Iran and the Central African Republic have been deprived of the right to vote in the UN General Assembly due to non-payment of debts. The statement came from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
Iran will have to pay $16.2 million to the organization and the Central African Republic $29.3 million to restore its voting rights. Guterres said that in addition to these countries, the list of UN creditors includes three: the Comoros, Sao Tome, Principe and Somalia. If they do not pay their debts, they will lose their right to vote in the General Assembly after September.
Under Article 19, a member of the United Nations that owes payments shall be deprived of the right to vote in the General Assembly if the amount owed by it is equal to or exceeds the amount due to it owed in the previous two years. At the same time, the General Assembly may retain the right to vote of a country if it decides that the country is indebted under circumstances beyond its control.
In January last year, UN deprived seven countries of the right to vote due to non-payment. Their list included Venezuela, Lebanon, Central African Republic, Gambia, Lesotho, Yemen and Tongo.
