Evidence of meeting #111 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was regime.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB
Are we going to be able to control the activities of IRGC in Canada the way we'd like to? I ask because I think they are deeply rooted. Do you agree?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Answer very briefly, please, because we're considerably over time, so if you could, answer in 20 seconds.
Human Rights and Democracy Advocate, Iranian Justice Collective
That investigative piece found that there were 700 Islamic regime affiliates here, so of course they're among us, but we have to prevent more from coming and we have to deport those who have been defined as having committed crimes against humanity or human rights abuses.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much.
First of all, I wanted to thank you both. You've done a terrific job demonstrating how horrific the human rights situation in Iran is and how unprecedented it is as well. I truly can't think of another country where a Nobel Peace Prize laureate languishes in jail. I can't think of another country where the most eminent lawyer actually is in jail, and I certainly can't think of another country where the most popular singer and rapper, just because he was singing songs, has been sentenced to death.
Thank you for all of those explanations.
Now, if I could, I'll ask a couple of quick questions to Mr. Dehghan.
Essentially your testimony is that the legal system is a complete and utter sham. There are no legal principles that lead to individuals being sentenced to death. Am I correct in assuming that if you are convicted of something in Iran, there's almost no chance that you could get a lawyer of your liking to represent you?
Human Rights Lawyer and Director of Parsi Law Collective, As an Individual
Actually, no. There are a lot of lawyers in jail, such as Arash Keykhosravi, Mohammad Najafi, Amirsalar Davoudi and Khosrow Alikordi. They are in jail.
About this law, parliament in 2015 said that only lawyers approved by the head of the judiciary can represent defendants in revolutionary courts. Therefore, they cannot choose an independent lawyer of their own choice.
[Witness spoke in Persian, interpreted as follows:]
[Inaudible—Editor] what I want to explain, it is only lawyers who have been approved by the government, so only they can defend those who are against this. The lawyers who are defending these people are those who have sworn to defend the government. That's why you can see that the press and the artists are on one side, and the lawyer who is defending them will be incarcerated and detained [Inaudible—Editor]
What it means is that the government chooses only their own lawyers for the defence of those who are against the government.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you.
Then, just to clarify on a question that was asked previously, you said the revolutionary courts are controlled by the intelligence ministry and things of that nature, but anyone who's charged with a politically motivated charge has to go through revolutionary courts. Is that correct?
The cases of most individuals who, for example, displayed courage and were arrested on the streets would go to the revolutionary court. Is that correct?
Human Rights Lawyer and Director of Parsi Law Collective, As an Individual
[Witness spoke in Persian, interpreted as follows:]
Yes, unfortunately, that is the case. Ten years ago, in 2016, this political law was passed. This political law, which is very unprecedented, was accepted after 34 or 35 years, but immediately in 1996, 1997, 1998, there came the farmers of Khuzestan, and then we came to women's freedom, which were all peaceful demonstrations. Not even one file has been attended to in political court. Even the case of Narges Mohammadi is not public. It has has gone to the revolutionary court. I think that is sufficient evidence that these are only special branches, and they are conducted by judges who have no control at all. They have only their stamp, which is the leader's decision only.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much for that comprehensive response.
Now, if I could pick up, Ms. Afshin-Jam, where you left off, you were concerned about terrorist acts happening on Canadian soil. Why are you so concerned? What are some of the facts that you're aware of that all the members here should be familiar with as well?
Human Rights and Democracy Advocate, Iranian Justice Collective
As I said, there have been examples in the U.K., in the United States and in Europe of assassination plots. An activist was assassinated in the Mykonos restaurant in Germany. As I said, there have been bombs at different Israeli embassies, including a few weeks ago in Sweden, and we've had terror here in Canada, and I don't trust.... Your hand is up, so that's okay. It's your own question.
Liberal
Human Rights and Democracy Advocate, Iranian Justice Collective
I just know it's a matter of time.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much.
We now go to Mr. Bergeron. You have two and a half minutes, sir.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Both witnesses talked about the gender apartheid system. This fact was also reported by Javaid Rehman, the United Nations rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, last February.
Mr. Dehghan, you said that this apartheid system perpetuates discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities.
For the benefit of committee members and the people tuning in, can you elaborate on the link between the apartheid system and discrimination against religious and ethnic minorities?
Human Rights Lawyer and Director of Parsi Law Collective, As an Individual
[Witness spoke in Persian, interpreted as follows:]
When one speaks about a regime that supports its regulations in apartheid, we just talked about racial apartheid. What we suggest today about gender apartheid in international law is because it's not just the gender apartheid; it's racial, and it's also minorities. We have to remember that the order for LGBTQ people would be execution if they are gays or lesbians. Even the Bahá’ís in Iran don't have permission to go to university. They cannot hold a job. They don't have national ID cards. They cannot live anywhere.
Three or four days ago, at one of the farms in the north of Iran in Mazandaran, they came and they took their rice and destroyed their rice lands. Although they own that land, under such conditions, it's not just racial apartheid; it's generally that the whole government is intertwined with the issue of the hijab. It's like an octopus. It's one of those crushing tools.
For minorities, even Baha'is, to flee from Baluchistan to Kurdistan in itself is a crime, and we have to really look into it at the highest level of decisions.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Thank you very much. I'm terribly sorry about that.
We now go to MP McPherson. You have two and a half minutes.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Thank you very much.
Thank you again for your testimony, to both of you.
Ms. Afshin-Jam, you spoke about Iran's role in the global community and you spoke about nuclear proliferation. We know the threat that is shown within the Middle East. I'm interested in any information you might have with regard to how Iran is working with Russia and the implications from those connections, not just in the Middle East but also in Ukraine and around the world.
Human Rights and Democracy Advocate, Iranian Justice Collective
As we all know, all these authoritarian regimes are banding together. They share intelligence. They basically operate from the same book of repression. They share ways to repress their own people. Of course, they help one another financially by buying each other's oil, etc., and as I mentioned, by providing drones. The regime is responsible for providing all those drones to Russia for use against Ukrainians.
I forgot what the first part of the question was.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
It's just about the connection there. I'm trying to get your sense of the connection between Russia and Iran and the implications of that connection.
Human Rights and Democracy Advocate, Iranian Justice Collective
I don't have specifics. I'm not an expert in that domain. I just know that they collaborate, all of these dictatorial regimes and their leaders. We see them meeting. They, of course, have that BRICS organization together.
We, as western liberal democracies, need to do the same and band together with our allies. That's why I stress so much that we need a strong Iran policy. We need a strong policy for many of these countries, but specifically that's what we're talking about here. If we don't do that, then we're going to face the consequences.
We see it here on our campuses. A lot of the Islamist ideological propaganda is coming from Iran, and a lot of the funding goes to certain madrasas and mosques that are spewing anti-Israeli and anti-western hate propaganda, and they're trying to enlist people to be part of this extremism. We need to take a stand against all kinds of extremism.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Of course.
Mr. Dehghan, is there anything to add from your side?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
I'm so sorry, Madam McPherson. We're out of time. We're actually 20 seconds over, unless you wanted to ask a question that he could respond to in a written submission that he could send to us.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
At this point, I want to thank our two witnesses. That was incredibly helpful. Thank you for your expertise and perspective, and thank you also for your courage and conviction. I certainly hope that things will improve in Iran.
Thank you very much.
We will turn to the second panel in two or three minutes.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Ali Ehsassi
Welcome back, members. We will resume our hearing on the situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We now have a new panel. We're very grateful to have here with us three experts who have been working very hard over the course of the past two years.
Here in person we have Dr. Nimâ Machouf, who is a researcher.
We have, in person, Mr. Hamed Esmaeilion, who is familiar to you all and is a board member of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.
We're also very grateful to hear from two witnesses who are joining us virtually. We have Dr. Hanieh Ziaei, who is a political scientist and an Iranologist and the Raoul-Dandurand chair at UQAM.
We have as well Mr. Kourosh Doustshenas, who is, as I indicated, also a member of the Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims.
We have three opening remarks, as I understand.
We'll start off with Ms. Machouf, and then Dr. Esmaeilion and Mr. Doustshenas will split their time, and then we will go to Dr. Ziaei.
Madam Machouf, welcome. You have five minutes for your opening remarks.
I would be grateful if you would all look over to me once in a while. When you see this signal, you really should tie it up within 10 to 15 seconds.
All of that having been explained, Dr. Machouf, the floor is yours. You have five minutes.
Dr. Nima Machouf Epidemiologist, researcher, As an Individual
Thank you very much.
With your permission, I will do my talk in French.
Freedom of expression is the bedrock of democracy. In Iran, freedom of expression never existed, not during the Shah's time, nor—and even less so—since the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The first victims of repression were women and the press.
Today, I want expressly to speak, as have my colleagues, in fact, about the sexual apartheid that reigns in Iran, that is, a system of systemic and institutionalized segregation of women. The obligation to wear the veil in public is only the visible part of the discrimination that exists in Iran. Since the establishment of the Islamic theocracy in Iran in 1979, women have been legally worth half as much as men. Women inherit half of what men inherit. In terms of legal testimony, it takes two women for their testimony to be equivalent to that of a man, even in the case of premeditated murder. If a man murders his daughter, he will not be punished, because she belongs to him. A mother cannot apply for legal documents, such as a passport for her children, because the woman's signature has no legal value.
Furthermore, a woman has no right to be a judge. Ms. Shirin Ebadi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, is a case in point. She lost her right to practise after the revolution. Nor are women allowed to run for the country's presidency. Many sports are forbidden to women. A woman cannot study, work or travel without her husband's permission. Polygamy is permitted for men. A man can divorce his wife at any time, unconditionally, without her even knowing, whereas a woman must convince a judge, with valid reasons, to obtain the right to divorce. Incidentally, this partial right was obtained after many years of feminist struggle in Iran. After a divorce, custody of the children is given to the father or any other male in his family, unless the child is disabled.
These are just a few examples. Iranian women are resisting, and despite the systemic discrimination they experience, 60% of those on university benches are girls, and much to the chagrin of the authorities, women are occupying the country's social and economic scene.
I've told you about women's rights, but human rights in general are flouted, and repression is brutal. Freedom of expression and the right of association do not exist. The media are censored. Internet access is controlled. Any protest is violently repressed. You've probably heard more about it since the assassination of Mahsa Zhina Amini and the Women, Life, Freedom uprising.
In four months of protests, 600 people were killed in the streets, including more than 50 children. Tens of thousands have been arrested, of whom 22,000 have been granted amnesty, according to the Iranian government. Many received death sentences. Incidentally, several of you have taken part in the campaign to sponsor political prisoners threatened with execution, and we are very grateful to you.
Over the past two years, the government has also attempted to disfigure the protest movement. It specifically targeted the eyes of demonstrators in the street. More than 500 people have lost their sight.
Iran is now under electronic surveillance. More than a million women who continue to resist the regime's diktats and who appear in public without wearing the veil have received violation notices by text message, they have had their cars confiscated, they have been fined and sent to prison, and they continue to resist.
Every year, the UN Special Rapporteur denounces the violation of human rights in Iran. Prisons are full of prisoners of conscience. Amnesty International regularly denounces the use of torture, rape, electric shocks, mock executions, forced confessions and arbitrary executions.
In recent years, chemical torture has been added to physical and mental torture. Strangely, several suicides were recorded on release from prison; prisoners were committing suicide within days of their release. These same chemical weapons were used during the Women, Life, Freedom uprising. The aim was to spread terror in girls' schools. Thousands of pupils were poisoned and hospitalized between January and April 2023. I'm talking about underage girls here.
In 2013, the Canadian Parliament recognized the massacres of political prisoners in the 1980s as crimes against humanity, where around 9,000 prisoners were executed and thrown into mass graves in Khavaran. These 44 years of Islamic rule have been accompanied by 44 years of resistance. People have tried everything: confrontation, reform and civil disobedience. Iranian society is young, ebullient and, above all, determined to put an end to this regime of terror. However, we are facing a monster.
I hope to have time to talk more about this as I answer questions from committee members.