Mr. Chair, I will be splitting my time with the member for Scarborough—Rouge River.
As the representative of a large diasporic Iranian community in my riding of New Westminster—Coquitlam and also Port Moody, I have had the opportunity to discuss Iranian human rights abuses with residents, such as Ali Pahlavanlu and Fred Soofi, as well as the Tri-City Iranian Cultural Society. I am therefore quite pleased to rise in the House to participate in tonight's take note debate regarding Iran Accountability Week.
As we know, the Iranian regime record on human rights has been utterly deplorable. The international community and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have condemned widespread violations of political, economic and social rights in Iran. Violations include deprivation of the freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and democratic participation. As well, there is political imprisonment and torture. Women face substantial and systemic discrimination. Homosexuality is punishable by flogging and execution. Journalists and bloggers are often targeted for arbitrary arrests. Baha‘i leaders and observers have been persecuted and imprisoned.
For instance, in January 2013, 11 journalists were arrested on the accusation of co-operating with foreign media organizations in a targeted clampdown against the BBC and Voice of America. This followed the January 2010 execution of two men, arrested solely for exercising their right to peacefully protest during the period of unrest that followed the disputed presidential election in June 2009.
These two stories are not unique. Tragically, the arrest and execution of political dissidents is all too common in today's Iran. Ahmed Shaheed, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, issued two reports last year that found “an apparent increase in the degree of seriousness of human rights violations”, and expressed alarm at the “rate of executions in the country, especially for crimes that do not meet serious crimes standards”. He found “no sign of improvement” on rights issues previously raised by UN monitoring mechanisms.
Canadians expect their government to do the hard diplomatic work and international engagement needed to advance accountability and human rights in Iran and around the world. Canada's New Democrats believe that our great country has an important diplomatic role to play in bringing Iran back into the mainstream international community, and to continue advancing the notion of a role that a Canadian diplomatic presence would have on that regime.
This sentiment was shared by former Canadian ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor, when he stated:
Diplomacy for me is, one way or another, a method to influence an adversary. And to do that you need an exchange, you need to even though you’re not partial to that regime.
We all recognize the need for continued caution in our diplomatic approach, but the Conservatives must do more than just condemn Iran. Denouncing the Iranian regime cannot replace strong diplomacy. Instead, the government should be looking at how Canada can engage responsibly with Iran to encourage more reforms.
As former British foreign secretary William Hague stated:
This agreement shows it is possible to work with Iran, and through diplomacy address intractable problems.
This statement calls into question the Conservatives' decision to sever diplomatic relations with Iran in 2012, given the important diplomatic role that Canada could be playing to strengthen human rights protections and foster democratic change. Despite our strong opposition to the Iranian regime, New Democrats nonetheless believe that Canada must have a seat at the diplomatic table. Without one, our criticism of the Iranian regime is largely rhetoric, lacking the leverage which a strong diplomatic presence would create.
In conclusion, Canada's New Democrats will continue to stand with the people of Iran and speak out when their voices are unfairly silenced in their pursuit of freedom, peace, democracy and fair application of the rule of law. We will also continue pushing the Canadian government to engage diplomatically with the Iranian regime. As such, an engagement could have a tangible impact on altering the most deplorable actions of the regime.
Finally, I would also like to commend the members for Ottawa Centre and Hamilton East—Stoney Creek for their active participation in Iran Accountability Week and their continued efforts on behalf of Canada's New Democrats to raise the issue of these serious human rights violations.