Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank Dr. D'souza for his testimony here today. Dr. D'souza, I was in Durban for the World Conference against Racism in 2001. From your biography, I note that you might have been there as well. That conference, as you know, was intended to be a conference against racism and to give expression to the under-represented cases and causes, such as the case of the Dalits.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to ask Mr. Batebi a question. It'll be the same one for Ms. Zamani. If I have a chance, I'll put a second question. Mr. Batebi, 10 years ago in 1999, when you were then a leader of the student movement, your picture appeared on the front page of The Economist.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's why I somewhat put the question to you.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I just want to take 20 seconds to acknowledge the presence of David Kilgour, a former minister and member of Parliament who was very much engaged in these issues while in Parliament. He continues to be engaged in them outside of Parliament. I welcome him here today.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I also want to express appreciation to the three witnesses for their comprehensive coverage in the allotted time. That was not an easy thing to do, but it was done very effectively. My first question might go primarily to Mr. Stork, but it could be answered by others.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll just put a quick question to Mr. Genser. I'd like to flip it a bit in terms of what can be done from outside the country. As an American, President Obama has announced a policy of engagement with Iran—carrots and sticks, to use a quick snapshot metaphor. What do you think can be done effectively with respect to this policy of engagement?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Mr. Chairman, having listened to the witness testimony, I've already drafted a motion. I think because of the urgency of it, we might be able to get a consensus to act on it right now.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  As we've seen from the witness testimony today, we're clearly witnessing a pervasive prosecution and persecution of the Bahá'ís in Iran. One of the more disturbing phenomena, apart from the increasing arrests and human rights violations and the like, is the state-orchestrated incitement in the media, the demonization of the Bahá'í as a community.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I agree with this. I just want to extend the thinking of Mr. Sweet. In terms of prioritizing, I think he was correct in what he said before. In my view, Iran today is the single greatest threat to international peace and security in a variety of ways. I think we should consider having hearings on what I would call the danger of a nuclear, genocidal, and rights-violating Iran.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I agree with Susanne Tamas. You're correct. You can recommend others, but I want to also recommend Professor Payam Akhavan, who is a professor of international law at McGill University, himself of Bahá'í descent. He has followed the issues and knows them very well.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think it might go more quickly if we informally asked them to do it, and then if we saw that it was not forthcoming, which we could ascertain quickly, we could then more formally move to that effect.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Right.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I welcome Mr. Marston's suggestion. I think we should be looking at this. I also wanted to mention that it might be useful for us to look at the operation of the United Nations council on human rights as a whole. There have been some problems with its operations, not with regard to the Canadian report--that's the better part of their work--but with some of their other approaches.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It might be a good idea to re-adopt what we did adopt and refer it to the foreign affairs committee for their adoption. The other thing is that we could informally inquire whether they were prepared to do it, and if they were, we wouldn't have to go that route. If they were not, then we could go that route.