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Douglas Carswell
Main Page: Douglas Carswell (Independent - Clacton)Department Debates - View all Douglas Carswell's debates with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
(13 years, 8 months ago)
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Mr Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (Con)
Does my right hon. Friend believe that the appetite for democracy is universal? If so, what moral support and encouragement will he offer those in Iran who seek to live freely as we do?
Mr Hague
I agree with my hon. Friend. We believe that human rights, including democratic rights, are universal. It is particularly pertinent to raise the situation in Iran because the two principal leaders of the opposition forces in Iran, Mr Mousavi and Mr Karroubi, have been detained with their wives—they have disappeared with their wives. I am glad that my hon. Friend raised this matter because it is important, amidst the current turbulence in the middle east, not to forget what is happening in Iran and to remember that a country that has preached support for protest in other nations does not hesitate brutally to suppress protest within its own borders.