Madam Chair and honourable committee members, thank you for the invitation. I'm sorry I can't be with you in Ottawa.
I want to start with the case of my respected colleague, Nasrin Sotoudeh, because it reflects the reality of the fight for human rights in Iran, especially the important role played by women.
On March 11 of this year during a brief telephone conversation with Ms. Sotoudeh, her husband, Reza Khandan, was informed that Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran had sentenced her to 33 years in prison and 148 lashes. She was previously sentenced in absentia to five years in June 2018, which would bring her total sentence to 38 years if served consecutively. Her husband was also sentenced in January 2019 to six years of imprisonment, in part for posting updates on Facebook about his wife's case.
The supposed crimes for which Ms. Sotoudeh has been imprisoned, both now and in the past, provide a revealing glimpse into the ideology of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Her offences include defending the right of women and girls to be treated with dignity and equality; exposing the injustices of the death penalty, including the execution of juveniles; defending political prisoners; defending the persecuted Baha'i minority; calling for the freedom of conscience and belief; and demanding transparency and accountability by those in power.
Based on Ms. Sotoudeh's handwritten notes of the verdict dated February 19, the Revolutionary Court based its decision on a report of the intelligence ministry, and I quote, “regarding assembly and collusion with the intention to commit a crime against national security, effective membership in an anti-state group, encouraging and preparing the grounds for corruption and prostitution, disturbing public peace and order, publishing falsehoods with the intention to disturb public opinion, and appearing in public without the Islamic hijab.”
In other words, beyond flagrant violations of due process, Iran has in effect criminalized the defence of human rights, especially by a legendary female lawyer who dares to defy the institutionalized gender discrimination that is integral to the ideology of the state.
Just a few days ago, on May 3, another legendary female lawyer, Narges Mohammadi, was taken from Evin prison to a hospital in Tehran for urgent treatment. According to her husband Taghi Rahmani, the doctors advised “that her uterus should be removed and said she should remain under supervision in the hospital.... But the prison authorities did not approve her stay.” He noted further that “After taking images of her lungs...the doctors noticed a growth that could pose a danger,” but the recommendation of hospitalization has also been denied by the authorities.
The war against women activists is by no means confined to these two renowned human rights champions. Just three days ago, on May 13, the notorious Basij paramilitary forces attacked a peaceful protest for women's rights at Tehran university. The slogans that were being chanted speak for themselves. They included “Students would rather die than be humiliated,” “Unemployment, slavery, women’s hijab compulsory” and “Reformists, conservatives, the game is over.”
It is telling that just a few days prior to the sentencing of Nasrin Sotoudeh, the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, as mentioned by my colleague Dr. Boroumand, had appointed former presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi as the Chief Justice of Iran. Raisi's long and appalling record as a hard-liner includes membership in the notorious death commission that was responsible in 1988 for the mass execution of an estimated 5,000 political prisoners. Instead of being prosecuted for crimes against humanity, he has been promoted as head of the judiciary amid speculation that he's being groomed to become the successor to Khamenei. It should thus come as no surprise that instead of protecting human rights, the Iranian judiciary itself is an instrument for injustice and oppression.
In 2016 Raisi was appointed custodian of the Astan Quds Razavi foundation, a slush fund with more than $20 billion in assets.
This is part of the web of corruption through which the government enriches those in the inner circle of power. It is also how Basij “dogs” are paid to attack peaceful protesters, such as those at the University of Tehran.
In its 2018 corruption perceptions index, Transparency International ranked Iran 138th among 180 states, with a score of 28 out of 100. Much of that money is laundered right here in Canada in the real estate markets of Toronto and Vancouver, as regime insiders fortify their position and buy influence in various quarters in Canada.
In her testimony before you last week, my esteemed colleague Ms. Shirin Ebadi noted the importance of adopting measures so that Canada does not become an accomplice to such corruption. In fact, there is an inextricable relationship between this endemic corruption and extremist ideologies aimed at preserving the status quo, aimed at preventing the emergence of a more transparent and accountable system of government that would threaten the privileges of political elites.
It is notable that on March 11, the same day that Ms. Sotoudeh informed her husband of the 33-year prison sentence, Iran was appointed to the UN Commission on the Status of Women. This is a moment of truth for Canada's feminist foreign policy. The champions of human rights, the moral leaders of Iran, are the likes of Ms. Sotoudeh, Ms. Mohammadi and Ms Ebadi, even as those oppressing them desperately cling onto power and seek to sanitize the Islamic Republic's image, including whether at the UN or right here in Canada. The contrast between what they represent and what their tormentors represent couldn't be more clear. A government in which women are treated with dignity and equality, in which they exercise moral leadership and replace a hateful and misogynist ideology with a culture of human rights is a powerful alternative to the prospect of war and violence that looms over the region, a prospect with potentially catastrophic consequences.
When Ms. Sotoudeh was sentenced to prison in January 2011, she wrote a touching letter to her children, Nima and Mehraveh, who were then three and 11 years of age. “I want you to know,” she said, “that, as a woman, I am proud of the heavy sentence rendered against me and honoured to have defended many human rights defenders. The relentless efforts by women have finally proven that...we can no longer be ignored.”
In another letter, she told her children, “It was my desire to protect the rights of many, particularly the rights of my children and your future.... I believe that the pain that our family and the families of my clients have had to endure over the past few years is not in vain. Justice arrives exactly at the time when most have given up hope.”
Upon the announcement of Nasrin Sotoudeh's prison sentence in March, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed her to the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council. Consistent with its feminist foreign policy, Canada should take similar measures to send a clear message to the people of Iran that it stands on the right side of history, that it stands with courageous women who are the moral leaders and the promise of a better future for Iran. Perhaps Canada could go one step further and bestow an honorary citizenship on Ms. Sotoudeh as a foreigner of exceptional merit, a global symbol of a different conception of power.
Thank you very much.