Madam Speaker, I rise today to express our concerns with the cases of Ms. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, Mr. Hossein Derakhshan and Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall.
We are concerned by their continuing mistreatment at the hands of the Iranian authorities.
Iran is a signatory to the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights. As such, Iran is obligated to ensure that the rights of these detained individuals are upheld. Failure to do so is a failure by the Iranian government to meet its legal obligations.
Yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs called in the senior representative of Iran in Canada to answer for his government's continued mistreatment of Ms. Ashtiani.
Today a motion was passed unanimously in this House to express the concern of Canadians regarding the treatment of Ms. Ashtiani.
Canada and the international community will continue to hold the Iranian authorities accountable to their international obligations.