A Watchful Eye on Iran
Iran is controlled by a corrupt regime, which hampers the international community’s ability to address human rights concerns with economic sanctions, members of the Senate Committee on Human Rights heard Wednesday.
“The problem right now on the issue of sanctions and economic engagement is that you’re engaging with an incredibly corrupt regime — a regime that that controls the wealth of Iran,” Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the committee.
“So essentially you’re engaging with crooks and thieves.”
Dubowitz appeared before the committee as part of Iran Accountability Week, a cross-partisan event co-ordinated by Canadian parliamentarians.
Just reporting the facts on the ground can be dangerous, Dubowitz said. Iran recently sentenced four journalists to a combined 27 years in prison and the country is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists. As of January, there were at least 47 journalists and social media activists in custody.
Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also spoke to the committee.
He described child brides and unlawful executions in a bleak narrative of widespread human rights violations.
In the scope and age of child marriages, for instance, Shaheed said that Iran “doesn’t compare to anybody else.” The age of majority for girls is 13, but for marriage brides can be as low as nine if a judge consents. In the marriages Shaheed documented, 90 per cent of brides had had their first baby by the time they had reached the age of 15.
The use of the death penalty has also been on the rise, the committee heard — and many executed prisoners were convicted of non-violent drug offences. The death penalty has also been used on children under the age of 18, even though Iran is has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Shaheed noted that drug-crime executions have left entire villages bereft of men; Shahindokht Molaverdi, a member of the Iranian government’s cabinet in Women and Family Affairs, has courageously spoken out against the republic’s drug policy.
“She’s under pressure from the hard-liners for her statements like this,” Shaheed said.
People like Molaverdi show that there’s an appetite for change within the country.
“Iranian people are, by and large, highly educated, sophisticated and actually demanding rights wherever and whenever they can,” Shaheed told the committee.
“If they have a real voice, then we have a very different Iran.”
Houchang Hassan-Yari, a political science professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, also spoke to members of the committee.
He said families of Iran’s political prisoners often face punishment; children of political prisoners are sometimes prevented from graduating unless their parent begs forgiveness or repents.
Committee members asked what Canada could do to help with the human rights situation in Iran. All three witnesses warned the federal government to move with caution when exploring new relationships with Iran.
Senator Linda Frum asked if Western governments’ re-engagement with Iran should be seen as tacitly supporting Iran’s human rights record.
“If Canada re‑engages diplomatically with Iran, is that conducive to our ability to pressure Iran to improve its human rights record?” Senator Frum asked. “Or will it be seen as some kind of approval on the part of Canada … some kind of acceptance of their human rights record?”
Other suggestions included amending the Special Economic Measures Act to tie Canada’s sanctions mechanism to breaches of international peace and security.
“The human rights abuses in Iran can’t be ignored,” said Senator Jim Munson, Chair of the committee. “We feel it is critical to give a voice to all Iranian citizens.”
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A Watchful Eye on Iran
Iran is controlled by a corrupt regime, which hampers the international community’s ability to address human rights concerns with economic sanctions, members of the Senate Committee on Human Rights heard Wednesday.
“The problem right now on the issue of sanctions and economic engagement is that you’re engaging with an incredibly corrupt regime — a regime that that controls the wealth of Iran,” Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the committee.
“So essentially you’re engaging with crooks and thieves.”
Dubowitz appeared before the committee as part of Iran Accountability Week, a cross-partisan event co-ordinated by Canadian parliamentarians.
Just reporting the facts on the ground can be dangerous, Dubowitz said. Iran recently sentenced four journalists to a combined 27 years in prison and the country is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists. As of January, there were at least 47 journalists and social media activists in custody.
Ahmed Shaheed, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, also spoke to the committee.
He described child brides and unlawful executions in a bleak narrative of widespread human rights violations.
In the scope and age of child marriages, for instance, Shaheed said that Iran “doesn’t compare to anybody else.” The age of majority for girls is 13, but for marriage brides can be as low as nine if a judge consents. In the marriages Shaheed documented, 90 per cent of brides had had their first baby by the time they had reached the age of 15.
The use of the death penalty has also been on the rise, the committee heard — and many executed prisoners were convicted of non-violent drug offences. The death penalty has also been used on children under the age of 18, even though Iran is has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Shaheed noted that drug-crime executions have left entire villages bereft of men; Shahindokht Molaverdi, a member of the Iranian government’s cabinet in Women and Family Affairs, has courageously spoken out against the republic’s drug policy.
“She’s under pressure from the hard-liners for her statements like this,” Shaheed said.
People like Molaverdi show that there’s an appetite for change within the country.
“Iranian people are, by and large, highly educated, sophisticated and actually demanding rights wherever and whenever they can,” Shaheed told the committee.
“If they have a real voice, then we have a very different Iran.”
Houchang Hassan-Yari, a political science professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, also spoke to members of the committee.
He said families of Iran’s political prisoners often face punishment; children of political prisoners are sometimes prevented from graduating unless their parent begs forgiveness or repents.
Committee members asked what Canada could do to help with the human rights situation in Iran. All three witnesses warned the federal government to move with caution when exploring new relationships with Iran.
Senator Linda Frum asked if Western governments’ re-engagement with Iran should be seen as tacitly supporting Iran’s human rights record.
“If Canada re‑engages diplomatically with Iran, is that conducive to our ability to pressure Iran to improve its human rights record?” Senator Frum asked. “Or will it be seen as some kind of approval on the part of Canada … some kind of acceptance of their human rights record?”
Other suggestions included amending the Special Economic Measures Act to tie Canada’s sanctions mechanism to breaches of international peace and security.
“The human rights abuses in Iran can’t be ignored,” said Senator Jim Munson, Chair of the committee. “We feel it is critical to give a voice to all Iranian citizens.”