5 December - As a long and nasty House of Commons sitting
comes to a close, members of Parliament showed a bit of holiday spirit on the
Hill on Thursday that would hearten even the most jaded of politicos.
MPs whose parties are normally duking it out in
question period held a joint press conference to advocate for three people
locked in jail abroad.
On the eve of the first anniversary of South
African anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela’s death, Justice Minister Peter
MacKay joined Liberal MP Irwin Cotler (a former justice minister himself),
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Conservative MP Scott Reid (chair of the
House foreign affairs subcommittee on international human rights) to call for
the release of three people they called political prisoners and “Mandelas” of
their countries.
NDP MP Tyrone Benskin was scheduled to appear as
well, but Mr. Cotler said he couldn’t make it because he was attending a
committee meeting.
The following are excerpts from their remarks.
They are edited for style and length.
MacKay:…Ladies and
gentlemen…it’s very poignant that we gather at this time on the eve of the
anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death, knowing that there are similar leaders
currently incarcerated for their struggle to bring about freedom and democracy
and greater human rights in their countries. And we’re truly gathered here in
the name of justice and in that spirit of Nelson Mandela to support three
extraordinary people who are enduring very unfavourable circumstances as
political prisoners and who have been characterized as Mandelas of their
countries.
And while most will agree that there is no single
person alone who is like Nelson Mandela, these three who we speak of today are
among others who in fact embody the spirit of leading the struggle for a free
and democratic country for their people.
The promotion and protection of human rights is
an integral part of the Canadian justice system along with its foreign policy.
Canada takes principled positions on important issues to promote freedom and
democracy and human rights and the rule of law. And being here with my
colleagues from the Canadian Parliament in a unified expression of our support
for those who promote these values in their countries is similarly an
expression of what a non-partisan issue truly is.
Today, I’ve been asked to speak about one of
these three political prisoners, an extraordinary man, currently incarcerated
in Iran [for advocating] separation of religion and state, for condemning the
theocratic nature of the Iranian regime, which he feels drives people from
religion. And he’s been an advocate as well as having called for a referendum
for a free Iran…like Mandela, he’s spent years now, eight years in fact, behind
bars for his unrelenting and unrepentant views.
Like Mandela he has a large following, making him
a threat to authorities currently in power…This man has repeatedly condemned
the gender apartheid that exists in Iran as well as the persecution of ethnic
and religious minorities. His name is Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi.
He’s [an] Iranian Shia Muslim critic who like his father and grandfather before
him has long advocated for the separation of religion and state…
Ayatollah Boroujerdi wrote an open letter to the
[Iranian] supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, accusing him of being responsible
for the violations of human rights in Iran, and calling for a free referendum
in Iran directly supervised by UN observers. As a result of vocalizing
criticism of Iran’s authority and the system, calling it both “a totalitarian
and corrupt dictatorship where the crown has been replaced by the turban,” he
was charged with waging war against God and spreading propaganda against the
system.
All of this resulted in him initially being
sentenced to death in 2006 when he was first arrested…His sentence has
subsequently been reduced to 11 years in prison because of international and
domestic pressure, proving that the voice of the international community does
matter. And while this pressure continues, last month he was told anew by
prison officials that he would soon be executed…
In the past eight years, while he’s been in
prison, due to poor health and poor prison conditions, his health has
continuously deteriorated as well as the worsening of a pre-existing condition
that he has. He’s continually been denied the medical attention that he needs.
And while Canada has strongly condemned his
imprisonment and treatment, others including [Foreign Minister John] Baird have
spoken out against his treatment…there are currently hundreds of prisoners,
political prisoners of conscience, imprisoned in Iran…
I find it an honour to be here today with two of
my parliamentary colleagues [Mr. Reid had not yet arrived] who have both been
outspoken advocates for prisoners who are held for reasons beyond our
understanding in Canada, because of our own democratic rights and freedoms of
expression here. But I do believe that ultimately that our justice system is
only as effective as the strength of the public’s trust in it and governments
must continuously strive to ensure that their justice system evolves with their
citizens.
To conclude, it’s my hope that we will in fact
see a just outcome for all political prisoners that we’ve heard about here
today…
May:…I speak to the case of the
man in his country, Mauritania, known as the Mandela of Mauritania. His name is
Biram Dah Abeid. He has been arrested for campaigning to end a practice that is
already illegal in Mauritania.
Several times, Mauritania has passed laws against
slavery. And yet, the shocking statistic is it’s estimated that 20 per cent of
the population of Mauritania is currently enslaved.
What Mr. Abeid was doing was working with a
movement of which he is the president, a revival of an abolitionist movement
holding rallies, travelling through the country, and pressuring the government
of Mauritania to end the practice of slavery.
It’s called the Caravan of Liberty. And they have
been touring Mauritania peacefully, organizing and raising awareness when, on
Remembrance Day of this year, he and five others were arrested for expressing
their political beliefs and in the aid again of a law in Mauritania that
already makes slavery illegal but which is treated with blind
disregard. Slavery is institutionalized in Mauritania…
We give our full support and we urge the
government of Mauritania to release Mr. Abeid and the five others arrested with
him and to put serious efforts to end the practice of slavery in Mauritania.
I just want to make one other point. Some people
think things like this aren’t possible, but if Irwin Cotler can get Peter
MacKay and me together for a press conference, anything is possible.
Cotler:…We had a week ago the
visit of the wife of the imprisoned leader in Venezuela, Leopoldo López. She
was here together with their counsel, Jared Genser. They appeared before the
foreign affairs subcommittee on international human rights, which is chaired by
Scott Reid.
After their compelling testimony, they met with
the leaders of all parties and secured their support. And the foreign affairs
subcommittee under Scott’s leadership unanimously adopted a resolution condemning
Leopoldo López’s imprisonment and calling for his release…
Reid:…I do want to correct one
incorrect thing that Irwin said, which is “under Scott’s leadership.”
That’s not true. Our committee functions—it’s
actually the only committee or subcommittee that functions this way—completely
on consensus. We never move forward on any item that does not meet with a
consensus. We can’t pass a resolution without consensus. We don’t invite
witnesses without consensus of all the parties. As a practical matter, that
involves just the officially recognized parties, but as a statement of fact,
we’ve always had the support of Ms. May as well in these matters.
Leopoldo López is a distinguished, a very
distinguished, Venezuelan democrat who is deeply respectful of his country’s
constitutional heritage and, if I may say, its spiritual heritage dating back
to Simón Bolívar, and who has attempted to move forward that agenda in the face
of a government which having lost its—having maintained a revolutionary
ideology but having lost its way—now seeks to stifle those who would enact the
genuine ideals of the Venezuelan people of Venezuelan nationalism.
He’s served as a public servant, but has been
imprisoned in recent years as a result of his outspokenness. His wife came and testified
before our committee very movingly and I think her testimony speaks for itself
as does our motion in his support. I’ll stop there. Thank you.
Cotler:…I was here 36 years ago.
At that time, I was a law professor. I was here with Avital Sharansky…the wife
of the then-imprisoned Soviet dissident, Anatoly Sharansky.
We had one person here for a press conference and
the person who was asking the questions, sort of you know, “What is this going
to do?” Nobody really came, etc.
Avital Sharansky answered…very much speaking to
the importance that the media has in this and then she added, “I know one
thing: if we didn’t have this press conference, my husband would never be
released and no one might know of his existence. At least with this press
conference, we’re beginning the call for his release and I believe that some
day, he will be released.”
So let me just close by telling you a story, that
in 1984, [former Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev visited the Canadian
Parliament. Sharansky was released…within a year of Gorbachev [becoming] the
head of the Soviet Union.
I met Gorbachev years later, we were on a panel
together and I asked him what was his role is Sharansky’s release. And through
a translator, he answered me as follows, he said, “You may not believe this,
but when I came to Canada, I had never heard of Anatoly Sharansky. I knew that
he had become a household word in Canada, but I had never heard of him,” he
said.
“So I came before the Canadian parliamentary
committee on agriculture,” it’s an amazing story, he said, “And I thought I
would be getting questions on agriculture, but the parliamentarians started
asking me about this Anatoly Sharansky.”
He said, “I left the Parliament building, there
was a big demonstration,” he said, “and they were talking about this Anatoly
Sharansky. I met with the minister of agriculture in Canada at the time and
yes, we talked about agriculture, but he kept bringing up the case of Anatoly
Sharansky. So I returned to the Soviet Union, then became president of the Soviet
Union. I asked for his file.”
He said, “I looked at the file, yes, he was a bit
of troublemaker,” he said, “but he certainly was not a criminal.” He said, “But
it was costing us to keep him in prison. It was costing us economically,
politically, it was costing us in terms of our legitimacy, so I ordered his
release.”
That’s the power of, you know, public advocacy on
behalf of an imprisoned dissident and political prisoner.
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