Iran Press/America: The Friends of the United Nations Charter group was formed in 2021 with the aim of preserving, promoting, and defending the superiority and validity of the United Nations Charter with the participation of 19 countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Algeria, Angola, Belarus, Bolivia, Cambodia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Islamic Republic of Iran, Laos, Nicaragua, the State of Palestine, Russia, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines, Syria, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe are members of this group.
In a statement on Wednesday, the group described the move as a violation of the UN Charter.
The statement is as follows:
1. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has the honor to take the floor on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations. Mr. President,
2. Since its establishment over a year ago, our Group of Friends has consistently supported multilateralism and opposed unilateral actions of any kind, as they go against the interests of the international community and their key pillars, especially against the very tenets enshrined in the founding Charter of the United Nations.
3. Adherence to the principles that are considered the cornerstones of multilateralism, upon which the United Nations is based and which constitute the basis for modern-day international law, including inclusiveness, equality of States in membership and meaningful participation in all international fora, representation of all international bodies by all States equally, proportionately, and based on the geographical distribution of representatives from all regions of the world, is of utmost importance.
4. In this context, the arbitrary interpretation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, as well as of the relevant rules of procedures of its main bodies, not only fall short of upholding multilateralism, but also run the risk of undermining the system of international relations as a whole, while setting a rather dangerous precedent.
5. Furthermore, if political power prevails above the rule of law, especially within the UN system, including by forbidding Member States from exercising their basic right of membership, the already weakened international system would not only be significantly compromised but also disintegrate back into its initial condition as a result. We have a clear illustration of the League of Nations’ failing, which should concern each and every peace-loving nation.
6. We therefore believe that no provision for the termination of an ECOSOC member or member of any of its functional commissions which have been rightfully elected and backed by the endorsement of relevant regional geographical groups was intentionally included in the Rules of Procedure of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, which were written and agreed upon by Member States. Rule 140 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, on the “Elections to Principal Organs”, expressly only regarded the “ceasing” of membership in the Council by elected States and foresees that other subsequent steps should be taken if a member decides to terminate its membership of the Council before its term of office ends.
7. The Group considers that these kinds of measures are inappropriate and demeaning to politicize the work of the United Nations' technical committees, notably the ECOSOC, which deals mainly with development issues, based purely on allegations that neither this body has approved nor that are related to its mandate.
8. Additionally, the only criteria for membership in the functional commissions of the ECOSOC, according to Section V of Economic and Social Council resolution 557 C (XVIII) on Membership, are having “interest in serving the Commission” and “the widest possible expert knowledge and experience” by the Member States. The current efforts to introduce this resolution will undoubtedly create an unwelcome precedent that will prevent other Member States with different cultures, customs, and traditions, who are also interested in serving in the Commissions, from contributing to the activities of one of the ECOSOC’s Commissions, contrary to the relevant rules of procedure, as well as to the mandate of the ECOSOC and its functional Commissions, and in contradiction with the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter.
9. To conclude, the Group of Friends urges ECOSOC's Member States to refrain from setting a new precedent in the work of the Council that would unequivocally divert its professional function to political agendas and prevents an elected member from fully exercising its right of membership within one of its functional Commissions.
The resolution was discussed at the UN council following a request by the United States for terminating Iran’s membership in the commission under the pretext of supporting Iranian women and in line with anti-revolutionary groups.
A total of 29 member countries voted in favor of the resolution, and eight others voted against it, with 16 abstentions.
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani said on Wednesday that an “unlawful request” of the US government for termination of Iran’s membership in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) will undermine the rule of law at the UN system.
