(Jerusalem Post) Tovah Lazaroff - At a Jerusalem press conference Tuesday, former Canadian justice minister Irwin Cotler released a 200-page report called "The Danger of a Nuclear, Genocidal and Rights-Violating Iran," on behalf of the Canadian-based "Responsibility to Prevent Coalition." The report has been endorsed by 100 scholars, jurists, parliamentarians, human rights activists and former world leaders. According to the report, Iran executed 26 juvenile offenders from 2005 to mid-2008, which accounted for 80% of all juvenile executions in the world. The Stop Child Executions NGO said there are 140 minors on death row in Iran. Cotler called for the use of international and domestic law, as well as sanctions, to redress the massive human rights violations in Iran. He suggested limiting foreign visits by Iranian leaders, raising human rights issues in every bilateral meeting with Iran, freezing assets of Iranian officials, supporting organizations that document human rights abuses in Iran, and ensuring that Iranian officials involved in acts of torture and terror are not immune to civil law suits. According to the report, there is a "critical mass of precursors to genocide in Ahmadinejad's Iran, constituting thereby not only the prelude to a preventable tragedy, but a crime in and of itself under international law. Simply put, Iran has already committed a crime of incitement to genocide." Separately, Bassam Eid, chairman of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring group, spoke of Iran's link to terrorist activity in Gaza and areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. Iran, he said, was a danger to the region and to the security of the Palestinian people.
2010-07-14 09:22:33Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive