French
Pol Ameline
Dodges on
Right to
Drive, Wants
CEDAW in NY
Not Nairobi
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 15 --
French
politician
Nicole
Ameline, Vice
Chair of the
Committee on
the
Elimination of
Discrimination
Against Women,
complained at
a press
conference
Monday of
moves to
relocate the
CEDAW session
out of New
York.
In
support she
cited not the
General
Assembly's
enticement of
weeks in
Manhattan
hotels but
rather the
ability of
Caribbean
nations to
come to
present their
CEDAW reports
in New York
rather than
Geneva.
Inner
City Press
asked Ameline
if by that
logic CEDAW
ever held its
session in,
for example,
Nairobi where
there is a UN
Center and
compound. No,
she
acknowledged.
Turning
to
the list of
countries
turning in
CEDAW reports
this month,
Inner City
Press asked
about Central
African
Republic,
which was
postponed due
to the absence
of a report.
Does CEDAW
provide any
assistance to
such countries
in filing
reports? This
question was
not answered.
Nicole
Ameline, who
had just
spoken in the
Third (Human
Rights)
Committee of
the General
Assembly
dodged a
question about
discrimination
by saying her
sense is
everyone
agrees with
CEDAW's goals.
Inner
City Press
asked about
banning women
from driving,
or a recent
case of 1000
women from
Nigeria who
arrived in
Saudi Arabia
for the Hadj
and were told
they could
only proceed
if accompanied
by men. How
about that?
Ameline
would
not directly
answer the
question,
instead
talking about
constructive
dialogue, of
questions and
answers and
interpretations.
This is the
UN. Watch this
site.
, 
