Stand United for Human Rights

Speaking with reporters are Nada El-Falou (director of Student Services at Palestinian Students and Scholars at Risk Network), Sean Tucker (professor at the University of Regina’s faculty of business administration), Saleha Faruqued (advocacy programs manager at Justice for All Canada), and Sherif Awad (Ottawa lead at the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council). Representatives from Action Canada, the Guttmacher Institute, and the Future Planning Initiative hold a news conference in Ottawa to raise concerns about Canada’s proposed cuts to international assistance and the impact they would have on sexual and reproductive health. Representatives from the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights (RWCHR), alongside parliamentarians and Iranian civil society leaders, call on the Canadian government to lead “coordinated international action and strengthened enforcement measures” against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The news conference comes after the European Union designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization over its response to recent protests. Thursday, in Brussels, EU foreign ministers adopted a terrorism listing that places the IRGC under the EU terrorism framework, with officials calling it a decisive step.Lobbying and deadly crackdowns spurred the decision, with EU foreign ministers citing brutal repression and a letter describing an estimated 12,000 Iranian protesters killed, while a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers urged action.The IRGC operates as a state institution overseeing ballistic missile and nuclear programs, and adding it to the EU terror list requires unanimity among 27 members, raising legal questions.Mohammad Fathali, Iranian Ambassador to India, called the EU move a strategic miscalculation ignoring realities and international law, while Iran's Parliament declared involved armed forces terrorist and warned of destructive consequences.Amid wider tensions, officials warned the step could worsen regional instability and hit European interests, as the EU's unprecedented listing exposes divisions among member states and raises legal challenges, with Abbas Araghchi criticising the move.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/policy-and-rights--3339563/support.