"This treaty deals with the most basic rights for women and girls, including access to basic medical care, legal redress against violence, and access to education," says Sarah Albert, co-chair of the Working Group for Ratification of Cedaw.
The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women is meeting until 10 August at UN headquarters in New York to review reports on the situation of women in 15 of the 185 countries that are party to the convention.
Under Iran's previous president, Mohammad Khatami, the parliament passed a bill in favour of joining Cedaw.
But it was vetoed by Iran's powerful Guardian Council, an appointed body of six clerics and six jurists. The Council stated that the bill contradicted Islamic principles.
Of course, the US does not have a Guardian Council but its system of checks and balances can lead to long delays in implementing policy.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/6922749.stm
Published: 2007/07/31 09:35:11 GMT
[Proofreader's note: this article was edited for spelling and typos on August 3, 2007]
Note: http://news.bbc.co.uk/g...
Women's Bill 'unites' Iran And US
Posted on Thursday, August 02 at 10:25 by jensonjContributed By
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From the article:
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"The opposition to the treaty is small but very vocal. It surrounds the issue of sovereignty. Opponents have argued that the US Constitution would be usurped if we were to ratify it," says Ms Albert.
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In this case, I have to admire the USA and 'Evil' Iran for its backbone and adherence to principle.
Vive is arguing that Canada should be a sovereign country that is free to make up its own laws that suit its own needs. International treaties bind us to the whims of the treaty rather than to the whims of those who live actually in Canada.
We want NAFTA torn up, but why? No matter if you think NAFTA is "good" or "bad" (highly subjective concepts), what ultimately matters is that NAFTA is a binding treaty, and that is *the* problem at its most basic level.
For example, Canada is bound to the NATO treaty, a treaty that not so long ago in history seemed like a great idea, but now look at what NATO is doing for us as we see our pimple faced kids fighting a murderous imperial war in Afghanistan.
Treaties, as they are currently being implemented, undermine democracy in favor of communitarism, but this does not need to be the case.
To the reader: For more insight on this subject, search Vive on keywords "communitarism" and "communitarian law".