Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Oct. 30th, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Order, please.

Welcome to the 41st meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. Today is Thursday, October 30, 2014, and this is a televised meeting.

Today we have as a witness Ahmed Shaheed, who is the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. We are very glad to have Dr. Shaheed here with us today.

I want to take a moment to mention that we're starting a little bit late and as result we may run past the 2 o'clock time if the committee consents in order to allow all questions. If anybody has to leave because because of Standing Order 31 or something and needs adjustment to their question time, just approach me and we'll sort that out.

With that said, I turn to our witness. Please feel free to commence.

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Geneva, Switzerland, United Nations Human Rights Council]

Thank you, distinguished Chair and committee members. I'm very pleased to be here this afternoon, to be able to speak to you about my work for the United Nations on human rights in Iran.

As you may be aware, I have just come from New York where I have given my report to the assembly's third committee on my findings from the past year. My report highlights a number of concerns that I have with regard to what I see as a worsening situation of human rights in the country. I highlight a number of these elements that constitute that assessment, the primary of which is the surge in executions in the country over the past 12 months. I have noted since June last year a total of 852 executions, of which 800 took place in the 12 months preceding my report's presentation.

In addition to the sheer number of executions, what concerns me and alarms me is the fact that there appears to be a widening of the scope for which death sentences have been applied. This summer we saw a political prisoner executed. A person, merely for making a donation to a foreign news organization, was put to death.

I have also noted that economic crimes are now used for a capital penalty as well.

Even more alarming than this is the fact that I've noted eight journalists being executed over the past 12 months. That's a very high jump compared to previous figures, which hovered around one over two years. It's a very serious escalation in the use of the death penalty in journalist executions.

I also noted in my report my ongoing concerns about the serious situation with regard to civil liberties in the country. The space for journalists is very limited; there are 35 journalists in prison and that number masks the fact that a revolving door policy actually affects a lot more journalists than that whereby people are brought in, warned, and released, and new people occupy these cells. There are serious limitations on media freedom in the country.

I've also noted my serious concerns about the pushback on human rights in the country. I noted in particular that in education, where Iran had been doing quite well in the past, a policy of gender rationing in access to universities has reduced the number of enrolments of women in the universities from 60% to 48% in just a two-year period.

This is in addition to other disadvantages women face Iran, including the fact that their participation in the labour market is very low at 16% and that gender disparity in income is one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region and that women graduates face three times as much disadvantage in seeking employment. There is now in fact a bill in parliament designed to strengthen the family, but it has as one of its provisions the potential to further undermine women's rights because employers are asked to give priority to married men and to married women and then there is no provision similar to that in that bill that will cause them to hire single women.

I've also noticed with alarm a high incidence and growing incidence of early and forced marriages. Some 48,000 girls were married in the period from March 2013, aged between 10 to15, although girls below 10 are also married with the court's consent. There are a few thousand in that category as well. In a very large number of these marriages, some 99% of cases, these girls bore children before they were 15. It's a very disturbing and alarming trend with regard to the situation of girls and women in the country.

I also noted with alarm the increasing persecution of religious minorities. There are 300 religious practitioners in detention as of my report's submission in August of this year, including 126 Baha’is, who seem to face the worst of the religious-based persecution in the country. This includes the Baha’is' top leadership as well. In addition to that, there are some 49 Christian converts in detention, along with other minority religions like Dervishi, Yarsan, and newer spiritual or faith practitioners.

The alarming fact is that there is high intolerance of religious freedom in Iran.

With regard to labour rights too, I have noted 27 activists in jail for activities such as demanding that their wages be paid promptly, that they be given better wages, and for simply organizing meetings among labour activists.

In terms of positive steps, I do note that attempts have been made over the past 12 months, to perhaps follow up on what President Rouhani had pledged to do at election time. One, of course, was the proclamation of the peoples' rights charter last September, but it is still in process. My concerns were that this charter does not add anything substantial to the rights that already exist in the country, which of course had all the limits I had mentioned.

I also continue to note attempts by the authorities to speak of ending discrimination and other rights, but in substance, I have not witnessed much improvement, including with regard to the human rights defenders in the country. Nasrin Sotoudeh was released from detention last year as part of the new government's reform measures, but as of last week, she had her licence to practise law removed. There's an ongoing situation with regard to human rights defenders. Typically, those who cooperate with human rights mechanisms, those who allege to give information to human rights mechanisms, those who impart information about the country face very serious charges, often national security charges.

Although the picture is very dismal, while there may be voices who may want to address questions of reform, by and large the actions on the ground do not support that there has been a move in that direction. I think the recent acid attacks in Isfahan demonstrate both the plight of women is getting worse and the fact that the discourse on human rights is very limited. The government's actions in this regard have been further disappointing because the actions seem to focus less on identifying the perpetrators than on targeting those who are reporting on this fact. The government appears to be more concerned about knowledge of the attacks rather than the attacks themselves, and that is a matter of concern to me.

To conclude, I also want to point out that I am encouraged by attempts made by the government to cooperate with me, not on a visit to the country, but by engaging with me more widely in Geneva. I am alarmed that there is a worsening of human rights in the country, spearheaded by executions, plus women's rights, and an increasing discourse that vilifies religious minorities.

I shall end there and be very happy to receive any questions that you may have.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much.

If I may say so, and this is a compliment, you have been much more concise and time sensitive than some of the other witnesses we've had over time. As a result, we are no longer behind, which has the happy consequence that I can now say there will be six-minute rounds of questions and answers.

We'll start with Mr. Sweet.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Mr. Shaheed, thank you very much for being here.

I apologize for any delay that you had in security. We have had quite a week this past week with our own concerns here, an attack on Parliament, so I would imagine that they're doing their diligence on trying to make sure they protect us.

That said, I just want to confirm a comment you made in your remarks. You did not visit Iran, is that correct?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

That is correct.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Was there a request on your part to the Iranian officials, and it was denied?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

I have made about six requests. I have not received a formal reply to any of these requests.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

You said 35 journalists are in prison right now; you had some kind of evidence that many of them had been picked up and interviewed. I take it then that any other journalists who are in the country are self-editing to preserve their own life?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

I would agree with this assessment that those who would break certain lines would face action against them and that already in the press law there are numerous limitations as to what can be written about in the country. This can include things like reports or writings that are critical of government or religious figures or that in some ways are seen as indecent as the government defines them. The law itself is quite restrictive. If people do write freely, as they think, about what are the facts or opinions, yes, they do face action against them.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Did you find any other evidence? You've mentioned a lot, and I thank you for your diligence in investigating. Did you find any evidence of the Revolutionary Guard or the Basij terrorizing people if they attempted to protest publicly?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

I will not focus on the protectorate in that sense, but the fact remains that, yes, there are reports of quite capricious actions by the authorities on various elements of public acts or freedoms. If there are reports that a certain group that assembled in a house to worship wasn't harassed, we get a similar report around the same time at another location that they were harassed. There is capriciousness in the way authorities act.

But by and large, yes, the reports are that people are afraid to assemble and people are afraid to speak out freely. People are afraid in many different ways. Dissident voices, dissident behaviour, or dissident speech, all of that is diminished by a climate of fear.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

The reason for and the rate of executions has always been very troubling. Now it has escalated substantially. Are some of...well, maybe I shouldn't speculate. Is there some evidence for why these are escalating to the degree they are today?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

No, sir, I have no evidence to attribute the escalation to, but there are some reasons that surround it that may indicate what this might be.

One of these, of course, is amendments to the penal code, which have some positive elements, such as the abandonment of apostasy as a capital crime and heresy and witchcraft as well.

But it adds that when a minor is charged with a capital offence, the judge must establish their capacity by reference to a medical practitioner and evaluate whether the person was aware of the crime that was being committed. It has been welcomed, and I think rightly so, but this leaves open the personal habits of those who are then not seen to be mentally unable to know what's going on.

The passage of this penal code can be conflated with the rise in the juvenile executions, but I won't attribute it directly to that.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

One of the groups that is often persecuted and that you didn't mention today—it may just be because of the plethora of information you're trying to get to us very quickly—is the gay and lesbian community. What is the situation they face right now in terms of being imprisoned falsely? Also, are there numbers of them in these executions?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

There has been a trend over the past couple of years, at least in the public tolerance level, of intolerance towards people who are different. It goes across a variety of faiths. The LGBT community comes under that category. Reports that I have gathered include harassment on a regular basis, vilification, and other sorts of rights violations. I have not come up with a case recently of an execution of a LGBT member, certainly not charged recognizably in the penal code with a sexual offence in that sense.

My concerns relate to other forms of harassment of the LGBT community, such as denial of basic services, discrimination, of course, in a wide range of activities, and in some cases enforced gender reassignment surgery, which is done in a very brutal manner. The basic marginalization, exclusion, and vilification, and then, therefore, the persecution of the community, are very serious.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Shaheed.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you, Mr. Sweet.

Mr. Marston, please.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Like the other members of the committee we were hoping for something more positive, but we can always count on getting the facts when you come before us. We have had others from Iran here over the years and I can't think of the woman's name at present, but who reported to us twice.... She's in exile now, but we'll come back to that.

Anyway, sir, when Mr. Rouhani assumed power there seemed to be a brief period where people anticipated change. In fact it appeared that there was an effort being made, at least in the media, to sound like there was change happening. One of the areas that many people have been concerned with is where Iran is situated in regards to promoting terrorism in a variety of parts of the world. Have you seen any evidence of positive change there at all?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

I have to try very hard to be able to bring good news out of Iran. That is because I want to see the people who are doing good and I report on these activities. In my reports I have documented the provisions made by the president with regard to increasing media freedom and with regard to discrimination and women's rights.

The positive change, if I can really say, is that in some areas there has been a softening of approach. For example academic freedom is still severely limited, but I have seen that some of the professors who were dismissed previously in the past few years have some form of reinstatement. Not completely, but they have been allowed to go back to some degree to their old profession or universities. Many students who were expelled in the past three years have been allowed to go back to university. There's been some form of relaxation in that regard and the oral rhetoric from the government has in many ways diminished.

I've seen, on occasion, the president speaking in a different manner to the supreme leader on women's rights this year. A slight nuance perhaps, but at the end of the day not sufficiently strong enough to change anything in the country. I am inclined to document these pronouncements, to be able to amplify these pronouncements, and to be able to encourage these pronouncements moving forward.

With regard to the bill on feminist strengthening, the initial draft did have this provision where single women would be marginalized, but there are reports that this may be reviewed. I haven't seen the final case of it and it hasn't been passed to the parliament. I'm hoping that it does get through and that this provision will not be there.

On the other hand, a year and a half ago, the Iran government withdrew the bill on what they call the bill of formal attorneyship, which is designed in my view to increase control by the authorities over the bar association. It was withdrawn at the end of spring last year, but then has come back into the parliamentary process.

There are very few steps in terms of what can be done, but then more backsliding.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

That withdrawal of the bill was probably close to the time that Rouhani had taken over and it was almost like they were trying to impress the outside world with at least the rhetoric.

I found it interesting where they didn't respond to you six times. At least they could say they didn't deny you access.

When we talked about the Baha’i community, you mentioned it in your remarks, is there any positive light there whatsoever? The indications we have is that there might have been for a time, but it's almost like they've reverted.

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

Over a 30-year period you can see a number of ebbs and flow, and fluctuations in the trends, in the rhetoric and actions. In recent times I've seen a sharpening of the rhetoric against the Baha’i. The vilification of them in society, and therefore the sense that they will feel under threat, is something that has to be noted.

At the same time, in the way the government speaks on the issue in the UN forums, again there's a change in tone. It's used for the case...government will deny them, call them a cult, and therefore deny them recognition as a faith. They still haven't taken that step, but they now refer to them as citizens and speak of equality of rights as citizens, so long as of course they do not disclose they're Baha’i. So in a sense there hasn't been a change.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

The other thing we had noted previously was the rhetoric directed toward them was encouraging the citizens of Iran to confront Baha’is and that some violence had occurred. You don't see a lessening of that, and the rhetoric is still there that might lead to that type of a problem for them. Is that right?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

Indeed, yes, sir.

[Wayne Marston, NDP, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

We hear pronouncements and it sounds like the court system is working somewhat. Is there any place where the courts can actually intervene to prevent an execution? We had the young woman executed last week. If she had been found guilty of that so-called crime in Canada, the worst charge would have been manslaughter. Is there any place for the court to intercede in that, or are they simply bypassed once the sentence is passed?

[Dr. Ahmed Shaheed]

I think in terms of the human rights development in Iran, an important aspect would be looking at the way the judiciary works to see what the deficits are in terms of human rights standards. Now, in many ways the shortcomings have been highlighted, both in the UPR reviews four years ago and the treaty body reviews under the [Technical difficulty—Editor] political rights and many other areas. They are primarily focused upon the due process deficits in the way trials are carried out.

There's also a question of qisas, that is the Islamic law of retribution, and to what extent therefore the state can exercise the role of clemency it has under international law. In this particular case, many issues were raised with the government through my own work, and the response I got is that the state can't intervene in the case of qisas. They were trying to persuade the family to forgive, rather than demand retribution as qisas. But the only qisas issue I had with this particular case was the fairness of the trial. The irregularities in regard to due process rights, the extent to which the victim had the chance to defend herself, had a chance to have all the evidence considered, and the extent to which her story was given under some sort of duress.... And, of course, the absence of a motive. There was never a motive--at least in the response I got--established by the state. So there are a number of issues about this particular case that go beyond, perhaps, the issue of qisas in general.