Iran blasts Canada as ‘racist’ and ‘self-centred’ for moving UN resolution condemning Islamic Republic’s abuses
AP Photo/Richard Drew/Files
Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee said Canada was "racist" for moving a motion condemning his country's human-rights record.
Iran called Canada “racist” and
“self-centred” at a UN meeting on Tuesday, where it tried to deflect
criticism of its own human rights record and balked at a Canadian-led
resolution condemning Iranian abuses.
In a statement before the humanitarian affairs committee, Iran’s ambassador to the UN said Canada had “a long list of human rights violations” against immigrants, Muslims, aboriginals and “Afro-Canadian women,” and accused Ottawa of “abusing human rights mechanisms to advance its self-centred political interests.”
“In fact, if any country had to get a resolution, [Canada] would have deserved it more than others because of their unsparing support of a regime [Israel] that has frequently committed genocide in the Palestinian Occupied Territories,” Mohammad Khazaee said in a statement to the UN committee, obtained by the National Post.
Mr. Khazaee said it was “ironic” that Israel was among the 42 co-sponsors of the resolution passed by the committee Tuesday. This is the tenth year that Canada has led the now-annual resolution, which is widely expected to pass at the UN General Assembly Plenary once it is sent up for consideration.
The resolution “expresses deep concern” about Iran’s use of torture and the death penalty, its execution of minors, its restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly, its violence against women and the continued house arrest of leading opposition figures from the 2009 presidential elections.
“We won’t stand still in the face of these egregious actions,” Rick Roth, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, said in an email. “We will continue to express serious concern about the ongoing and pervasive human rights violations in Iran, including the persecution of religious minorities.”
The Iranian ambassador said the “claim by Canada and its partners” was a “myth,” and derided the resolution as containing “more than one hundred and fifty unsubstantiated allegations.” He said Ottawa was “racist in behaviour” and that Canada and its co-sponsors were “pseudo-champions [who] are hypocritical in their advocacy of human rights.”
In a strongly worded statement to the committee, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, Guillermo Rishchynski, condemned Iran’s discrimination against Christians, Jews and other religious minorities, but also noted the regime’s release of 130 political prisoners and its recent engagement with the UN Human Rights Committee.
“Canada is a vigorous defender of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the world, and we will continue to urge Iran to uphold its international obligations, to allow for freedom of religion and to respect the fundamental rights of its people,” Mr. Roth said.
National Post
In a statement before the humanitarian affairs committee, Iran’s ambassador to the UN said Canada had “a long list of human rights violations” against immigrants, Muslims, aboriginals and “Afro-Canadian women,” and accused Ottawa of “abusing human rights mechanisms to advance its self-centred political interests.”
“In fact, if any country had to get a resolution, [Canada] would have deserved it more than others because of their unsparing support of a regime [Israel] that has frequently committed genocide in the Palestinian Occupied Territories,” Mohammad Khazaee said in a statement to the UN committee, obtained by the National Post.
Mr. Khazaee said it was “ironic” that Israel was among the 42 co-sponsors of the resolution passed by the committee Tuesday. This is the tenth year that Canada has led the now-annual resolution, which is widely expected to pass at the UN General Assembly Plenary once it is sent up for consideration.
The resolution “expresses deep concern” about Iran’s use of torture and the death penalty, its execution of minors, its restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly, its violence against women and the continued house arrest of leading opposition figures from the 2009 presidential elections.
“We won’t stand still in the face of these egregious actions,” Rick Roth, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, said in an email. “We will continue to express serious concern about the ongoing and pervasive human rights violations in Iran, including the persecution of religious minorities.”
The Iranian ambassador said the “claim by Canada and its partners” was a “myth,” and derided the resolution as containing “more than one hundred and fifty unsubstantiated allegations.” He said Ottawa was “racist in behaviour” and that Canada and its co-sponsors were “pseudo-champions [who] are hypocritical in their advocacy of human rights.”
In a strongly worded statement to the committee, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, Guillermo Rishchynski, condemned Iran’s discrimination against Christians, Jews and other religious minorities, but also noted the regime’s release of 130 political prisoners and its recent engagement with the UN Human Rights Committee.
“Canada is a vigorous defender of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the world, and we will continue to urge Iran to uphold its international obligations, to allow for freedom of religion and to respect the fundamental rights of its people,” Mr. Roth said.
National Post
Labels: Crisis Politics, Culture, Government of Canada, Human Rights, Iran, United Nations, Values
posted by Pieface | 10:30 AM
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