(Ottawa) Members of the House of Commons unanimously adopted two motions on Monday calling on the United Nations (UN) to remove Iran from its Commission on the Status of Women.
Posted at 4:29 p.m.
This request appears in a text adopted and proposed by the Bloc Québécois spokesperson for the status of women, Andréanne Larouche.
Just before, the Deputy Leader of the Conservatives, Melissa Lantsman, managed to unanimously pass a similar motion asking that the House “declare its support” for such an expulsion from Iran.
These appeals are in addition to that launched by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly. The latter expressed her support for Iran losing its seat on this commission by adding her signature to an open letter published on Sunday in the New York Times.
The missive was also signed by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and former Canadian Prime Minister Kim Campbell, among others.
Earlier this year, Iran began a four-year term on the 45-member commission.
According to the signatories, Iran should have been automatically disqualified because of its systemic oppression against women and its violent repression against human rights defenders.
Minister Joly’s press attaché, Adrien Blanchard, said Monday that, “following this letter”, the Canadian government is “actively in conversation with (its) allies and partners at the UN”.
“Iranian women are currently fighting for a better future and we have a moral obligation to support them,” he said in writing.
The death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who died in detention for allegedly not covering her hair properly, sparked a protest movement in Iran that began there six weeks ago. Tehran has since cracked down on dissenters to the regime.
The Bloc motion passed by federal lawmakers on Monday calls for condemnation of the “murders, intimidation and acts of violence initiated by the Iranian state against protesters who support the women’s liberation movement in Iran”.
Canada has imposed a series of sanctions on the Iranian regime, adding news on Monday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took part in a demonstration in support of Iranian women in Ottawa on Saturday.