Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 22 November 2022.
We've heard already today, of course, many references to Qatar's wholly unacceptable record on human rights, reflected in the way that many football supporters have been treated in the last 24 hours. Human rights abuses perpetrated by the Iranian Government, of course, are ones that we must also highlight and condemn, and, given that Wales is playing Iran on Friday, and given now that Welsh footballers aren't able to make their own stand, it's up to all of us to make a stand on their behalf, and on behalf of the men, women and children in Iran who are being persecuted and killed by the abhorrent regime in that country. So, can I ask that the Welsh Government, before the match on Friday, issues an unequivocal statement of condemnation of the Iranian Government for their human rights violations, for their systemic prosecution of minorities, and for their increased use of arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and, of course, the death penalty? Will you, as a Welsh Government, make that stand?