I call to order this meeting of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.
This is our 12th meeting, and today is April 21, 2009.
We have a distinguished guest with us today. But before turning to our guest and inviting him to provide testimony, I am going to remind members of the subcommittee that a special meeting to deal with scheduling has been called for tomorrow at 1 p.m. This will allow us, I hope, to deal with matters that were not fully dealt with at our most recent meeting. This is meant to prevent the unfortunate situation that might develop—that is, pushing out the witnesses who have come before us—if we were to try to fit scheduling matters into our normal schedule.
I won't presume to speak to what will happen at that meeting, but I will draw your attention to how I'm going to conduct myself at that meeting. I will want to deal with the procedural question at the front end, and I would want to do that in public, and then move in camera to deal with the actual matters before us. The procedural matter I'll be dealing with, just so you know, is that I want to explain how I plan to conduct myself in all such meetings, so that everybody is clear on the rules I'm setting for myself. These don't necessarily include interpretations of parliamentary rules. Effectively, they're rules I'm presenting for my own conduct, and I think they will ensure that all members understand I'm trying to be impartial as I deal with these matters.
That being said, I will now draw everybody's attention to our witness. Sharif Behruz is here as a representative of the Kurdish Democratic Party in Iran. He has a presentation to make to us.
Mr. Behruz, we invite you to make your presentation. At the end of it, members of the subcommittee will have a series of questions for you. We are glad to have you here before our committee to deal with this important matter.
Thank you.