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On which ground Bangladesh voted in favor of Iran
Md. Touhid Hossain
Published: 11 April 2023, 03:30
The country's women's society is the most affected by Iran's retreatPhoto: Reuters
On April 4, 2023, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a draft resolution on the existing human rights situation in Iran. 23 votes were cast in favor of this proposal, originally brought by some European countries. 8 against and 16 countries abstained.
Bangladesh voted against that proposal. Along with Bangladesh, the other countries that voted against the resolution and in favor of Iran were Bolivia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Vietnam. This list gives a very clear glimpse of which club Bangladesh has joined on the issue of human rights. Among the countries that abstained from voting were India, Malaysia, South Africa.
Bangladeshi people have some sympathy towards Iran. We were university students during the 1979 Islamic revolution. Even among left-wing students, some support for the Iranian Revolution was visible in the fall of the far-right and oppressive Reza Shah.
The true nature of post-revolutionary Iran was revealed by Khomeini's subsequent dismissal of elected President Abul Hassan Banisadr, his escape from the country for his life, and the execution of Foreign Minister Sadeq Qutbzadeh.
At one stage, the most talked about character became Ayatollah Sadek Khalkhali, who went around the country executing wholesale executions of dissenters. Whatever happens in any theocratic state system, the women's society is the most affected in this retreat of Iran. This week's priority of the country, which is immersed in mountain problems, is to install CCTV cameras in all places where people gather to monitor whether the girls follow the hijab law properly or not!
The situation in Iran has long been a matter of concern to the Human Rights Council. In the recent past, the Human Rights Council passed Resolution S35/1 on 24 November 2022. Titled The Deteriorating Human Rights Situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Especially Regarding Women and Children. The resolution decided to establish an independent fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations, particularly those of women and children, in the wake of the protests that began in Iran on September 16, 2022; Collection, storage and review of relevant information and communication with all relevant stakeholders including the Iranian government, civil society and various organizations of the United Nations.
The resolution was adopted by a vote of 25-6—with 16 abstentions (Bangladesh was not a member of the Human Rights Council at the time). On December 20, 2022, the President of the Human Rights Council appointed a three-member fact-finding mission headed by Sara Hossain of Bangladesh. Two other members of the mission were appointed Shaheen Sardar Ali of Pakistan and Viviana Christicevic of Argentina. The Mission is requested to provide an oral update between June-July 2023 and a final report to the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in March 2024.
Bangladesh generally does not take sides on country-specific issues. But it is not mandatory. A vote in favor of Iran can be said to be a violation of this policy. But this has happened before at various times. The Human Rights Council passed Resolution No. A/HRC/47/L.11 (A/HRC/47/L.11) on 12 July 2021 entitled 'Human Rights of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar'.
The resolution strongly condemned the serious human rights violations of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar. Myanmar is urged to take necessary steps to resolve the situation and repatriate the Rohingyas. The country specific proposal was adopted unanimously without a vote.
But if there was a vote on the motion, or if such a motion came up for a vote tomorrow, Bangladesh would surely have voted in favor of the motion. In the United Nations General Assembly, the country specific resolution regarding the human rights of the Rohingya of Myanmar has been received and voted several times. As expected, Bangladesh voted in favor of the resolution (eg, draft resolution A/C.3/75/L.34, dated 18 November 2020, A/C.3/74/L.29, dated 14 November 2019, A/C.3 /73/L.51, dated 16 November 2018 etc.).
Indeed, foreign policy is not a static matter. Only one thing is permanent and unchanging. And that is national interest. That is, in the final judgment, foreign policy decisions will be made in terms of national interest.
Let's see how much this vote of ours is protecting our national interest regarding Iran .
Iran is our friend under the motto 'friendship with all, enmity with none'. There are also historical and cultural links. However, there is not much real content in the existing relationship between Bangladesh and the country. There was a time when several doctors worked in Iran, but that is now a thing of the past. The volume of trade is also limited. Mutual understanding of international organizations is not always smooth. It took a lot of hard work to get the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran to take a unanimous decision on behalf of the Rohingya Muslims in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
On the other hand, we have huge interests in the West. Almost all of our export products are destined for Europe and America. The West is also an important source of investment and remittances. Almost complete support for the Rohingya issue also comes from the West. Our vote for Iran will undoubtedly cause them displeasure.
Our ambassadors working in Europe will also face quite the irony, it can be assumed. Many in our country criticize the biased dualism of the West on human rights issues. Their observations may be correct, but we do not have the capacity or competence to judge and evaluate the performance of Western countries. Bangladesh should take decisions on international issues based on its interests and not on anything else.
Bangladesh's vote in favor of Iran on April 4, 2023 in the Human Rights Council cannot be considered favorable to Bangladesh's national interest. As such, this decision was unnecessary and wrong. No logical reason can be found why we did not abstain from voting like India or Malaysia.
- Md. Touhid Hossain is the former Foreign Secretary
