Amnesty International's Work on Gender Justice

0:00It's the Brian Lairishow on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. We are joined now by Anyas Kalamar, Secretary-General of Amnesty International. This week, in New York, an Amnesty International delegation led by our guest is calling for robust efforts to protect and advance the rights of women and girls at the 70th session of the commission on the status of women. This is called CSW-70 because of that. The delegation is pressing for more access to justice for survivors of gender-based violence, meaningful accountability for perpetrators, protection of sexual and reproductive rights, and stronger safeguards for women, human rights defenders. If you're thinking Epstein here, if you're thinking Iran here, we will touch on both of those things, but also more. Anyas Kalamar

1:06is here now to preview the 70th session of the commission on the status of women, and to talk about what Amnesty International in particular is trying to do to advance the rights of women and girls worldwide, including in Iran, Afghanistan, Gaza, China, and more, and yes, the United States. And yes, welcome to WNYC. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for having me. You know, I actually want to begin with a clip that we played earlier in the show in another context in which, as it turns out, your name got mentioned by the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, NARGUS Mohamedi, for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran, and her fight generally to promote human rights and freedom in that country. As some of our listeners know, she has spent most of the past two decades in prison in Tehran's notorious even prison, and I'm going to play a clip of NARGUS Mohamed from 2024 when she was out of prison for

2:10a short time. And listeners, you'll hear that she thanks our guest by name in this clip. I want to express my deepest gratitude to every Amnesty officer across all countries, especially Amnesty Iran, and most of all to you, Ms. Agnes Colomar, I have to say for your relentless efforts, your work on Iran, on my case, on cases of other Iranian activists, and Iranian political prisoners on executions in Iran, and on ending gender apartheid has brought so much hope to me and others, and my friends in prison. NARGUS Mohamedi, the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, I presume you've heard that clip before. Of course, and I was in line with her. We were having a conversation. This was one of the rare moments

3:15where she was out of prison. As you know, she was brought back in an arbitrary fashion, re-retain in December of 2025. And our guest from earlier in the show, Christian Amnepur, reported last month that Mohamedi has been subjected to beatings and, quote, life-threatening mistreatment by Iranian authorities during her latest arrest and detention, and the Nobel Committee itself complained about that. What can you do at Amnesty International, being on the side of right, but to actually put pressure on the Iranian government, in this case, to a spare her life, be treated decently, see, release her. Well, you know, I mean, it is definitely one of the largest biggest challenges, because the Iranian authorities have shown complete disregard for international justice, international pressure.

4:22However, in the case of NARGUS Mohamedi, I think the public scrutiny, the interest that she generates, the publicity that the Nobel Prize has given her, or a shield. They are shielding her to a certain extent against the words that could be done against her, and we need to leverage that, you know, that public profile that she has. And that's what we do. We do that when we engage with the authorities, but we also do that when we engage with other government. But I'm not going to lie. I mean, the international context makes it extremely difficult to ensure protection of people like NARGUS and of the others who may be less well-known, but who are also on the

5:25front line of fighting for women's rights and human rights in Iran. And it's probably thousands have been detained following the January protest, which may have been the worst possible forms of repression that we have recorded in Iran. And we have been monitoring the situation in Iran for years, for decades. But I don't think we've seen that level of repression and killings ever. I know Amnesty tries to stay out of explicit politics, but does what you were just describing and NARGUS's story and history make you want this war to end in a particular way, or for the Trump administration, to the extent that they have this choice, to continue to regime change, more or not? No. You know, I think that as a human rights organization, we are absolutely resisting

6:32the binary proposal that is being brought forward to us. It's not an option. Right now, it is civilians in Iran that are paying the highest price, both from the Iranian authorities and from Israel and the American bombings. It is not an option. You don't have to pick, to have to choose between being detained or killed by the police or being reduced to bombed by an American or Israeli plane. That is not an option. And both of them are in complete violation of international law. So that is our position. We are calling right now for an end to the attacks on civilians, and we are calling for diplomatic efforts to be multiplied so that people's lives are spared.

7:34Right now, it's civilians being the highest price. Let's make no mistake. And these are those on the front line of fighting for freedom. And you do not expect people that are being bombed to now raise and defend rights and freedom. It's just not possible. This nurse, we can take some comments for questions, calls or texts for Anis Kalamar, Secretary General of Amnesty International, who is in New York right now for CSW 70. That's the 70th session of the commission on the status of women. 212433 WNYC 212433 9692. And obviously it doesn't have to be around. There are so many countries who in their press release to us regarding her appearance here today and here in New York at this conference. So many countries that got mentioned explicitly in so many areas, Afghanistan,

8:37Burkina Faso, Gaza, China, Hungary. We'll talk about the United States, two, two, one, two, four, three, three, nine, six, nine, two. If you have a question for her, give us the big picture. And for people who don't know about CSW 70 or CSW at all, the commission on the status of women, what is it exactly that's taking place here in New York this weekend next? Okay, so CSW is a moment where governments come together to do a range of things, but the most important one is to insist on universal norm setting for the protection of women, for women's success to justice, for the fight against against violence against women. So it is a real important exercise in international commitment towards universal rights for women's. And it is

9:40particularly important right now because as you know, there is a systemic movement against women's rights by an anti-right movement that is extremely well organized, that is also well-funded and well coordinated. So CSW is coming at a critical moment. And I have to say it started with a big bang with a success story, which I think needs to be highlighted. Yesterday, the 47 members of the commission adopted a political statement on the status of women and on women's success to justice, which basically reiterated what had been established and adopted in previous years. And why is it a success? It is a success because the United States, with a number of other countries, tried to derail the adoption of that statement. They tried to weaken the statement,

10:46they tried to amend it and they failed. In fact, they failed. The United States failed to a very large extent. There was a vote yesterday around that political statement. There was one country that voted against it. It was the United States. And it is remarkable because we hear so much about the United States really, well, I will say bullying the rest of the world into walking their lines. Yesterday was a demonstration that when government come together, when they push back against fear or against appeasing the bullies, they succeed. And that's what happened yesterday. And it must be highlighted. We have a political statement, which is as good as it could be given the international context, which does not go back on previous commitment and which has completely isolated the United States attempt to derail the process. I do not even know that development

11:54from the last day. So I'm really glad you brought it up for our listeners. What to the best of your understanding was the reason that the United States tried to block the adoption of that position? Was it about abortion rights? What was it from the Trump administration that they were keying on? They were absolutely keen to eliminate all reference to sexual and reproductive rights, to gender rights, a reference to something called universal unilateral coercive measures, which is basically unilateral sanctions. So that's what anti-economic justice. These were for the United States red lines. They tried to enlist the support of other governments and they did get a couple of governments to support them, particularly on the issue of sexual and reproductive health. But when it came to the vote, those countries decided to abstain,

12:57so there were six of them, rather than to vote against the political statement. So they failed. They failed to bring other countries along. But I have to say the strongest appeal that they and that the United States put together wars around sexual and reproductive health. And this is for us a battleground. It has been a battleground for decades and it continues to be a battleground, even though the trends are towards stronger recognitions of sexual and reproductive health around the world. On that issue, the United States is an outlier. It's moving backward. Most countries are moving forward, which is toward the bigger, larger recognitions of women's bodily autonomy and right to choose. Well, we have to take a break. We're going to take a break when we come back. I want to ask you if the Jeffrey Epstein story plays in to your work for

14:05women's rights at Amnesty International in any way. We'll talk about some other countries as well and listeners with you two, one, two, four, three, three, WNYC call or text with Anyas Colomar, Secretary General of Amnesty International. Brian Lerr on WNYC as we continue with Anyas Colomar, Secretary General of Amnesty International in New York right now for CSW70. That's the 70th meeting of the Commission on the status of women to one, two, four, three, three, WNYC call or text if you want to ask her a question and Howard and Forest Hills. You're on WNYC with Anyas Colomar. Hello. Hello. I'm a former member of the board of the American affiliate of Amnesty International

15:08and I'm talking about in the 1980s. But I'm wondering at that time, I know that the German section of Amnesty wanted to bring in all sorts of other issues because they didn't have a civil liberties union and Amnesty said, no, we have to limit what we're doing. But it sounds like Amnesty, I know that Amnesty has expanded their concerns to, I don't know, how many more three or four other major issues. And I'm wondering because I have hardly heard Amnesty on the media for I think years. I'm wondering why has Amnesty spread its concerns so widely? Do you accept the premise, Amnesty? Well, I mean, in 1980s is a long time ago, it was a different world. If the question is regarding why are we working on women's rights, well, I mean, I think it's pretty self-evident. It's a half

16:11of the world population. The violation of women's rights is as hold as a humanity. Three as, you know, events around the world are demonstrating it remains one of the major battleground for universal rights for dignity. Women are in the forefront of victimization in norm conflict. They are at the forefront of victimization of repression in many states. So it is absolutely evident that a human rights organization have to engage and defend, protect, and transform women's human rights. I see that the commission on the status of women moving on to another issue has issued a statement about the Epstein files, which they say are exposing networks of powerful

17:18men for exploiting and abusing women and girls with impunity for decades. Now, obviously nobody's going to defend pedophilia and the kind of violent abuse that Jeffrey Epstein, you know, is now known to have widely victimized people with, but what's the commissions or what's amnesty's entry point into this issue to prevent further such things? Well, I think it's two or threefold. First, first of all, it is a global criminal network. So as any kind of global criminal network that with modern superrunda is massive abuses of people's rights and people's dignity, it is on the agenda of human rights organization. Second, it is not just any global criminal network. It is a criminal network of people involved

18:23in politics, involving finance, involving culture at the highest level. In other words, it means that the elite institutions of the world were implicated in the sexual exploitation and abuse of women's and girls. So that's the second reason why we need to be concerned about it is a deep corruption of politics. It is a deep corruption of democratic governance. It is a deep corruption of our society. And the third reason why we need to get involved is because of the impunity. It's because of the impunity. I mean, it's unbelievable that years, decades in the making, we still do not have true justice being delivered to the survivors. It is amazing that the

19:24survivors are confronting a kind of systemic silencing that is also allowing the perpetrators to largely keep it in power, as you know, very well in this country. So for all those reasons, you know, it touches to, in many ways, it is a symbol of why it is so difficult to combat violence against women and women's human rights violations and why it is so crucial that we keep demanding transparency on the release of the abstin files and the end of impunity. I see that Amnesty has criticized in various ways both Israel and Hamas in the context of October 7th and then the war in Gaza. Is that a topic that the Commission on the Status of Women will be

20:27taking up this week in any way? Yes, it is. I mean, the position of a woman in conflict or in the case of Gaza, what we believe to be at Amnesty or genocide, is top of the agenda for CSW. It concerns, of course, Palestinian women in Gaza. It concerns women in Sudan, women in Ukraine, women and girls as well in Iran, in Lebanon, in Israel. So that is a top of the agenda. Amnesty international just released, in fact, a briefing on the situation of Palestinian women in Gaza where we do highlight the fact that women's access to basic health, to reproductive health, to maternal support is deeply, deeply hampered and violated. They really are among the primary victims at

21:31this point in time of the ongoing genocide. They are the primary victim of the fact that 37 humanitarian NGOs have been de-registered and therefore unable to provide medical and health support to women and girls. So it is a very big priority for CSW and for Amnesty International. Let me move on to China, which gets much less press in the United States in this regard. There's been a growing feminist movement, I know, since around 2015, that's picking up energy from Amnesty International's perspective. What are they protesting and how's it going? How's it going? Well, the feminist movement of China is growing, but it is getting increasingly repressed as well. It is demanding, more or less the same thing, that women demand elsewhere,

22:34which is more control over their their body, more autonomy, the ability to get organized, to come together to fight violence against women, including impunity for active violence, which is also deeply ingrained within the Chinese political system. They are also getting together to fight for stronger protection in in the context of their workplace, in the labor environment. So that the concerns of Chinese women are very similar to our concerns, but they are confronting a great deal of repression. China is, you know, is emerging sadly as possibly they, I will not say the winner of the current destruction of the international

23:35systems, but they are certainly not getting the level of attention and negative attention that they should get because, you know, the situation of human rights in China is and remains a top concerns for amnesty international from the wiggles to the to the repression of human rights lawyers of lawyers. In fact, lawyers working for labor issue work for the trade union in China. So it is important in a context where indeed we must denounce Donald Trump's bullying and attacks on the international system. We cannot forget that there is no alternative, decent alternative being put forward by China and the situation of women in China is a case in point. As we start to run out of time, here's a question from a listener and a text message that's about the United States, but I think it also raises a global question for you in terms of how you can

24:37be effective. Listen to rights. I have so many friends who worked for UN women and girls and other global nonprofits NGOs, many of whom have now lost their jobs after doge cuts or just general lack of funding in the past year that I have been so troubled as to what is even happening now and it goes on with the weight of this all on your shoulders. How do you even begin to prioritize order and act moving forward? How do you wrap your arms around the scale of these issues? It's a great question. It's a great question. Your listener is absolutely correct. For the last 12 months we have seen an organized attack against international solidarity and against civil society in general. There has been a huge defounding of civil society

25:37including in countries where they are so needed throughout the world. It is true for women's human rights organization, for organization working for sexual and reproductive health, and for organization working for LGBTQI. They have been really decimated by the decision of Donald Trump to defund USAID, but I have to say other governments fail to step in. In fact, many governments follow suit on also defunding international solidarity. So this is what we are confronting. And this international is large. We have the backbone to resist those attacks because we are funded through peoples. We are a movement based organization. It is individuals such as your listener that I want to thank who are funding organization that can nest

26:39international. We have the backbone, but indeed what we are confronting is absolutely huge. What do we prioritize? We prioritize first and foremost on the basis of where we can have an impact. Where can we deliver the greatest protection for women and for universal rights? Women human rights defenders remain a big priority for us. Why? Because when we protect women human rights defenders, there are huge ripple effects across their country, across their community, across the world. So they remain top of our agenda. We are here, in fact, at CSW, with extraordinary brave women's human rights defenders, and it allowed me to speak about Tianar Mohammed, who was just murdered in Iraq. She was a friend of us. She was an icon for us.

27:40So women human rights defenders are losing their lives as we speak. They must be. They are top of our agenda for honesty and for others organization. Through their work, they are on the front line. They are on the front line in Gaza, in Sudan, in Ukraine, in the United States, where there has been so much pushback against women's rights. Their work is essential. Their fight is essential. And we must resist for them and with them. On yes, Kalamar, executive of the secretary general, I should say, of Amnesty International. As she discusses the 70th session of the commission on the status of women, that's part of the United Nations. And to talk about what Amnesty International does to advance the rights of women and girls worldwide as a participant in the CSW 70th anniversary conference or 70th session anyway of the commission on the status of women

28:45of the United Nations. And this is just getting started. It goes this week and next week. So do you want to close just by telling listeners who may have not even known about this previously and just gotten informed of it through your appearance here, if there are ways that they can follow it or even participate if they want? Look, I mean, you follow it by joining Amnesty if you want going into the Amnesty's website, but going into CSW website, you will see what events are happening. There are many public events around the city in New York, but more generally, dear listeners, if you believe we must protect women's rights, that we cannot tolerate the obscene obscene impunity. If you cannot tolerate the attacks on women's rights anywhere in the world, come, get organized, join an organization, join Amnesty, join others. Now is the time to fight back.

29:48The historical moment has never been more crucial. We must come together and we must resist the attacks on women's rights around the world. And yes, thank you so much for giving us some of your time. Thank you to you. Since WNYC's first broadcast in 1924, we've been dedicated to creating the kind of content we know the world needs. Since then, New York Public Radio's rigorous journalism has gone on to win a Peabody Award and a Dupont Columbia Award, among others. In addition to this award-winning reporting, your sponsorship also supports inspiring storytelling and extraordinary music that is free and accessible to all. To get in touch and find out more, visit sponsorship.wnyc.org.