Canada to unveil UN resolution on Iran Human Rights

Reuters:

Canada will put forward a resolution in the United Nations shortly accusing Iran of human rights violations, Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said on Wednesday.

"Iran has not lived up to its international human rights obligations and has not conformed with past U.N. resolutions on this matter. We believe this must change," Pettigrew said in a statement. READ MORE

Canada presented similar resolutions to the United Nations in both 2003 and 2004. The U.N.'s General Assembly adopted the 2004 resolution with 71 votes in favor, 54 against and 55 abstentions.

Canada and Iran are at loggerheads over the case of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian reporter who died of head injuries in 2003 after being arrested in Tehran. Canada has twice withdrawn its ambassador over the affair and accuses Iranian authorities of failing to investigate the death properly.

Iran's conservative judiciary initially said Kazemi had died of a stroke but an investigation by the government revealed she had received a heavy blow during questioning which caused a brain hemorrhage.