(Bury North) (Con): What
steps he is taking to help protect human rights across the world.
(902117)
The Minister for Development ( ): The UK puts human
rights at the heart of what we do. That includes: leading efforts
to hold Russia to account over its actions in Ukraine and at
home; leading on United Nations Human Rights Council resolutions,
including on Syria, Sri Lanka and Somalia, and a joint statement
on Xinjiang; and sanctioning officials involved in human rights
violations in Iran.
(Chipping Barnet)
(Con): Iran has one of the worst human
rights records in the world, and I am sure that is one reason for
the extensive protests. Will the Government ensure that if the
joint comprehensive plan of action is revived or replaced, it
will place strong obligations on Iran to repair
its appalling and shocking human rights record?
Mr Mitchell: My right hon. Friend raises a most important
subject. What is going on in Iran is of immense
concern to the Government. I will ensure that her comments are
carefully recorded for the Foreign Secretary.
Iran
(Harrow East) (Con)
10. What recent assessment he has made of the human rights
situation in Iran.(902112)
(Bethnal Green and Bow)
(Lab)
13. What representations he has made to his Iranian counterpart
on the (a) excessive use of force against and (b) deaths of
people protesting the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini caused by
security forces in Iran.(902115)
(Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
14. What assessment he has made of the implications for his
policies of the recent protests in Iran.(902116)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign,
Commonwealth and Development Affairs ()
The death of Mahsa Amini and of all those who have lost their
lives standing up to the authorities is a tragedy that shows the
regime’s shocking disregard for the rights of the Iranian people.
We have made our views clear to Iran in the strongest possible
terms. We have robustly condemned Iran’s actions, including at
the UN Human Rights Council, and we have sanctioned the morality
police and seven other officials responsible for human rights
violations.
Thousands of Iranians have been arrested for just demonstrating
their support for people who have been murdered. I have been
supplied with a long list of people who have been sentenced to
death just for protesting. Even worse, British-Iranian reporters
who are now sited in the UK have been issued with credible
information by the police that the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps threatens their lives. What more
does the IRGC have to do before we proscribe it in its
entirety?
I know that my hon. Friend feels very strongly about these issues
and has raised them at the highest level with FCDO Ministers. We
have been clear about our concerns about the IRGC’s continued
destabilising activity throughout the region. The UK maintains a
range of sanctions that work to constrain that destabilising
activity. The list of proscribed organisations is kept under
constant review, but we do not routinely comment on whether an
organisation is or is not under consideration for proscription—I
know that my hon. Friend understands the reasons.
Iran Human Rights estimates that more than 300 people, including
24 children, have been killed in Iran in the protests that
followed the death of Mahsa Amini. In the words of the song
“Baraye”, which has become the anthem of these protests, the
protests are
“for my sister, your sister, our sisters”.
In Farsi, the protesters shout “zan, zendegi, azadi”—women, life,
freedom. I am sure that the whole House shares our solidarity
with all those who are protesting for freedom against this brutal
regime. In the light of these brutal attacks, will the UK
Government support measures to expel Iran from the UN Commission
on the Status of Women to show that the UK stands firmly with the
women and children of Iran and the protesters who have joined
them?
The hon. Member has made some important points about the
grassroots nature of the protests. As I have said, we are taking
strong action against the Iranians, but I will raise her points
specifically with Lord Ahmad, the Minister for the Middle
East.
I recently met a group of Iranian refugees and asylum seekers at
Global Link in Lancaster. They shared with me testimony and
videos of the protests and the women across Iran who are daily
putting their lives at risk for their fundamental rights. Does
the Minister accept that the UK has a responsibility to support
these remarkable women, and can he explain how the UK intends to
do so?
They are indeed remarkable women, and we want to underline the
fact that these are grassroots protests in Iran. We have taken
strong action: we have sanctioned the morality police in its
entirety, as well as both its chief and the head of the Tehran
division. However, it is not our practice to speculate on future
sanctions designations, as doing so would reduce the impact of
those designations.
(Birmingham, Northfield)
(Con)
T5. Not content with being the world’s largest state sponsor of
international terrorism, Iran is using its same terror enforcer,
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps to brutally repress its own people. It is also now
arming and training the Russian army in its barbaric invasion of
Ukraine. So in the same vein as my hon. Friend the Member for
Harrow East (), may I ask whether the Minister thinks it is now
time to proscribe the IRGC?(902133)
The Government share my hon. Friend’s concerns about the regime’s
shocking disregard for the rights of the Iranian people. I have
to give him a similar answer to the one I gave my hon. Friend the
Member for Harrow East, and I will follow up with him later on.
(Warley) (Lab)
T4. In the last two Foreign Office questions sessions, I have
raised the issue of the role of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps Today, again, Members on both
sides of the House have raised it, asking us to follow our allies
in the United States and ban the IGRC. The IGRC are the
protectors of the Iranian clerical fascist regime. Will the
Minister go back to his Department and tell the officials to get
on with banning the IRGC?(902132)
The right hon. Member raised his strong concerns about the
Iranian regime’s disruptive activities in Yemen at last week’s
important debate, for which I am grateful. The list of proscribed
organisations is kept under constant review, but we do not
routinely comment on whether an organisation is or is not under
consideration for proscription.
(Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
As my right hon. Friend the Member for Warley () has just pointed out, the
IRGC has led and organised the brutal crackdown on protesters in
Iran. What do those fascist thugs have to do to get themselves
designated a terrorist organisation?
I understand the point the hon. Gentleman makes, and it has been
made with real passion, but we are not able to add anything to
the points we have already made to hon. Members on this issue.
