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Iran (Human Rights)

I thank the hon. Gentleman. It is important to make the point to the Iranian Government and Iranian parliamentarians that the world is watching and that they cannot inflict their vile regime, systemic torture and abuses of human rights without very serious ramifications on the part of the international community. We should urge the Iranian Government immediately to release all Baha'i detainees held on account of their beliefs and to end official discrimination, monitoring intimidation and other hindrances to their freedom of religion. A comment was made earlier by the hon. Member for Ilford South (Mike Gapes) about Mr Ahmed Shaheed, who must to be able to continue and complete his work unmolested. He is newly mandated as the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran. He needs to continue to monitor the regime's compliance, specifically with respect to international human rights standards, including freedom of religion or belief. Finally, the motto of Christian Solidarity Worldwide is, ““Be a voice for the voiceless””. This debate is vital. Again, I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside, because at least in this Chamber in our Parliament, the voiceless do have a voice this afternoon.