The Iranian and Ukrainian community of the Central Okanagan held a human rights event on Saturday, November 12, 2022. One of the organizers of a “human rights ride” through Kelowna and West Kelowna hopes more people will start coming out to rallies in support of the ongoing and growing protests in Iran. The local Iranian and Ukrainian communities joined forces for a motorcade from UBC Okanagan, along Highway 97 to downtown Westbank and back on Saturday. An activist says they decided to invite Ukrainians to the event because the organizers condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the actions of the corrupt Iranian government regime in support of Putin’s war. He invites the people of the Central Okanagan to get involved. “We are definitely looking for more support. We have to take action to have a better world,” said the woman, who asked Castanet not to use her name because of possible intimidation by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Canada. She is disappointed that Canada has not taken a firmer stance against the Revolutionary Guards, which are a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. While the federal government has referred to the IRGC as a terrorist organization and announced measures to bar certain members from entering the country, it has not formally designated the group as a terrorist entity under Canada’s Criminal Code. “I know there’s some red tape involved in any kind of recognition that the government has to do, but in some cases it has to be immediate,” he says. “We’re trying to bring awareness to it. If I believe the government is concerned about actions that are perceived as interference in a foreign country, within Canada, they can designate this group as a terrorist group.” The local activist adds that if we allow terrorist groups like the IRGC to have a safe landing, it will threaten freedoms in this country. The protests in Iran, sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman on September 16 after she was arrested by the country’s morality police, have become one of the biggest lasting challenges to the nation’s theocracy since the chaotic months following its Islamic rule. in 1979. Revolution. At least 328 people have been killed and another 14,825 arrested in the unrest, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitoring the protests. –with files from The Canadian Press Photo: Bahman Fakouri A long line of vehicles crosses the Bennett Bridge during a human rights drive on Saturday, November 12, 2022
