Left I on the News

Iran to Canada: "Put your own house in order":

The Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini says the Canadian government is among real violators of human rights.

"Canada has a very thick file of violation of its nationals' rights. Based on published documents of the United Nations, the Canadian government has violated the rights of its indigenous people for many years. Currently, the situation of the people of Canada is a matter of concern," Hosseini said Monday.

He made the remark in response to the recent interventionist statement by the Canadian foreign minister who accused Iran of violating human rights.

We believe that instead of charging other countries with violation of human rights and going into huge costs to issue resolutions against them, the Canadian government should adopt measures toward protection of the rights of its own nationals and amelioration of their pain and suffering," the spokesman said.

He added that the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had recently written to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, calling for the UN investigation into the case of the indigenous people of Canada.

For more about the treatment of indigenous people by Canada, read "Resisting Canadian Colonialism: The Indigenous Struggle for Self-Determination" (second pamphlet downloadable on this page).