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Human rights advocates in Canada are urging the country’s national police to gather evidence on Canadians linked to Iran’s repression apparatus after thousands of protesters were killed in January.
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The call is directed at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and centers on what is known as a “structural investigation,” an evidence-gathering process that could help lay the groundwork for future prosecutions of individuals linked to crimes against humanity.
“We know that there are a number of IRGC officials in Canada, and also a very large Iranian diaspora with substantial evidence they can provide to the RCMP,” said Brandon Silver, an international human rights lawyer and founding director of policy and projects at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights.
“The RCMP can initiate what’s called a structural investigation into crimes against humanity,”
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The push comes amid mounting demands for accountability after Iran International’s Editorial Board confirmed that more than 36,500 Iranians were killed by security forces during the January 8–9 crackdown, the deadliest two-day protest massacre in history.
Advocates say Canada must ensure perpetrators cannot find refuge abroad — and that Iranian Canadians have a direct avenue to report evidence.
Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a member of the Iranian Justice Collective, said structural investigations would give Iranian Canadians a concrete pathway to come forward and begin the accountability process.
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In a similar report, CBC cites Iranians in Canada whose relatives were shot by Iranian forces in Tehran earlier this month.