November 15-2013
Canada’s foreign affairs minister, John Baird, has fired another broadside at the Islamic Republic, attacking it mercilessly for its human rights record in an op-ed article in the National Post, one of Canada’s national dailies.
Baird’s assault comes as most of the rest of the world is concentrating on the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program to the exclusion of human rights questions.
Under both Liberal Party and Conservative Party governments, Canada has concentrated on human rights in Iran since 2003, when dual national Zahra Kazemi was beaten to death while in government hands. But Baird has added a new intensity to the Canadian campaign while other countries have allowed the rights issue to be replaced by Syria and uranium enrichment.
One unanswered question is whether Baird has taken this initiative on his own or is being lobbied by Nazanin Afshin-Jam, the most vocal person on the Iranian human rights issue in Canada and the wife of Baird’s cabinet colleague, Justice Minister Peter MacKay.
At any rate, Baird’s campaign has gotten the attention of Tehran. Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif lashed out at Canada last week with undiplomatic vehemence after he saw Baird’s op-ed. Zarif went out of his way to give an interview to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) while he was in Geneva with the nuclear issue on his plate.
Zarif told the CBC that Canada has no credibility to speak out on human rights because it consistently supports Israel. In recent years, since Canada fervently took up the human rights issue, the Islamic Republic has savaged Canada repeatedly, mainly accusing it of gross violations of the rights of indigenous peoples.
In his op-ed last week, Baird took note of the Islamic Republic’s new posture on the nuclear issue—but he didn’t sound impressed.
“All of us who long have felt despair over the Iranian regime’s baneful influence abroad and its ruthless oppression of its own people want to believe that the country is genuinely committed to positive change at home and in its foreign relations,” Baird wrote.
“But we do not have the luxury of being naive. Nor do the Iranian people, who have suffered for far too long. Standing in front of cameras and tweeting about change are all too easy. The hard part is following through, making difficult decisions and undertaking meaningful change. We must judge the Iranian government by its deeds, not its words. President Rohani marks his first 100 days in office on Tuesday and, by any measure, these deeds have fallen short.”
Baird wrote: “In order to demonstrate its seriousness about meaningful change on human rights, Iran would need to go beyond half measures and take a number of concrete steps to address the legitimate concerns of the international community about how the country’s people are treated.
“First, allow the UN Special Rapporteur [Ahmed Shaheed] to visit Iran….
“Second, ratify and implement the provisions of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. That would involve legal prohibition of these forms of treatment or punishment, which include prolonged solitary confinement, extraction of confessions under torture, flogging and stoning, and denial of medical treatment to prisoners.
“Third, investigate allegations of abuse of prisoners in Iran’s detention facilities, and ensure the prosecution and punishment of perpetrators.
“Fourth, guarantee freedom of expression — in law and in practice — including full, unfettered access to the Internet.
“Finally, the Iranian leadership should prohibit by law all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, ethnicity and gender — and enforce such a law,… adopting policies and laws that promote the participation of women in public life, including candidacies for the office of president; and amending Iran’s civil code so that a husband may no longer prevent his wife from working or pursuing a professional career.”
Baird wrote: “Our skepticism regarding Iran is drawn from seeing decades of inaction on issues such as these…. Until we see these concrete actions, we owe it to the Iranian people to forcefully encourage Iran’s rulers to comply with its international human rights obligations.
“This is why Canada has, this year, once again tabled a resolution on Iran’s human rights record at the United Nations.” That resolution is expected to be voted on in committee this month and by the UN General Assembly next month.
“Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Iran, in the hope that one day soon they will enjoy the fundamental rights, dignity and respect to which we believe all human beings are entitled,” Baird concluded.