Mr. Speaker, next week, we will be holding Iran Accountability Week to sound the alarm on the Iranian threat to international peace and security and, in particular, the massive domestic oppression that is intensifying in the run up to the Iranian presidential elections in June.
Indeed, Iran Accountability Week can not have come at a more propitious time, coinciding with the 5th anniversary of the imprisonment of the Bahá'i leadership; the 25th anniversary of the 1988 massacre of Iranian political dissidents; and the recent report of 2,600 political prisoners in Iran, including imprisoned women, ethnic and religious leaders, journalists, bloggers, artists, students and trade union leaders. Simply put, they are the leaders of Iranian civil society, many under threat of execution.
Accordingly, we will launch Iran Accountability Week on Monday May 27, with the announcement of the Iranian political prisoner global advocacy project. Canadian parliamentarians will be paired with Iranian political prisoners to let them know that they are not alone, we stand in solidarity with them, the whole world is watching and we will be relentless in our advocacy of their case and cause.
I ask all parliamentarians to join us in the pursuit of justice on behalf of the Iranian people.