‘Shining a light on the hypocrisy’: Canada urged to vote against human rights abusers

OTTAWA — A former Liberal justice minister is raising concerns over human rights abusers on the UN’s Human Rights Council, and urging the Canadian government to vote against their re-instatement in the UN General Assembly’s secret ballots. 

Former justice minister and long-time Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, who founded the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, convened a press conference Wednesday that featured about a dozen activists and MPs. 

Four non-democratic countries known for violating the rights of their citizens, especially political dissenters, are up for re-election on the UN council this month: Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and Cuba. 

According to the world body’s own rules, members cannot include human rights abusers. The council’s 47 members do not include Canada , which had a council seat in 2006-09.

Joining Cotler, who retired from politics last year but has continued his work as a human rights lawyer, were members of the Raoul Wallenberg All-party Parliamentary Caucus. There are three co-chairs, one from each major party.

Peter Kent, the Conservatives’ foreign affairs critic, said he wants the government to “aggressively and publicly speak out” against the countries’ re-election — and say how it plans to vote, even if that means losing support in a bid for a UN Security Council seat later. 

“As the government re-engages, as it says, with the United Nations, (it should) work for the reform of this world body to regain the principles and the focus on freedom, democracy and the rule of law that was embodied in the United Nations charter when it was formed so many years ago, and from where it has slipped so seriously in the decades since.”

Liberal MP Michael Levitt thanked Cotler for “shining a light on the hypocrisy”  at the human rights council, and condemned violence perpetrated by  Russia  and Syria in Aleppo, Syria.

“We need to have a strong voice in making sure that Russia and Syria are called out on these actions,” he said. 

Concerns were also raised about Cuba, where one activist said that “having an opinion is not a human right,” and China, which is widely known to jail political dissidents and scholars.

The Quebec-based wife of imprisoned Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, Ensaf Haidar, highlighted human rights issues in Saudi Arabia and appealed to Ottawa to fight for her husband’s release. 

Though the Liberal government speaks often about expanding its participation in multilateral institutions, it has also signalled a desire to thaw relations with Russia, in some areas — notably, in the Arctic — and has been vigorous in its approach to building a stronger relationship with China. 

As the NDP’s Murray Rankin noted, the Liberals have also gone ahead with a controversial $15-billion deal to sell light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. His party is anxious to scrutinize Canada’s human rights record, lamenting the defeat of a motion Tuesday that would have had parliamentarians studying Canada’s arms trade.

Levitt said the human rights records of countries on the council should be considered as Canada decides how to vote, and he would be relaying that message to Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion.