When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in New York to address the UN  General Assembly, a man who should be in the dock of the accused will instead be  given an international podium – a cruel parody of law and justice that will put  us on the wrong side of history.

Ahmadinejad will enter the US despite  being inadmissible under American law. He will address the UN General Assembly  despite being in violation of its UN Charter and international law. And he will  be indulged by universities, institutes and the media, thereby sanitizing his  crimes and mocking the suffering of the Iranian people.

Let there be no  mistake about it: A person who pursues the most destructive of weaponry in  violation of UN Security Council resolutions, who incites to genocide, who is  complicit in crimes against humanity, who is engaged in a massive repression of  the human rights of his own citizens, who assaults the basic tenants of the UN  Charter – such a person should be indicted by this international body; rather  than have it provide a pulpit.

Simply put, this charade – repeated  annually since 2007 – ignores and undermines basic principles of domestic,  international and humanitarian law.

Indeed, Ahmadinejad belongs on the US “watchlist” – those who “aid terrorists… persecute religious minorities… or are prohibited from entering the US.

The evidence of Ahmadinejad’s  criminality on each of these counts is compelling.

In the matter of  aiding terrorists, the US State Department has once again named Iran as the  leading state sponsor of international terrorism. In particular, Ahmadinejad’s  Iran recruits, trains, finances, instigates and arms its terrorist proxies, such  as Hamas and Hezbollah, whose platforms and policies are themselves replete with  genocidal calls for the destruction of Israel.

Indeed, Iran and Hezbollah  have their footprints not only in the recent attack on Israelis in Bulgaria, but  in terrorist attacks spanning five continents in 2012 alone.

Moreover,  Iran is complicit in the international criminality of Bashar Assad’s Syrian  regime. This criminal support includes sending military equipment, munitions and  surveillance technology – involving also Iranian al-Quds special forces – all to  help sustain the brutality of the Assad regime.

In the matter of  religious persecution, one need only recall Iran’s massive domestic repression,  particularly targeting religious minorities, especially the Baha’i – Iran’s  largest such group – whose members are subject to harassment, repression,  torture, imprisonment and execution.

Women, students, workers,  dissidents, journalists and academics – and those who would defend them – are  also routinely persecuted. Moreover, Iran leads the world in per capita  executions and the execution of minors – as well as in the imprisonment of  journalists and bloggers.

In the matter of incitement to genocide, the  evidence here is particularly compelling and disturbing, as Ahmadinejad’s  genocidal incitement is the terrifying and vilifying context for Iran’s illegal  pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Last month alone, Ahmadinejad called to “remove the Zionist black stain from the human society,” adding that “the very  existence of Israel is an insult to humankind and an affront to all world  nations,” and requiring the wiping out of this “scarlet letter from the…  forehead of humanity.”

Indeed, this state-sanctioned culture of hate and  incitement to genocide has been persistent, pervasive and pernicious.

The  21st century began with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei calling  for “the annihilation of the Jewish state.” It was followed by the parading in  the streets of Tehran of a Shihab-3 missile draped in the emblem “Wipe Israel  off the map, as the Imam says.”

It has continued with the use of  epidemiological metaphors referring to Jews as “filthy bacteria,” and Israel as “a cancer that must be removed,” reminiscent of the Nazis calling the Jews “vermin” and the Rwandan Hutus calling the Tutsis “cockroaches,” the whole as  prologue to and justification for a genocide foretold.

Instead of being  granted a podium at the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad should be the object of  a criminal indictment.

Simply put, a person who has already committed the  crime of “direct and public incitement to genocide” in violation of  international law – punishable whether or not a genocide has occurred – who is  complicit in crimes against humanity both at home and abroad – has no place at  the UN. Let alone at its most distinguished podium.

Indeed, how can a UN  forum host one who openly and avowedly seeks the destruction of a member state?  As UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon said recently in Tehran, “I strongly reject  threats by any member state to destroy another or outrageous attempts to deny  historical facts, such as the Holocaust” – yet, Ahmadinejad continues to call  for the destruction of Israel while denying the Holocaust.

Despite the  clear and compelling evidence of Ahmadinejad’s inadmissibility to the US under  both domestic and international law, he is likely to return to the UN because of  the 1947 Headquarters Agreement – a UN treaty wherein the US agreed not to  impede access of representatives of member states to UN headquarters in New  York.

While this agreement is said to trump American domestic law, the  fact is that the Vienna Law of Treaties affirms that jus cogens – the preemptory  norms of international law – such as incitement to genocide and crimes against  humanity – override any treaty. Ahmadinejad’s crimes are such jus cogens crimes.  The Headquarters Agreement should not avail and must not  prevail.

Moreover, Article 99 of the UN Charter grants the  secretary-general the power to refer issues that “threaten the maintenance of  international peace and security” to the UN Security Council. This can – and  should – be done, as surely there is no greater threat to international peace  and security today than Ahmadinejad’s Iran.

Member states should call on  the secretary-general to take proactive measures to ensure the UN does not  provide a forum to one who callously and deliberately defies, mocks and violates  the principles and decisions of the UN and its respective agencies, its charter,  and American law itself.

If the US nonetheless allows him entry,  Ahmadinejad’s travel should be restricted to only those parts of New York under  UN authority, the Iranian Mission and the airport. The US government is not  obliged to treat him as an innocent tourist; rather, it should isolate and shun  him as the war criminal he is.

Even if none of these options is  exercised, there are ways to break this cycle of impunity and hold the Iranian  leadership accountable for its crimes.

The international community should  act in solidarity with the oppressed people of Iran by providing neither shield  nor platform for their oppressors.

Countries should fulfill their  responsibilities under international law – including the Genocide Convention – and refer the Iranian leaders’ criminal incitement to genocide to appropriate UN  agencies for investigation and sanction.

It is astonishing that this  criminal incitement has yet to be addressed by any UN body, though the UN finds  it fit to give Ahmadinejad a podium this week.

Moreover, inter-state  complaints against Iran could be initiated at the International Court of  Justice, while the Iranian leadership could be made to answer for its crimes at  the International Criminal Court.

Similarly, Ahmadinejad and other  Iranian leaders should be placed on a watchlist by concerned countries,  preventing their entrance as “inadmissible persons.”

Finally, enhanced  comprehensive, consequential and targeted multilateral sanctions must be adopted – and enforced – not only for Iran’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons, but  also for its sponsorship of international terrorism and massive violations of  human rights.

History shows that sustained international juridical  efforts can bring dictators like Milosevic and Pinochet to  justice.

Ahmadinejad must be held to account for his criminality – not  rewarded for it. Our choice is clear: We can either act or be on the wrong side  of history.

Irwin Cotler is a Canadian member of Parliament and is the  former minister of justice and attorney-general of Canada. He is a  professor of law (Emeritus) at McGill University and has written extensively on  Iran and has previously prosecuted for incitement to genocide. He is a former  Canadian justice minister and currently a co-chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary  Group for Human Rights in Iran.