Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on April 27th, 2010

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

Well, that's perfect.

I just want to thank you, Dr. Ebadi, for your courage in coming here today. I want to express my appreciation, and I'm sure that of the rest of the committee, for informing this committee as we do this study on Iran. The value of having this kind of direct testimony can't be measured in terms of our determination of what the outcome of our report should be.

I salute your courage, Madam.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much.

Now, for a final round of questioning, we'll go to Mr. Sweet.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The 39th Parliament was the last time Ms. Ebadi was here. I want to welcome her back.

I will start where my colleague Mr. Marston left off. That is, on behalf of the Baha'i community in Canada, and of course all those, including Zahra Kazemi's family, who witnessed what you tried to do there, just a very heartfelt thank you.

You mentioned that the authorities, the Iranian regime, had shut down the NGO you led. It's my understanding that you actually started two: the Society for Protecting the Rights of the Child, and Defenders of Human Rights Center.

Did they bring to an end the operation of both of those NGOs?

[Dr. Shirin Ebadi]

With the money from my Nobel Prize, I purchased an apartment, furnished it, and gave it to two of the NGOs that were founded. One was the Defenders of Human Rights Center; I and a number of other lawyers were working on human rights issues. The other part of the apartment belonged to another NGO against land mines; we helped the people who were injured by land mines.

The police illegally confiscated the apartment. Right now, it's in the hands of the government. Therefore the offices of both NGOs were closed down. Of course we continue our efforts, but it has been a lot more difficult for us to work.

In the meantime, I would like to give a report about the land mines in Iran. For eight years, Iran was at war with Iraq. The war has been over for 20 years, but more than three million hectares of land have land mines. On average, two people every day are either killed or injured by land mines. Unfortunately, the speed of cleaning the land mines in Iran is very slow. If it goes at this speed, it will take 50 years for the country to be cleaned of the land mines.

At the same time, there's not enough support for the people who are injured by the land mines. I had founded the only NGO in Iran for land mines, because the Government of Iran had prevented the news, and even people in Iran were not aware of the fact that there were land mines in some parts of their country. Instead of admiring what I was doing, or appreciating the services we were providing, they told us we were trying to make them look bad.

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

You know, it's just disastrous that a regime would not only victimize its own people, but then would be irresponsible and not actually remove a great threat to them as well, such as land mines.

Madam Ebadi, you had mentioned that about 6,000 had been incarcerated since the election, and you said that the number was probably much higher. We know of this force called the Basij that infiltrates protests and harms Iranians who try to voice their opinion against the regime.

Do you have any idea about how many people have been beaten and critically injured because of the Basij?

[Dr. Shirin Ebadi]

Regrettably, I do not have the exact number, because if anybody claims that they were beaten, that shows that they were participating in the demonstration; therefore, the government will go after them.

Even the exact number of those who were killed is not known, because the government has threatened the families by saying that they do not have the right to say what happened to their children and they should say their kids were killed in a car accident.

Recently they were able to find a few people who were prepared to testify that their children were killed in the demonstrations. I would like to talk about one of the people killed in this regard, a young girl by the name of Neda. You have most probably seen the video of her killing.

When Neda was killed, people arrested the person who killed her, because they thought if they took him to the police station, most probably he would be released and they would be arrested themselves.

Some suggested that they should beat him up because of the crime he had committed, but a few women who were there opposed that suggestion, and said, “We are not like them: we can only get all his identification documents and release him.”

According to the ID cards they got from him, he was a member of the Basij. They announced the identity of the person on the Internet. They even found out his address; people who knew him knew his address.

There were at least ten witnesses who saw it, and who testified that they saw that person shoot and kill Neda. Also, it was all recorded on film.

What do you think the Government of Iran did in this case? They announced that the doctor who had helped her was the murderer--a spy from the United Kingdom who had come to kill Neda and go back.

When I say that the courts have lost their power, this is what I mean. We have film and we have witnesses to show who killed this girl and where he lives, but the government claims that the United Kingdom had a plan and that there was a conspiracy to kill her.

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

I have no further questions, but my colleague has a question, Mr. Chairman, if there is time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

We're actually out of time, but if there is the consent of the committee, we can have one more question.

Is there consent to allow Mr. Hiebert to ask a question?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you.

Mr. Hiebert, please go ahead.

[Russ Hiebert, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale, BC]

Thank you, Dr. Ebadi.

I have one question: what do you think would be the most effective response by Canada to the human rights violations?

[Dr. Shirin Ebadi]

Canada has made a very positive response so far. I am talking about the resolutions that Canada has brought forth in the United Nations General Assembly. For several years these resolutions have been passed.

Although these resolutions do not have any executive power and don't have any sanctions, the important thing is that the claims of people have been proven in an international community. The Government of Iran knows that it cannot lie very easily.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Yes, Mr. Sweet.

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

We would be remiss if we didn't thank Mr. Weston for looking after Madam Ebadi's trip. He was the one who brought to my attention that she'd be here; and when I brought the motion...and he's done all kinds of work.

He was also the one who moved the motion in the House of Commons regarding human rights for Iran. I just thought it would be good if the committee thanked him for that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

That is duly noted.

Before we adjourn, I'll ask Dr. Ebadi if she has any final comments to make.

[Dr. Shirin Ebadi]

I would like to thank you for your empathy for the people of Iran, and also for the cooperation of John with the Iranian community. As you know, a lot of Iranians, especially after the revolution, have come to Canada.

This is a good time for the Government of Canada and the Iranian community to have a liaison, and John has done a lot of really useful activities in the limited time he has been doing this. There has always been a very good relationship between the Iranian people and the Canadian people.

Again, I would like to thank you for your empathy.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much, Dr. Ebadi.

Thank you to all the members for the extra time.

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

Mr. Chair, I know that we're over time. I will be quick. I understand that you'll be sending the report on Iran to the mother committee of foreign affairs and international trade.

I'm wondering if we might consider annexing, not part of the report, but the testimony, to the actual report we did on Iran and human rights.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Is there a willingness to append this testimony?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

All right.

Then we'll take your advice and do just that. Thank you, Mr. Sweet.

We are adjourned. Thank you.