Feds urged to apologize to UN human rights expert

The Harper government needs to tell the world if Canada intends to pull the welcome mat from United Nations human rights experts, leading Canadian organizations said Wednesday.

The open invitation to UN Special Rapporteurs to visit Canada, a long-standing policy of the federal government, arose as an issue earlier this month after senior ministers attacked the UN right to food envoy for "lecturing" such a wealthy nation about problems of hunger and poverty in remote aboriginal communities and among poor urban families relying on social assistance.

They said Olivier De Schutter, in Canada at the official invitation of the federal government, shouldn't waste resources and should stick to probing famine-stricken developing countries. A minister also called him "patronizing and "ill-informed."

On Wednesday, more than100 organizations, supported by former parliamentarians Flora MacDonald, Ed Broadbent and Warren Allmand, sent an open letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, calling on him to apologize for the government's "unprecedented attacks" on Schutter during his 11-day mission to Canada.

"Prime Minister, there is no line to be drawn between protecting human rights at home and protecting them in the rest of the world. Human rights are universal and do not only apply to developing countries or countries in which there are military dictatorships," the letter states.

Amnesty International Canada and Food Secure Canada, signatories to the letter, also want the government to make clear if it plans to rethink Canada's openness to UN human rights experts, given the reaction of senior ministers to Olivier's mission to Canada. James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, was also similarly derided last December for speaking out about the living conditions at the Attawapiskat First Nation reserve in Northern Ontario.

"We do think an apology is owing and deserved," Alex Neve, Amnesty International Canada's secretary general, said in an interview.

"Secondly, we've asked the prime minister to very explicitly reconfirm that Canada not only accepts but welcomes UN-level human rights scrutiny, that we do so because we know that's one more important part of protecting human rights in Canada, but we also feel that's crucial because that's all about shoring up the integrity and effectiveness of the global system overall."

"I would hope that the treatment of Olivier De Schutter does not signal a permanent change in policy of Canada's relationship to the United Nations, that it was some kind of mistake that can be corrected, which is why we're calling for an apology," said Diana Bronson, executive director of Food Secure Canada.

"If there's some kind of change of policy, then I think they would have to say so, but for the moment we're assuming there's no change in policy and we don't want to see a change in policy. Canada must keep itself open to UN scrutiny. It's a fundamental part of our obligations under the treaties we've signed. They expect that of every other country and rightly so."

The Prime Minister Office's said it had "no comment" on either the open letter and the request for clarity on whether Canada intends to review its open invitation to UN Special Rapporteurs.

A spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, meanwhile, said "we take note of this letter."

Chris Day declined to answer the question about Canada's long-standing standing invitation to UN human rights envoys, but said: "In a world, wrought with famine, where too many people go hungry and die of starvation, we think the UN has greater priorities."

The Department of Foreign Affairs also declined to address the question or reaffirm Canada's commitment to keeping in place the standing invitation.

In a statement, departmental spokeswoman Karen Foss would only say: "Canada actively works with UN member states to find ways for the UN Human Rights Council to operate more efficiently and effectively, and focus scarce resources where they are most needed."

Special Rapporteurs are independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to examine thematic issues in countries around the world.


(2012-05-30/canada)