In a positive show of NGO unity and an example of highlighting genuine human rights abuses, over 25 worldwide human rights NGOs issued a press release on March 12, 2007 calling on European leaders to "rebuke Iran for its repression of women, dissidents and religious and ethnic minorities."  The press release issued by UN Watch, the Open Society Institute, Society for Peace in the Middle East and others urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) “to speak out strongly against Iran’s gross violations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. ” Hillel Neuer of UN Watch stated that “to be silent about Iran’s human rights abuses – such as its recent arrest of women peacefully demonstrating for their right – is to condone them.”