Mr. Davood H.M.:

Unfortunately, in my country, you are not allowed to think freely, you are not allowed to choose the name of your child. This is a basic human right. If your child does not have an Islamic background, they do not accept it. In Iran, if people are Christian, they are put in prison and labelled as anti-government. When their sentence of five years or ten years is finished and they are released, they are sent into exile. They are sent to the most remote places in Iran, where maybe 30 families are living. For how long? It is for two or three years in exile. This has happened in recent months. A Christian person in Iran was released and afterwards will have to spend two years in exile in a desert area. This is the norm with human rights in Iran.

We are saying that we are all human but to be human without the humanity to act is nothing. I have been here for 20 years and, by God's grace, I am an Irish citizen. However, for 20 years, I could not see my family or go back to Iran. For 15 years, my family did not have a passport to leave Iran so we could meet in other countries. This is a basic human right. I have a child who is seven years old and has never spoken to the family and does not know the family. It is so painful as a human being not to have human rights in your own country.

The committee will be aware of the recent uprising in Iran. Just because a small part of the hair was out, so many people were killed - not just one or two, but hundreds of people. Now, during the nighttime, people go to other houses because the government knows where they live and could catch them in the night and put them in prison for taking part in what was just a normal demonstration. As a human being, it is good to show solidarity with the Iranian people and with everyone around the world, not just because I am Iranian, and not just to talk about it, but to take action. I am hungry and until I eat, the hunger does not go away. We cannot do nothing. I am a voice of the voiceless people here. This is what I can do. Members can see my name, Davood H.M. Why? I will tell members my full name - I am proud of my name - but in Europe, I am scared to give my name because the government could go back to my family.

This is what I am saying, not just for Iran, and I know many other countries are the same. To the committee, I ask, in the name of human rights, that we stand together. Let us take a step. Let us ensure that when we look back, we can say we did our part. We do not want anything else, just that, as human beings, to be able to say we did what we wanted to do. Thank you for the opportunity to speak.