Irwin Cotler on Starred Questions

With respect to Canada’s obligation to prevent genocide: (a) does the government consider the obligation to prevent genocide, pursuant to Article 1 of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to be binding under international law and, if not, on what basis is the government absolved of its obligation under international law; (b) does the government recognize incitement to genocide as a warning sign of genocide; (c) does the government consider the government of Iran to have engaged in incitement to genocide and, if so, what measures has the government taken to respond to the incitement to genocide in Iran, and to curb that incitement to genocide; (d) if the answer to (c) is negative, on what basis does the government dispute the evidence or conclusions presented in the Danger of a Genocidal, Rights-Violating and Nuclear Iran: The Responsibility to Prevent Petition, available online at http://www.irwincotler.parl.gc.ca/documents/081209_petition.pdf (the “Petition”); (e) does the government consider itself to be in standing violation of its “normative and compelling” obligation to “employ all means reasonably available [...] so as to prevent genocide so far as possible” pursuant to the Genocide Convention, as characterized by the International Court of Justice (case no. 91, 26 February 2007) and, if not, on what basis does the government consider its obligation to have been satisfied; (f) does the government consider Iran to have violated the prohibition under the Genocide Convention on direct and public incitement to genocide and, if so, (i) what measures has the government taken to hold Iran accountable for its breach of the Genocide Convention, (ii) has the government or a delegation thereof at the United Nations ever made a public statement calling out Iran for its breach of the Genocide Convention and, if so, by whom was the statement made, to what audience, on what date and at what location; and (g) if the government does not consider Iran to have violated the prohibition under the Genocide Convention on direct and public incitement to genocide, on what basis does the government dispute the evidence or conclusions presented in the Petition?