press release
PARLIAMENTARY “IRAN ACCOUNTABILITY WEEK” TO BE HELD MAY 27-31
PARLIAMENTARIANS SOUND THE ALARM ON IRANIAN DOMESTIC REPRESSION
Ottawa – May 27th, 2013 – Canadian MPs James Bezan, Paul Dewar, and Irwin Cotler are pleased to announce that “Iran Accountability Week” will take place in the Canadian Parliament between May 27th and 31st, addressing the four-fold Iranian threat – massive domestic repression, state-sponsorship of international terrorism, nuclear weaponization, and incitement to genocide.
Cotler serves as Co-Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Group for Human Rights in Iran with US Sen. Mark Kirk – who will be hosting similar series of events in the US.
This year’s Accountability Week falls at a most propitious time – on the occasion of the massive violations of human rights in Iran in the run-up to the June Presidential elections; the 5th anniversary of the imprisonment of Iran’s Baha’i leadership; the 25th anniversary of the 1988 massacre of Iranian dissidents; and the unjust imprisonment of 2,600 dissidents, including women, ethnic and religious leaders, journalists, bloggers, students, trade union leaders – in word, the leaders of Iranian civil society – many under threat of execution.
The planned events for Iran Accountability Week include:
· A press conference on Monday May 27th (1:15pm, Charles Lynch Room) launching the Global Iranian Political Prisoner Advocacy Project – pairing Parliamentarians around the world with Iranian political prisoners on whose behalf MPs will advocate;
· Hearings before the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Human Rights from 1-2pm on both Tuesday (May 28th) re: human rights and Thursday (May 30th) re: security threats.
· Evening panel discussions at 7pm on Tuesday with on Iranian experts human rights violations and political prisoners; and on Thursday at 7pm with international experts on the Iranian nuclear and terrorist threats. These events offer Parliamentarian, the public, and the media to learn both about the Iranian threats to human rights and international peace and security, as well as what can be done to address them.
Iran Accountability Week seeks to sound the alarm on the human rights plight of the Iranian people.