Questions on the Order Paper  These human rights reports are on the following countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Burma, Burundi, China, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, , Kazakhstan, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malawi, Mexico, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Sudan, Togo, United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.

Iran  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.

Human Rights Situation in Iran  Mr. Chair, the member has highlighted exactly what I have been talking about. The Baha'i community are Iranian citizens. The government is suppressing its own citizens. Suppressing the Baha'i is suppressing Iran's own citizens. This is how bad the government is. That is why we have, time after time, year after year, at the UN General Assembly, raised the issue of Iran's human rights record.

Baha'i Community in Iran  One of the defence lawyers, Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, said that there was no evidence to corroborate the charges against the seven Baha'i individuals. Their only crime was to belong to the Baha'i community. Meanwhile, the government continues to violate their rights. We again condemn this charade, this denial of justice, and we urge Iran to immediately release the seven individuals pending the fair, rapid resolution of their appeal and to stop persecuting Iran's Baha'i community.

Human Rights Situation in Iran  We cannot allow this medieval type of activity to continue in the modern day, the violation of the human rights of not only the Baha'i but, as the parliamentary secretary said, all the other citizens of Iran who do not agree with the government.

Iran  We call for the immediate release of the imprisoned Baha'i educators and leaders along with all Iranian political prisoners. To those brave students who advocate for a free and democratic Iran, who represent the hope for freedom and democracy, we proclaim here today that we stand with them, that we will be there with them and that we will share freedom and democracy together.

Human Rights Situation in Iran  Chair, does the parliamentary secretary know what the government's actions and plans are relating to the persecuted Baha'i community in Iran. As he knows, there are certain actions that the United Nations can take? Since the 1980s, over 200 Baha'i members have been executed, thousands have been arrested, detained and interrogated, and tens of thousands have been deprived of jobs, pensions and educational opportunities.

Public Safety committee  The service assesses that there are approximately 50 Canadians—many in their early twenties—who have travelled or attempted to travel from Canada to Somalia, the Afghanistan-Pakistan tribal areas, Syria and Yemen to engage in terrorism-related activities in recent years. The spectre of these young people returning to Canada—with combat experience and thoroughly radicalized views—is a serious national security concern.

Baha'i Community in Iran  I am calling on the government to call in the Iranian chargé d'affaires, head of the mission, and to call on the Iranian government to stop the persecution of the members of the Baha'i faith and to immediately release the seven leaders of the Baha'i community who remain imprisoned in Iran.

Iran  Mr. Speaker, the recent sentencing of seven members of the Baha'i leadership in Iran to a decade in prison is a looking glass into the plight of human rights in Iran in general and the targeting of Iran's largest religious minority in particular. While the world is necessarily focused on Iran's nuclear pursuits, the massive domestic repression in Iran should be an equally compelling concern as well as a call for action.

Baha'i Community in Iran  Mr. Speaker, Canada has condemned Iran's continued imprisonment of seven Baha'i community leaders. These individuals appear to have been imprisoned because of their religious beliefs. They should be released unconditionally and reunited with their families as soon as possible.

Iran  Mr. Chair, first I believe that the Iranians themselves have solutions, and I asked my colleague a question along those lines. For example, as I told him, several activists think that federalism, whether it be Canadian or otherwise, would be one way of stopping the violations against ethnic minorities, such as the Baha'i community.

Human Rights Situation in Iran  For example, Russia and China, which initially supported the UN sanctions resolution, are enhancing their economic relations with Iran. Turkey and Brazil not only remain outside the sanctions orbit, but have accelerated their trade with Iran. Germany, Austria and Switzerland continue to increase their trade with Iran, with German-Iranian trade at $6 billion annually.

Human Rights Situation in Iran  As late as Tuesday of this week, the committee called back some of its previous witnesses to talk about the state of affairs in Iran today. It is very troubling, because we know that the uprisings that took place in Tunis and Egypt are not going to recur in that way in Iran. I can remember seeing on television the people in Egypt walking up to soldiers and shaking their hands.

Committees of the House  Canada has been a leading voice in speaking out on the persecution of and for the rights and dignity of the Baha'i community in Iran. The Baha'is have been a persecuted minority community in Iran since the inception of the Baha'i faith in Iran over 160 years ago. The persecution has been consistent irrespective of which ideology or political orientation has happened to be in power.