Skip to main content

FAAE Committee Report

If you have any questions or comments regarding the accessibility of this publication, please contact us at accessible@parl.gc.ca.

PDF

LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION 1

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to provide moral support and should increase, if possible, its financial support for Canadian and Iranian civil society organizations and other human rights groups that document and report on human rights abuses committed by the Iranian regime.

RECOMMENDATION 2

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada provide moral and diplomatic support to the democratic movement in Iran.

RECOMMENDATION 3

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada demand, at every appropriate opportunity, that the Iranian government grant access to international human rights organizations within its borders and allow domestic human rights organizations to operate without restriction or harassment.

RECOMMENDATION 4

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada consider funding a research chair at a Canadian university dedicated to the study of Canadian-Iranian relations, including the human rights situation in Iran.

RECOMMENDATION 5

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada encourage Radio Canada International to consider programming in Farsi over its worldwide shortwave service, over conventional AM/FM broadcasting in the Gulf region, and over the Internet.

RECOMMENDATION 6

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada take appropriate action to ensure that Iranian foreign offices, bureaus or media outlets in Canada are not used by the Iranian regime as a source of threat and intimidation of the Iranian Diaspora in Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 7

The Subcommittee recommends that, in communicating its condemnation of the human rights violations of the Iranian regime against its own people, the Government of Canada:

  • Use all available tools, already authorized under Canada’s existing immigration and visa legislation, to ensure that high-ranking members of the regime are not able to access direct or indirect support from within Canadian territory.
  • Reduce high-level interaction with Iranian Government officials and make any invitations extended to Iranian officials conditional upon effective actions taken by the Iranian government to improve the human rights situation in Iran.

RECOMMENDATION 8

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada, in communicating its condemnation of the human rights violations perpetrated by members of Iran’s state security agencies against the Iranian people, use all available tools, authorized by existing immigration and visa policies and legislation, to deny entry to Canada to members of Iran’s security agencies, including members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Basij militia.

RECOMMENDATION 9

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure sufficient resources are available to the Department of Justice, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to ensure that they are able to make accurate decisions related to recommendations 7 and 8.

RECOMMENDATION 10

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada institute targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against those individuals within the Iranian government and state security forces who are known to have committed human rights violations.

RECOMMENDATION 11

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to display public disapproval of the Iranian regime and its leadership and continue to make active interventions during any bilateral meetings with Iranian government officials as well as at the United Nations Human Rights Council, the United Nations General Assembly and other international organisations regarding Iran’s poor human rights record.

RECOMMENDATION 12

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada work multilaterally with other member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council to re-establish a position for a country-specific rapporteur on human rights in Iran.

RECOMMENDATION 13

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada completely remove immunity for foreign governmental officials in cases of gross violations of international human rights law, including torture, from the State Immunity Act allowing Canadians who are victims of such human rights violations judicial remedy within Canada’s domestic legal system.

RECOMMENDATION 14

The Subcommittee recommends that, as a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Government of Canada should use every opportunity to encourage the IAEA to continue its efforts to inspect Iranian nuclear production facilities.

RECOMMENDATION 15

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to work with the United Nations and members of the international community to add sanctions to those already imposed against Iran. In particular, the Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada move in concert with its international partners to implement the necessary regulations under the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) and/or Export and Import Permits Act to impose:

  • A ban on all goods exported from Canada to Iran, excepting humanitarian goods such as food and medicine, and a ban on all goods imported from Iran to Canada;
  • A ban on businesses or their subsidiaries operating in Canada from exporting gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran or facilitating such export (i.e. the shipping and insurance industries);
  • A ban on new investment in Iran or the introduction of incentives to prevent such investments, particularly with regards to Iran’s energy infrastructure, by Canadian persons and companies (as well as foreign companies or their subsidiaries operating in Canada) and including related industries such as shipping, insurance and construction companies;>
  • A prohibition on the provision of financial services to and from Iran, particularly regarding any transactions with the Iranian Central Bank, by businesses or their subsidiaries operating in Canada;
  • A prohibition on the export of any technologies to Iran, particularly those that enable the Iranian regime to violate the human rights of its own people (including but not limited to surveillance equipment);
  • A prohibition on Canadian-registered ships from docking in Iran and on Iranian-registered ships from docking in Canada and passing through Canadian waters.

RECOMMENDATION 16

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada call upon United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to refer the matter of Iran’s genocidal incitement to the Security Council pursuant to Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, on the basis that Iran poses a threat to international peace and security.

RECOMMENDATION 17

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada include Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a listed entity for its role in supporting international terrorist organizations in accordance with Canadian law.

RECOMMENDATION 18

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada assist with the enforcement of standing international arrest warrants that have been filed against Iranian government officials.

RECOMMENDATION 19

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada initiate an inter-state complaint against the Government of Iran before the International Court of Justice, under Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, calling Iran to account for its violations of the Convention, including its failure to punish the incitement to genocide perpetrated by its officials.

RECOMMENDATION 20

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada, in accordance with Canada’s responsibilities under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention and the prohibition against incitement to genocide in Article 3 of the Convention, invite the United Nations Security Council to consider referring to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court the case of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and those Iranian leaders participating with him in direct and public incitement to genocide, for investigation and prospective prosecution.

RECOMMENDATION 21

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada petition the United Nations Security Council, in accordance with Canada’s responsibilities under Article 1 of the Genocide Convention and the prohibition against incitement to genocide in Article 3 of the Convention, to take appropriate action and to hold Iran to account.

RECOMMENDATION 22

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada encourage the governments of the P5 plus 1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, and China) to include a discussion of human rights issues in their negotiations with the Iranian government regarding that country’s nuclear programs.

RECOMMENDATION 23

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada continue to fund the work of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Centre and encourage the Centre to open an office in Canada.

RECOMMENDATION 24

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government of Canada ensure that when federal grants and other assistance are made to educational and other institutions that this assistance be contingent on these institutions not accepting money from Iranian sources.