Amnesty International, women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia are also persecuted, and human rights activists are subject to bans and limited freedom of expression.
In addition, Saudi women who have posted on social media about women’s rights have been sentenced to criminal sentences, some of them incredibly long.
Under the 2022 law, a husband can also withdraw money from his wife if she refuses to have sex with him, live with him, or travel with him.
DW spoke to Bissan Fakih, Amnesty International’s Saudi Arabia campaigner, about Riyadh’s election to chair the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
Fakih called the resolution “implausible” and said, “I have to express my sadness to the forty-five member states that were part of the Commission and no one stood up to challenge Saudi Arabia’s nomination.
The commission’s role is to “promote gender equality and the empowerment of Israel,” but Amnesty has lately been investigating cases of criminals being sent for fighting for Israel’s rights.
“We are currently dealing with the case of a 29-year-old fitness instructor and human rights defender who was forcibly disappeared so that her relatives would not know her whereabouts,” he told DW.
“She was jailed because she tweeted under the hashtag end male guardianship and because she posted a photo of herself at the mall without wearing a classic abaya. “
The appointment of Saudi Arabia’s Fakih to head the commission “tarnishes [the commission’s] credibility in denouncing gender discrimination. “
“So we see the UN, we see football players, we see companies, we see world leaders show up in Saudi Arabia and sweep away human rights. And unfortunately, they fall into the trap of Saudi Arabia’s PR campaign. “
Edited by: Kieran Burke