The forum takes place Thursday and Friday in Switzerland. And Iran’s presidency on a theme linked to human rights arouses indignation in France.
This is not a joke, nor a title from the parody site Le Gorafi. This social forum of the Human Rights Council is being held on November 2 and 3 in Geneva, under Iranian presidency. The information sparked numerous reactions in France. “Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction,” is outraged, for example, by Licra, the League against racism and anti-Semitism.
The death penalty is still applied in Iran – more than 500 executions last year, according to the NGO Amnesty International, not to mention the repression of the feminist movement Woman, Life, Liberty and the imprisonment of human rights activist Narges Mohammadi , Nobel Peace Prize 2023. “The UN must not be used to legitimize repressive regimes”castigates Macronist MEP Irène Tolleret. “It’s totally incredible!”
So here is a social forum that is making a lot of noise, even before it has started. But what is it exactly? This is the right question, which allows us to put this matter in its proper perspective.
A forum without decision-making power
This is not the Human Rights Council itself, a UN body which is chaired by the Czech Republic. The social forum is an annual two-day meeting, without any decision-making power. A discussion space that brings together States, NGOs and businesses on a theme. This year, it’s water management for human rights and sustainable development. Let us add that there are around thirty forums, working groups or committees within the Human Rights Council. An advice that Iran has not taken up, contrary to what we can read on social networks.
Nonetheless, the symbol is unfortunate. Just like in 2017, when Saudi Arabia joined the United Nations Women’s Rights Council, under strong protests from NGOs. So how is this possible? Each organ of the United Nations “must bring together countries from all continents”, explains Guillaume Devin, specialist in international institutions at Sciences Po. Or, “it is these continents, these regions of the world, which choose their candidate, on a rotating basis”. A form of negotiated rotation. So, over the years, all states end up being represented. Twenty years ago, another country with little regard for human rights chaired the UN commission: Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya.