I appreciate that because of the urgency of the situation of Mr. Badawi.
Now I'll go to my questions. I apologize if I have to run before the answers, because I must speak in the House.
My colleague David Sweet, I might begin, just referred to the four-hour debate we held in the House on anti-Semitism. I want to commend my colleagues from all parties who participated in that debate and will just mention that the House yesterday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the alarming rise in anti-Semitism and calling on the government to continue to make the combatting of anti-Semitism a domestic and international priority. I think that resolution is the first that I know of, in any parliament anywhere, that has been so expressive and specific in that regard. The fact that it was unanimous is something that I think bears appreciation.
To my question now, Mr. Matas, you spoke about the language in the UN General Assembly and said that it should be enhanced referencing the Iranian incitement. As you know, the 21st century began with Supreme Leader Khomeini saying that there can be no solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict without the annihilation of the Jewish state. More recently, that language has continued with references to the excising of Israel as being a “cancerous tumour” in the Middle East. We don't have Ahmadinejad around anymore, but that language has not necessarily receded.
My first question to you—and then I'll put the second one to you and you can answer them both—is whether there are legal remedies we can use to sanction the Iranian leadership for this state-sanctioned incitement to hate and to genocide, which is arguably a violation of the prohibition against incitement in the genocide convention. That's the first question.
The second question has to do with the fact that tomorrow is the global day of action for the Education is Not a Crime campaign to dramatize the painful reality that education is a crime for the Baha'i community, whose members are effectively treated as non-citizens in Iran and are today the largest but most persecuted minority in Iran. I know that this has been another area of your concern. I thought I would invite you to comment on that, if you want to, as another symbol of the Iranian domestic repression of human rights and religious freedom.