Alwaght- Amid Iran's intelligence and security organizations’ conclusion that stresses the Western countries are inciting civil war and separatism in Iran as their ultimate goals, in a recent move, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee approved a Canada-drafted resolution on what it called “human rights situation” in Iran.
The resolution, accusing Iran of discrimination against minorities, was passed by 79 affirmative votes against 28 opposite votes. 68 countries abstained from voting.
The resolution will be sent to General Assembly next month for final approval. In the controversial meeting, Western diplomats, united in their stances, repeated their claims about human rights conditions and the recent months unrest and riots in Iran. Eastern diplomats responded with opposite views.
The Canadian envoy to the General Assembly threw his backing behind the riots and apparently terrorist actions of the rioters and separatist groups, saying that their demands are legitimate and require support of international community.
The General Assembly resolutions, unlike those of the Security Council, are not disciplinary or binding and referred to as advisory measures, but Washington and its allies are trying to mobilize the international community against Iran by taking such measures in the UN and embolden terrorists and rioters to continue their actions.
Reacting to the Canadian-led Western motion, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Naser Kanani said that it lacked legal justification and so was rejected. This action not only does not help improve the human rights, but also perpetuates negative clichés and political-motivated labeling of independent countries, he continued.
Since the unrest broke out in Iran about two months ago, the US-led West put all of its focus on the riots and initiated an anti-Iranian propaganda. Meanwhile, Canada has turned into one of the Western forerunners of a campaign of incitement against Tehran, pursuing its agenda on Iran brazenly.
Canada the firebrand
This is not the first anti-Iranian action by Canada. In October, the Canadian government gave a green light to Iranian opposition and separatist groups to organize rallies in its cities. The population, claimed to be around 50,000, chanted anti-Iranian slogans and in a closing statement backed the rioters in Iran and condemned their quelling.
The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who these days is spearheading an anti-Iranian campaign under the excuse of human rights, more than once made blackening remarks against Tehran and added fuel to fire by offering support to the rioters. He even attended rallies against the Islamic Republic in his country and took photos, showing that he is unwavering and inconsiderate in his enmity to Iran.
Trudeau facilitated anti-Iranian protests in his country while he ordered a resolute crackdown on protests condemning the American and British policies, especially those of the British royal family, in a show of double-standard policy. Earlier this week, Canada announced ban on some Iranian diplomats, though there is no diplomatic relationship between the two countries.
Iranian people argue that they do not believe that Canada ever cares about human rights in Iran and its joining the American sanctions on Tehran is a proof the Canadian government is unfriendly. Instead of passing resolutions, they say, Canada should extradite Iranian embezzlers living on its soil for years. They took hundreds of millions of dollars from Iran and fled to Canada as a safe haven. Despite repeated calls by Tehran for their extradition through the Interpol, Ottawa has so far declined to hand them over and even provides protection to them.
Canada, the world's largest human rights violator
Canada is criticizing Iran's human rights record while itself is the world's largest rights violator. This country, which follows the policies of the US and England in the world and coordinates its foreign policy with them as its masters, is an accomplice of the West in killing the people of Afghanistan and other places, and therefore, it is among the biggest violators of human and human rights.
According to Canadian Dimension website, since 2005, Canada has been involved in a scandal of torture of detainees in Afghanistan, one of the consequences of which was a very serious damage to Canada's international image, and there is evidence that this scandal touches the highest levels of the government. Accordingly, during the Canadian military's intervention in Afghanistan, Canadian forces deliberately handed over Afghan prisoners to the Afghanistan National Security Agency and the national secret service, and even though high-ranking Canadian military and government officials knew they were systemically torturing the prisoners.
In 2009, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission office in Kandahar estimated that one of three prisoners handed over by Canadians had been beaten and tortured in local prisons.
The prosecutor of International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda, in 2017 requested probe into Canada's Afghanistan war crimes. Recently, the ICC said it would investigate crimes commitee by NATO members, excluding the US, in Afghanistan and this may lead to revealing documents related to Canadian forces in Afghanistan.
Additionally, over the past decade, mass graves of indigenous children were discovered in Canada, bearing witness to the Canada’s past crimes against the original people. In April 2019, three burial sites at a residential school for indigenous children in Canada were discovered where dozens of children had been buried. Between May and June 2021, the remains of more than 1,000 indigenous people, including hundreds of children, were discovered in Canadian residential schools. These schools were run by the catholic church in the past centuries, and it is said that in 120 years, about 150,000 Canadian aboriginal children attended these schools, thousands of whom were secretly killed. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada report put the number of unmarked graves in Canada at 3,200.
Discovering of these mass graves in addition to the indigenous Canadians drew condemnation from the UN. The UN chief Antonio Guterres said that it is a shocking issue and reopens old wounds. Even Pope Francis, who visited Canada a few months ago, apologized to the original people of this country for these horrific crimes. The mass graves scandal was so catastrophic that Trudeau also expressed shame for the crimes in a speech.
Canada claims advocacy to the minorities in Iran while there is no freedom for minorities on its soil and Muslims are repeatedly discriminated against and abused systemically and legally in Canada. Restrictions on women with hijab in Canada are so tight that they are deprived of many social and state services. Given Canada's record of human rights and dealing with racial and ethnic minorities, it should be suggested that Canada not only should not give itself the right to comment on rights records of other countries, but also it should respond for the rights abuses and crimes on its soil and take a dependent, rather than a plaintiff, position.
