Mr. Speaker, parliamentary elections are taking place in Iran in the shadow of a massive state-sanctioned assault on the human rights of the Iranian people, the imprisonment and silencing of all opposition in the run-up to the Iranian election, actions that are constitutive of crimes against humanity, including arrests, beatings, torture, detentions and the highest per capita rate of executions in the world.
We are witness also to the imprisonment of the entire Baha'i leadership; the imprisonment and silencing of more journalists, bloggers and filmmakers than any other country; the persistent and pervasive assaults on the women's rights movement; the criminalization of fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, association and assembly; and the shutting down of all independent civic and trade union organizations.
While the world is focusing on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weaponization program, we cannot abandon the people of Iran who are themselves the targets and victims of the Iranian regime's massive assault on human rights. We must champion their case and cause and let them know that the world is watching, that they are not alone and that we stand in solidarity with them.