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O 281842Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0015
INFO ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000822 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV IR CA
SUBJECT: CANADA: MPs PASS CENSURE MOTION ON IRAN 
 
REF: OTTAWA 820 
 
OTTAWA 00000822  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Canada's House of Commons has unanimously passed a 
strongly-worded, non-binding motion supporting the democratic 
aspirations and human rights of the people of Iran, condemning 
Iran's disregard of UN Security Council Resolutions 1696, 1737, 
1747 and 1803 and International Atomic Energy Agency requirements, 
and advising that Canada recommend to international organizations 
of which it is a member that a new set of targeted sanctions be 
implemented against Iran, in concert with allies, unless Iran 
complies with its human rights and nuclear obligations in law and 
in practice.  Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon confirmed separately 
that Canada will again table in the United Nations General Assembly 
a resolution on the Situation of Human Rights in Iran (reftel). 
The International Human Rights Sub-Committee of the House of 
Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee is also currently wrapping up a 
lengthy study of the human rights situation in Iran.  The Commons 
has now unanimously passed two resolutions in seven months 
condemning human rights practices in Iran, sending a strong signal 
of concern over ongoing violations. End summary 
 
 
 
STRONGLY-WORDED MOTION 
 
 
 
¶2. (U) On October 27, the House of Commons unanimously passed a 
strongly-worded, non-binding motion censuring Iranian authorities 
for their violation of the democratic and human rights of the 
Iranian people and their non-compliance with Iran's nuclear 
obligations under international law.  The Chair of the 
International Human Rights Sub-committee of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee moved the motion after prior private consultation with 
representatives of all four parties in the Commons, including the 
ruling Conservatives.  After passage, the motion becomes a 
resolution of the House with no legal effect, but stands as an 
expression of the opinion of elected members and forms part of the 
official record of the House. 
 
 
 
¶3. (U) The text of the parliamentary motion follows: 
 
 
 
"By unanimous consent it was resolved, - That, in the opinion of 
the House: (a) Canada supports the democratic aspirations of the 
people of Iran; (b) Canada condemns the use of violence and force 
by Iranian authorities against their own people to suppress 
pro-democracy demonstrations following the Iranian presidential 
elections of June 12, 2009; (c) Canada condemns the use of torture 
by Iranian authorities; (d) Canada calls for the immediate release 
of all political prisoners held in Iran; (e) Canada calls on Iran 
to fully respect all of its human rights obligations, both in law 
and in practice; (f) Canada condemns Iran's complete disregard for 
legally binding United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1696, 
1737, 1747 and 1803 and International Atomic Energy Agency 
requirements; (g) Canada affirms its opposition to nuclear 
proliferation and condemns any pursuit by Iran of nuclear weapons 
capability; and (h) Canada recommends to international 
organizations of which it is a member that a new set of targeted 
sanctions be implemented against Iran, in concert with allies, 
unless Iran comes into compliance with its human rights and nuclear 
obligations in law and in practice." 
 
 
 
CANADA TO TABLE MOTION ON IRAN FOR SIXTH SUCCESSIVE YEAR 
 
 
 
¶4. (U) Approval of the motion immediately followed the daily 
Question Period in the Commons, during which Foreign Minister 
Lawrence Cannon confirmed that, for the sixth successive year, 
"Canada will table a strong resolution at the United Nations 
General Assembly that will continue to take Iran to task for its 
appalling behavior in international affairs and the blatant 
disregard the regime carries out on its own citizens.  Under this 
government, we will stand up for human rights with everybody who is 
supporting us." 
 
 
 
HR SUB-COMMITTEE COMPLETES IRAN STUDY 
 
OTTAWA 00000822  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶5. (U) Separately, the House of Commons' Sub-Committee on 
International Human Rights is wrapping up a lengthy study of the 
human rights situation in Iran.  The Sub-Committee began its study 
in March.  Committees and Sub-Committees have the power to study 
any issue proposed by their members that falls within their 
mandate, do not need government clearance of their topics, and may 
draw up their own witness lists.  Witnesses included 
representatives of the Department of Foreign Affairs and 
International Trade, Genocide Watch, Amnesty International, Human 
Rights Watch, B'nai Brith Canada, the Iran Human Rights 
Documentation Center, the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, the 
Translatlatic Institute, the Canadian Centre for International 
Justice, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Human 
Rights Activists in Iran, Association for Defence of Azerbaijani 
Political Prisoners in Iran, Baha'i Community of Canada, and, as 
individuals, Sharif Behruz (Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan), 
Professor Alan Dershowitz (Harvard Law School), and Stephan Kazemi 
(the son of Canadian-Iranian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who died 
in 2003 of injuries sustained while in custody in Iran).  Testimony 
has focused on the better use of effective, targeted sanctions and 
Iran's violation of human rights and minority rights, as well as 
Iranian authorities' incitement to genocide, support for 
international terrorism, and efforts to acquire nuclear weapons. 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Sub-Committee Chair and Conservative MP Scott Reid told 
poloffs that the Sub-Committee expects to finish its hearings by 
early to mid-November, and has begun to draft what he thought would 
be a useful report.  Despite the inherent partisanship of a 
minority parliament, Reid noted that the dynamic on the 
Sub-Committee was productive, and that he strove as Chair to guide 
members toward study topics on which there was likely to be a 
degree of consensus that would produce stronger reports and that 
would have a real impact.  However, he admitted that the two Bloc 
Qu????b????cois members of the Sub-Committee were "uncomfortable" 
with 
the draft report's wording related to genocide and could "hold out" 
against the majority on the Sub-Committee.   He further 
acknowledged that the Sub-Committee's parent committee -- the 
Foreign Affairs Committee -- may similarly find elements of the 
report contentious.  The Sub-Committee's report must first be 
approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee before submission to the 
full House of Commons.  Reid acknowledged that "most" of the 
Sub-Committee's work never leaves the Foreign Affairs Committee, 
and declined to estimate when, or if, the present report would be 
released. 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) The primary driver behind the present study is Liberal MP 
Irwin Cotler, past president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, 
former Liberal Minister of Justice, and a former professor of 
international human rights at McGill University in Montreal, 
Quebec.  Cotler is also ex officio member of the Canadian 
Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA).  The CPCCA 
will host the second international Inter-parliamentary Committee 
for Combating Antisemitism in 2010 (Scott Reid is co-Chair.) 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) The Sub-Committee previously studied the Baha'i community in 
Iran.  The Sub-Committee reported its study on that issue to the 
House of Commons in February.  On March 30, the House of Commons 
unanimously adopted a strongly-worded motion forwarded by the 
Sub-Committee condemning the "ongoing persecution" of the Baha'i 
community in Iran and calling for the reconsideration of charges 
against, and the release of, Baha'i members of the Friends of Iran 
arrested in 2008, or that they be brought to trial without delay, 
and that the trial be open, fair and conducted in the presence of 
international observers. 
JACOBSON