Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on June 15th, 2021

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Welcome, colleagues, to meeting number 24 of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights.

For the members, we'll go through three to four rounds of questioning of the witnesses, and then we will break to go in camera and come back for some committee business and talk about our next meetings, etc.

Today we are meeting for a briefing on the situation in Iran.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I would encourage all participants to mute their microphones when they're not speaking and address all comments through the chair. When you have about 30 seconds left in your questioning time, I'll signal you with this paper so that witnesses and members are aware of that.

We have interpretation. You'll see a globe icon at the bottom of your screen. You are able to pick English or French, or if you're bilingual, you could leave it the way it is. Please do not take screenshots or photographs while we're going through our meeting.

Our witnesses for the two hours are the following. Kamran Saghah—and I apologize if I've mispronounced a name—is representing the Association of Iranian Ex Political Prisoners in Canada. We have, representing the Iran Democratic Association, President Shahram Golestaneh accompanied by Simin Boorchi, an ex-political prisoner.

Witnesses, you're going to have up to six minutes to make your opening remarks.

We'll begin with Kamran. I'll be timing you for about six minutes, so if you can start now, Kamran, then the other witnesses can go after.

[Kamran Saghah, Electrical Contractor, Association of Iranian Ex Political Prisoners in Canada]

Good evening, everyone. It is my pleasure to be in this meeting today. My name is Kamran Saghah, and I am a resident of Vancouver, B.C., and a proud citizen of Canada.

The violation of human rights in Iran is a book of untold stories that pain the hearts of every human being. Iran's shameful record of human rights has ordered the Iranian regime as the number one executor of the world capital. The merciless judiciary system of the mullahs is responsible for the execution of more than 120,000, including juveniles, the elderly, dual citizens and pregnant women.

I myself have spent part of my youth in Iran prisons and have first-hand witnessed unimaginable brutalities. I was charged for reading the newspaper of the MEK, the group that was opposing the regime. We were a group of five people doing mandatory two-year military service in the summer of 1981. My so-called trial lasted about three minutes, with no lawyer and no chance to defend myself. The face of the so-called “Judge” Fallahi and his sentence have become part of my permanent memory.

Detainment, torture and execution are in fact a way of survival of this regime. Allow me to refer to a few.

There was the massacre of more than 30,000 political prisoners in the summer of 1988. In fact, Ebrahim Raisi, the leading presidential candidate in Iran, was part of the death committee responsible for the massacre, which took my best friend, Amir Anjadani, and some of my relatives, like Ahmad and Agha Mohammad Tasharrofi.

Ali Younesi and Amirhosein Moradi, two international award-winning students, were arrested in April 2020 and charged with a series of accusations of violent acts. Amnesty International said that while detained in separate rooms, Ali Younesi and Amirhosein Moradi had been sleeping on the floor, and were also at times detained alongside individuals accused of violent offences. Amnesty believed that they remained held in section 209 to pressure them to make forced confessions.

More than 150 innocent protesters were killed in daylight by the regime guards in November 2019. More than 4,500 arrested, and many of them are still in prison. The protesters were protesting a sharp spike in fuel prices.

Navid Afkari, 27 years old, a gold-medallist champion wrestler, was executed in September 2020, accused of taking part in anti-government protests. The case set off a campaign by international sports groups to demand clemency for the athletes. His brothers were also arrested, and are still in prison.

Then there was the shooting down of the Ukrainian passenger plane with IRGC missiles, killing 176 people, including many Canadian citizens. It's worth noting that the Ontario Superior Court has ruled it an act of terrorism.

More than 4,300 people have been executed in Iran during Rouhani's tenure. As of now, they include 118 women. The actual number of executions, and particularly executions of women, is much higher. The clerical regime carries out most executions in secret and out of the public eye.

I wish I had more time to draw a more detailed picture of the pain and misery that the people of Iran have endured in the last 42 years.

I want to plead with you not to forget political prisoners in Iran.

Mr. Arzhang Davoodi, a mechanical engineer from Texas, has been languishing for 18 years in various Iranian jails without a single day of furlough. There is Dr. Saeed Masoori, Mr. Saeed Sangar, and the list goes on.

Despite all these painful years, the future of Iran is as bright as a shining star. The dismay, discontent and dissatisfaction of the people of Iran have reached an explosive level. The quests for freedom, peace, a nuclear-free Iran, free elections, gender equality, etc. are all embedded in the 10-point plan of Mrs. Rajavi, the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran for a prosperous Iran.

On behalf of many thousands of Iranian Canadians, I urge the Canadian government and every single one of you to support us for a free Iran, in as many ways as you are able to.

I thank you for the opportunity and look forward to answering your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Mr. Saghah.

Now we'll hear from Mr. Golestaneh and Ms. Boorchi.

[Shahram Golestaneh]

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, honourable members of Parliament and honourable Chair.

I want to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to discuss such an important issue that has affected and will affect many people around the globe and in Canada.

I want to thank the subcommittee and its former and current members for having a unified voice in promoting and defending human rights globally, most notably in Iran.

Mr. Saghah talked about some of the issues. My colleague, Ms. Boorchi, will talk about some of the issues involved in the heartbreaking situation of political prisoners and Iranian prisons.

I want to concentrate my remarks on two major issues. I cannot say how timely this session is to address these issues. First is the shooting down of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 by two IRGC missiles, when 176 passengers, including 58 Canadians, lost their lives and were killed. The second is Iran's so-called presidential election.

The events involved in the shooting down of the Ukrainian flight have been elaborated on in various meetings, and I'm sure you may have heard the testimony by the families in front of the transport committee and many other forums, so I will not repeat those. The families of the victims are devastated. All they want is justice—justice before compensation—and to hold the Iranian leaders accountable for what the Ontario Superior Court of Justice called a deliberate act of terrorism. I guess that's not too much to ask.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau called Iran's behaviour regarding flight PS752 unconscionable. We believe there is enough evidence to take Iran to the international courts. This is what we demand that Canada do, in addition to designating the IRGC a terrorist entity.

The next topic—and I will go very quickly to leave time for questions and answers—is Iran's sham presidential election on June 18, just three days away. The overwhelming call to boycott the election has reached an unprecedented level in recent years. Large segments of society from all walks of life are increasingly calling the election in this regime a sham and illegitimate. Mothers of martyrs of the November 2019 uprising and families of executed and imprisoned political prisoners—including the family of Iranian wrestling champion Navid Afkari, who was executed in 2020—not only all called for boycotting the election but also publicly stated that their vote was to overthrow this regime.

Chanting slogans such as, “We won't vote anymore for we have heard so many lies,” “The people have not forgotten that Raisi is the mass murderer of 1988,” and “Hardliner, reformer, the game is now over,” have become so widespread that social media is full of messages of this kind.

In a posting yesterday, a young man went public and said to Raisi, the so-called front-runner in Iran's presidential election, hand-picked by Khamenei, that Iranians know he is the mass murderer of 1988, and that he knew he was endangering his own life by saying this. He said he was ready for it and that his only request was that when they wanted to hang him, they use a silk rope. Another man tore down posters of Khamenei and pleaded for people to take care of his two kids if he was arrested and executed.

The election in this regime is a farce, not only by our account but now even by those who have fallen out of favour with the regime, including former presidents or leaders of the very same regime who were involved in the mass atrocities.

Raisi, as well as many other officials of this regime, is a top pick for our Magnitsky sanctions. Professor Cotler's Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights published a report with the names of gross human rights abusers, including Raisi, and recommended their inclusion on our sanctions list.

Unfortunately, so far Canada has not added a single individual on that list to its sanctions list, and this is not what a responsible policy is. The minimum Canada can do is to do that and to designate the IRGC a terrorist entity.

The Iranian people will soon decide their own fate, but Canada can and must play a role, such as the one we played in the apartheid regime in South Africa, standing with the Iranian people in their quest for a democratic republic based on the separation of religion and state, gender equality, the abolition of the death penalty and a modern judiciary system that abides by international law.

This is what the people want. They are the very same principles that are enshrined in NCRI president-elect Mrs. Rajavi's 10-point plan and platform for the future Iran.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

Now we're going to move to the members for questions. In our first round, we will start with MP Sidhu from the Liberals, for seven minutes.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses for being with us this evening.

The Iranian presidential election is set to take place later this week—more precisely, on June 18—and since the last election in 2017, many things have changed in the Iranian political landscape.

Mr. Golestaneh mentioned this in his opening remarks, but I'm hoping to hear a little more from Mr. Saghah and Ms. Boorchi in terms of telling this committee more about their perspectives on the presidential election and its various implications.

[Kamran Saghah]

Thank you for your question, Mr. Sidhu.

In fact, what has happened is that the Iranian dictator regime is not like a classic dictator regime. It is a religious fascist government. They use every single way, every tactic, in order to stay in power. I believe they play all the cards they have.

Now, people realize that there is nothing between these regimes that's going to be solved. People realize that more and more now. I can say that for more than 98% of people, when elections are called, they hate them, but unfortunately, they've been controlled by different kinds of secret service—about 53 different organizations to oppress and control people.

It was just this morning that my mom called. She's very old, about 80-something, and she noticed something, because our house is very close to an airport that is hardly used now because they made another big airport in South Tehran. She said, “You don't know how many passenger airlines are coming in.” So many people boycott the regime election that they had to bring them from other countries, like from Iraq or from Hezbollah, or their proxies from all around the region. They stand there on the line and say, “Yes, we have some people to vote for us.” That's all I can say for now.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Thank you for that.

Ms. Boorchi, do you have anything to add in terms of the perspective?

[Simin Boorchi, Ex-Political Prisoner, Iran Democratic Association]

I didn't hear the question because I was disconnected. Can you please repeat it?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Yes. No problem.

As the Iranian presidential election is fast approaching on June 18, I just wanted to hear your perspective on the election. A follow-up to that would be the implication for Iran as an important regional actor. I know that Mr. Saghah mentioned the region quite briefly as well.

[Simin Boorchi]

First of all, the Iranian people do not believe that this is an election. This is a selection.

In any election, you should have a few different parties. The people come out and they talk, and there are new faces, but in Iran it is not like that. It's the supreme leader. Some people come and register. Most of the people they choose have to be 100% devoted to the supreme leader. The supreme leader chooses four, five or six among the candidates, and then tells the people to choose from them.

All of these people who are candidates right now were in the government, and everybody knows about their corruption and their association with the oppression of the people, so to me and to millions of Iranians this is not an election. This is a selection and everybody is boycotting it. People, ordinary people, actually make video messages and put them on the Internet, asking people not to participate.

We all have to put our heads together and put our hands together and overthrow this government, because we have seen so much corruption, for at least 40 years. Enough is enough.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Over the past few years, we have seen many occasions where peaceful protestors have taken to the streets to express their opposition to the regime. The regime responded forcefully. What are the chances that such a nationwide protest would happen again in the near future, and did these protests have an impact on the regime itself?

Mr. Saghah or Mr. Golestaneh or Ms. Boorchi, the floor is open to whoever wants to comment.

[Shahram Golestaneh]

You talked about the prospect. Actually, it is very much what is at play. Basically, even in the past, since 2018, major protests, as you just alluded to, have been held in Iran. The most violent one, from the government perspective, which killed 1,500 people, was in November 2019. Even since then, many protests, like right in the aftermath of the downing of the Ukrainian flight, and on every occasion, every day in Iran, about 200 to 300 protest rallies are taking place, on economic issues, social issues, freedom of expression issues—on every aspect of life. The prospect of change and nationwide uprising is very much on the horizon.

Of course, the oppression of this regime, as Mr. Saghah alluded to, is not a traditional dictatorial regime; it's a religious fascism, I call it, that uses all kinds of methods and tactics to oppress the people. I would not personally expect millions of people to come out, because it's impossible, but I would say organized resistance by the resistance units will bring the regime to its knees very soon.

When people have openly challenged—they are doing it every day—and I mentioned a couple of them in my opening remarks.... I wish we had the opportunity; I believe the members should have the opportunity.... I was not sure whether video clips are accepted as evidence or not, but I believe that even if they are not, then a collection of them could be given to the members so that they know what's happening on the streets in Iran.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you.

Now we're going to move to MP Chiu for seven minutes.

[Kenny Chiu, Conservative, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

To the witnesses attending today, I salute you. Thank you for coming. Your courage and persistence, hopefully, will one day pay off to see a freer, fairer country in Iran that respects justice and human rights.

From another witness who couldn't make it today, we have his written testimony. In it, he mentioned that one of the recommendations is to make sure we focus in Canada on the intimidation of Canadians of Iranian descent and also the interference of these Iranian dissidents in Canada.

Can all three of you speak briefly to what your experience has been? Are these overdramatized descriptions, or is it in fact true that foreign countries like Iran have been intimidating Iranian dissidents?

Let's start with Mr. Saghah.

[Kamran Saghah]

I can give you one example. When they shot down the Ukrainian passenger airline, I went and attended a ceremony, because one of the Iranians on the north shore has a bakery, and his wife and daughter were killed in this shooting.

Believe me, I said, you can do a lot. You can go after and complain and apply for court. He was hesitating. He said he was scared, because he was going back and forth to see his parents or relatives. Even though they are here, they are still scared of the Iranian regime. That's why many family members didn't take action, because of the fear of this regime. Regarding—

[Kenny Chiu, Conservative, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Thank you. Because of the time constraints, I would like to ask the same question of Ms. Boorchi.

[Simin Boorchi]

Yes. I can say that Iranians who live here, when we see some people who are related to the regime or who are supportive of the regime here..... I remember not too long ago, they had a religious ceremony in downtown Richmond Hill. People were chanting and telling them they should not be having this ceremony here. One person was saying, “Allah means 'harmony'; we'll know what to do with you, and the IRGC knows where you are and we will take care of you.”

At one time I was a political prisoner, and now I'm running from Iran. I came all the way from the other side of the world and I see them right under my nose. They are threatening us. This is really scary.

[Kenny Chiu, Conservative, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Golestaneh, is there anything substantial...? Have you heard about cases being reported to Canadian authorities that have borne some fruit, that have been protective of Canadian dissidents?

Have you any advice for the subcommittee?

[Shahram Golestaneh]

Absolutely. There have been many cases.

What Mr. Saghah said, and I will reiterate, is that the victims are victimized twice, and I'm talking about the victims of the shooting down of flight PS752. Many of them have actually complained to the police and security services. Some of them also publicized and published the threatening phone calls, some from Iran and some from within Canada, asking them not to take any legal action. When a victim like that, who has lost his wife, his daughter or a young child, is threatened in such a manner.... You can imagine how widespread these threats are.

Of course, over the years, I have seen many cases of people who have reported to the authorities. Some of those have originated from within Canada. Others, and I would say the majority, have originated from outside Canada but targeted individuals from within Canada. That includes people who have bought their citizenship on bogus claims and are related to the Iranian regime going to other countries and threatening people in various ways.

As Ms. Boorchi said, they say, “We know where you are. We have your credentials. We know how to deal with you.” This is very serious.

[Kenny Chiu, Conservative, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Saghah, to be effective, a fear has to be substantiated. We have a written statement from the other witness who couldn't be here with us today that there have been kidnapping situations.

The regime has to have something to back up the fear. Do you recall any such incidents?

[Kamran Saghah]

Yes, I do.

For example, I've been here for almost 32 years. Can you imagine? They called my sister, who is in another city, and took her in for interrogation by the secret service. They asked for my information, like my phone number, address and everything.

The last time, she gave a different last number of my phone number. They said, no, this is his number. I mean, see how they try to keep this fear of Iran, even abroad?

[Kenny Chiu, Conservative, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, Mr. Chiu.

We'll now move to the Bloc, with MP Brunelle-Duceppe, for seven minutes.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the witnesses for being with us this evening.

I want to acknowledge your courage, resilience and strength you've shown by being with us today. The study we're doing is extremely important.

My first question is for Mr. Golestaneh.

You're aware of what's happening in Iran right now. What is the situation of ethnic and religious minorities? Specifically, why are Kurds and Balochis suffering more? What is the situation of Baha'is and other religious minorities?

Could you please provide an overview of this?