Government

of Canada

Gouvemement

du Canada

CONFIDENTIAL

JAN 3 5 Zllla

BPTS: 03691-2015

MEMORANDUM FOR INFORMATION

TO:
CC:

The Minister of Foreign Affairs

'

SUBJECT:

The Minister of international Trade

The Minister of international Development
Outcome of the vote on the resolution on the situation of human rights in
the Islamic Republic of lran at the United Nations General Assembly.

SUMMARY:
In 2015. Canada led the resolution on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of
Iran at the UN General Assembly for the 13th consecutive year. The resolution was
successfully
adopted in Third Committee with 44 cross-regional co-sponsors and a vote of 76 yes, 35 no,
68 abstentions. Following the vote in Third Committee, the resolution was successfully adopted
in the General Assembly on December 17 with a vote of 81 yes, 37 no. 67 abstentions.
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information regarding Canada's overall

approach and diplomatic advocacy strategy.

Daniel Jean

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Canada
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International

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Canada's Leadership on the Resolution

Canada has led the resolution since 2003, working with the following small core group of
countries: Australia. France, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European
Union. In this context. leadership entails preparing the text of the resolution.

4.

and formally presenting the resolution at the UN. This engagement is

highly labour intensive, and typically starts each spring and culminates in mid-Decemberwith
final consideration of the resolution by the plenary of the UN General Assembly. Key milestones
include: the drafting of the initial text (summer), the high-level segment of the UN General
Assembly (September).the tabling of the resolution (October),and consideration of the
resolution by the Third Committee of the General Assembly (November). among others.

5.
The Department was fully engaged throughout the intensive September~December
UNGA period in order to secure a positive outcome.
V

T6.

The text

7.
In 2015. we recast the resolution, streamlining the text significantly and focusing on
specific themes. In so doing. we based the resolution on reports by the UN Secretary~General.
and the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in lran, citing the violations they
had publicly documented. As per their reports, we also included explicit calls on the Government
of lran to take concrete actionsto address the most serious human rights violations in Iran and
to engage constructively with various UN human rights mechanisms. The text of the resolution
the
also acknowledgedcommitments for reform made by the Rouhani
modest steps that lran has begun to take to address human rights violations in specific areas.

administration and

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International

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BACKGROUND:
Human Rights Situation
1.
For the 13th consecutive year. Canada led the resolution on the situation of human
rights in the Islamic Republic of iran at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The objective of the resolution is to draw attention to egregious human rights violations inside
Iran. and thereby encourage the lranian government to respect both its own domestic laws as
well as its international human rights obligations, with a view to better
protecting the human
rights of Iranians. This resolution represents Canada's current highest profile multilateral human
rights initiative at the United Nations, and involves an extensive global outreach and advocacy

campaign.

2.
Alongside similar efforts to address the respective situations of human rights in Syria.
North Korea. and Myanmar. the iran resolution is among four country-specific resolutions
considered by the UN General Assembly each year. These resolutions are always
controversial,
with many memberstates arguing thatthey unduly politic_ize the United Nations
and should be
abandoned. Citing this rationale, a significantnumberof states have a general policy of
abstaining, or votirg against, all country-specific. resolutions as a matter of principle.
These states regularly cite the relatively recent establishment of the Universal
Periodic Review
(UPR) at the Human Rights Council as a more appropriate and sufficient process for expressing
concerns regarding a state's human rights record; (the UPR was criginallya Canadian
proposal
adopted when the HRC was established in 2006 whereby all countries take part in a cyclical
peer review of their human rights records). While Canada is an active participant in the UPR
process. Canada views country specific resolutions as an important complementary tool. We
also strongly support the UN General Assembly's consideration of country specific situations
given that, unlike the HRC whose composition rotates, all UN memberstates have the
opportunity to vote in the UN General Assembly and, unlike the UPR. the resolution is annual.
Alongside other likeminded partners, Canada has consistently co~sponsored and voted in
favour of all four country-specific resolutions.

Annual reporting by the UN Secretary-General and the Special Rapporteur on the

situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2015 indicatesthatthe human rights
situation in lran has not improved and has even worsened in some respects. The number of
executions continues to rise. with at least 694 individuals reportedly executed between January
1 and September 15. 2015. surpassing the total number of executions in all of 2014. Iran
continues to flout due process and the rule of law and to hand down the death penalty to
juvenile offenders. The right to freedomof expression. assembly and association. and the rights
of women and religious and ethnic minorities remain seriously restricted in law and in practice.
Notwithstandingthis UNs documentation of these and other violations of human rights, the Iran
resolution is the most contentious of the four country specific resolutions. in recent years. the
resolution has attracted the supportvof approximately 70-85 memberstates, alongside _an
average of 65 abstentions, and 35-45 votes against.
3.

A041 5846_2-000078

; s.15(1) International
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CONFIDENTIAL

such as increasing access to minority language education and strengthening services for
victims of domestic violence. However, these incremental advancements are far outweighed by
serious and ongoing human rights violations in the country.

international Engagement

8.

of i L; i This year, iran repeatedly accused Canada of "lranophobiain a series of public

statements. and argued that country-specific resolutions should not be discussed in the Third
Committee of the UN General Assembly. Iran's main message during public statements was
thatthe resolution was a reflection of poor bilateralfrelations with the previous Canadian
govemmeni. suggesting thatthe resolution islid not represent Canadian policy following the
is

election of a

new government.

Results
9.
The resolution was successfully adopted in Third Committee, with 44 crossregionai cosponsors and a vote of 76 yes, 35 no, 68 abstentions. Following the vote in Third Committee,
the resolution was successfully adopted in the General Assembly on December 17
with a vote
of 81 yes. 37 no, 67 abstentions: (Annexes A and B provide analysis of this
vote.
year's
including a state by state breakd.own). While there was a minor dip in support for theresolution
this year, the overall voting recordsuggesls a similar level of
international concern

lranshuman rights record.

regarding

'

--

s
is
T

Broader Trends and Next Steps

10.

A_lthough theyresult from thevote in plenary is nearly the same as last year,

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s.15(1) international

Annex A

CONFIDENTIAL

Analysis of Vote

12.
in 2015 during the vote in Third Committee. the resolution also received new support
from Albania (co-sponsored for the first time), Ei Salvador (shifted to yes from abstain), Gabon
(shifted to yes from abstain), Grenada (shifted to yes from abstain), Honduras (co-sponsored for
the first time), and Sri Lanka (shifted from no to abstaining).

13.
in Third Committee, Greece and Hungary broke EU consensus with Greece withdrawing
its co-sponsorship from the floor during the vote. but continuing to support the resolution, while
Hungary maintained its co-sponsorship. but was absent during the time of voting in Third

Committee.

T
r
-

14.
There were also some notable shifts away from support in Third Committee. namely
from Kiribati (shifted to abstain from voting yes), Mexico (shifted to abstain from voting yes),
Soiomon islands (shifted to abstain from voting yes), Trinidad and Tobago (shifted to abstain
from voting yes), and Algeria shifted from abstaining to voting no.
15.

Ultimately in plenary, Hungary and Greece maintained the EU consensus by voting yes.

Barbados, Central African Republic, Dominica, Kiribati, and Solomon Islands maintained their
yes votes. However both Kyrgyzstan and SouthAfrica shifted from abstaining to voting no.
Seychelles, a traditional supporter, and supported in Third Committee, was absent during the
vote.
16.

Mexico. Trinidad and Tobago. maintained their shifts from yes to abstain. Algeria

maintained its shift from abstain to no. while Sri Lanka continued to abstain after shifting from a

no vote.

A0415846_6000082

Annex B Votes

CONFIDENTIAL

by Country at in 2015, and 2014

UNGA70 (2015)
Third

UNGA59 (2014)

P'"'V
201 5)

Vote Totals:
Y- Yes
N- No
A- Abstain
X- Absent
TOTAL

76
35
BB
14
193

81
37
67
8
193

N
Y

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78
35

"3"

11

83
35
68
7

193

193

N
Y
N
Y

N
Y
A
Y

N
Y
A
Y

Y
N

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N
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Y
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N

N
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Y
N
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Y
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N
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Y
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A
A

N
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Y
A
A

Y
A

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A
A

A0415846_8-000084

CONFIDENTIAL

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A0415846_12-000088

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