Mr. Speaker, I move that the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development presented on Thursday, March 5, 2009 be concurred in.
Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Mount Royal.
I would like to begin by thanking the members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights for voting in support of my motion which we are debating in the House this evening.
Canada is a nation that places a high premium on human rights. We as Canadians have a profound and enduring obligation to be a voice in the international community whenever we are witness to human rights violations around the world. This is the case with the persistent and targeted oppression of the Baha’í community and other minority communities in Iran. Simply put, this oppression in Iran is intolerable and unacceptable.
The reality is that this so-called republic is a theocracy ruled by Shia clerics who have imposed their own brand of religious interpretation that is heavy-handed, fundamentalist and intolerable. On paper, Iran is a signatory to five major human rights treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Iran's failure to abide by these treaties violates international law. Each of these treaties enshrines basic rights for the citizens of the signatory country, but also an obligation by that country to modify domestic law to ensure compliance with international treaty obligations. The reality in Iran, as confirmed by human rights groups, is that there are serious violations of human rights in that country. Reports place a number of persons executed since the Islamic revolution in 1979 at over 100,000 people, including those who were juveniles at the time of their convictions.
Basic civil liberties such as freedom of speech, expression, assembly, religion and privacy, all of which citizens in democratic states take for granted, are severely restricted and in many cases punished through any number of draconian means which are sanctioned and encouraged by the Iranian government. There have been arbitrary arrests, extended disappearances and the extrajudicial detention of those who are, in reality, only political prisoners.
We in Canada were appalled and justifiably outraged when we witnessed the detention and murder of Iranian Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi. I have persistently spoken out over the years against human rights violations in Iran. The Iranian government has consistently demonstrated that it shares no commitment whatsoever to religious or political freedom, internationally as well as domestically. On more than one occasion, comments by Iran's supreme leader and also those by its president have called for the extermination of the Jewish people and the outright destruction of the state of Israel. They have repeatedly uttered the most disgraceful and hurtful denials of the Holocaust that have been heard from any government in living memory.
When taken together, the actions and the hate-mongering of the Iranian government makes the prospect of an Iran with nuclear capabilities all the more frightening. My hon. colleague, the member for Mount Royal illustrated this very well when in the last Parliament he stated:
The parading of a Shehab III missile in the streets of Tehran, draped in the emblem of “wipe Israel off the map”, underpinned by a virulent anti-Semitism that calls for a new Holocaust, as it denies the old one, and threatens to burn Muslims who evince any support for Israel, constitutes a standing assault on international peace and security, and a clear and present danger to us all.
Failing to address these threats not only leaves our friends vulnerable but calls into question our own values. In Iran, the disturbing international utterances are manifested in the daily conduct of the government there. Minority groups are essentially targets for untold human rights abuses. According to the United Nations, the Baha’i community, which numbers around 300,000, is the largest minority group out of Iran's 70 million people.
The Iranian government has reacted to the beliefs of the Baha’is by brutally cracking down on the leaders of the faith in Iran through persecution against its members and the spreading of blatant misinformation about the Baha’i faith to the population of Iran. In one prominent example, Muslims were encouraged to sign a poster outside a mosque before Friday prayers that accused the Baha’is of spreading lies against Islam and perpetrating cowardly attacks in hopes of “advancing the political, cultural and economic aims of global Zionism” and calling on Iran's attorney general to “confront all elements of this organization and dissolve its administration”.
These so-called dissolution efforts have manifested themselves through targeted discrimination and have led to the imprisonment of adherents of the Baha’i faith.
In 2005 the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion uncovered a confidential letter from the command headquarters of the armed forces of Iran ordering the identification of all Baha'is and monitoring their activities.
This particular motion calls to attention the wrongful arrest and detention of seven members of the group, Friends of Iran, who are being held in the political prison section of Evin prison in Tehran. These individuals are being held without charges, evidence or access to legal counsel.
A lawyer and Nobel laureate, Shirin Ebadi, found herself subjected to death threats and subsequent closure of her office when she announced her intention to represent the Baha'is in court.
There is a concern within the Baha'i community for the safety of these detained members. Given the realities portrayed by international agencies and the poor reputation the Iranian government has for basic human rights, all of us should be concerned with this present injustice in specific terms and the overall deteriorating situation for minority communities in Iran.
As parliamentarians and as leaders in the international community with a long commitment to promoting fundamental human rights, we must condemn this situation without reservation at every available opportunity.
Canada's government must send a message that is unmistakable in its tone that we view the conduct of the Government of Iran as reprehensible and intolerable. If nothing is done, we can be assured that countries like Iran will continue to oppress minority groups with impunity.
I am calling on Parliament and the government first and foremost to condemn the ongoing violation of human rights taking place in Iran, especially as it pertains to the Baha'is. Moreover, I call on the Government of Canada to urge the Government of Iran in the strongest possible terms to release these captives, or at the very least, to conduct internationally recognized fair, open and legally legitimate trials for these members of the Friends of Iran.
We have an obligation to shine a light on these injustices. I thank those dedicated individuals who have brought them to our attention and who continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this issue is exposed and not forgotten.
I am reminded of the famous quote by Pastor Martin Niemöller who remarked, when referring to the Holocaust, “When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out”.
We as Canadians who are recognized the world over for our commitment to human rights must be a voice that is heard across the world for dignity, respect and freedom for all persons. We must speak loudly and clearly and never hesitate to shine a light on violations of human rights everywhere.
