Human Rights

Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Jolie said today that while Canada must continue to trade with an increasingly autocratic and assertive China because of the country’s global economic clout, there’s a clear need to be careful because of its disregard for human right and international trading rules. These are key elements of a speech on Indo-Pacific strategies scheduled to be delivered today to the Asia Pacific Foundation and the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy in Toronto. [node:read-more:link]

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is proposing “digital” markers in the hope of protecting websites and systems used for medical and humanitarian purposes against cyberattacks. The “markers” could incorporate information that targetted institutions are protected by the Geneva Conventions. [node:read-more:link]

Amnesty International wants aviation fuel shipments to Myanmar suspended in an attempt to stop the military government from using its air firce against civilian targets. “There can be no justification for participating in the supply of aviation fuel to a military that has a flagrant contempt for human rights and has been repeatedly accused of committing war crimes,” says the organization’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard of France. “If the planes can’t fuel up, they can’t fly out and wreak havoc.” [node:read-more:link]

Canada is coordinating sanctions with the U.S. against two Haitian politicians, accusing of them of using their positions “to protect and enable the illegal activities of armed criminal gangs” which have paralyzed their country. Global Affairs Canada says President Youri Latortue and his predecessor, Joseph Lambert, support the gangs “through money laundering and other acts of corruption.” The U.S. Treasury Department says they have “have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs.” [node:read-more:link]

A group of international legislators said today that “steadfast and uncritical” support of Myanmar’s military government by China, Russia and India are facilitating human rights abuses. Citing an “utter” lack of progress on a peace plan proposed by other states in the Association for Southeast Asian Nations, the legislators say it’s time to abandon the plan and increase support for the junta’s opponents [node:read-more:link]

In a move condemned by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario’s Conservative government invoked the “notwithstanding” clause of the Constitution when it introduced draft legislation to prevent educational workers from striking. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in 2015 (Docket No. 35423) that the right to strike was protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [node:read-more:link]

Tighter criminal laws passed during prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government a decade are being struck down on appeal to various courts. The latest was a 2011 Criminal Code amendment requiring some sex offenders to be automatically added to the national registry for life; the Supreme Court has ruled (Docket No. 39360) that the requirement cast “too wide a net” by capturing offenders who presented a low risk of re-offending. [node:read-more:link]

A new physician payment model will be rolled out by the B.C. government in February in a bid to recruit and retain more family physicians. At least 20 per cent of the province’s residents do not have access to family doctors and Health Minister Adrian Dix said October 31 that the new model will consider an array of factors involved in patient consultations rather than a single fee for all visits. [node:read-more:link]

Mass protests that began weeks ago in Iran after the death of a young woman in police custody continue despite an October 29 declaration by the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that they should end immediately. Meanwhile, the regime’s courts began hearing charges against as many as 1,000 detainees. [node:read-more:link]

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said today that he is determined to meet the terms of a deal aimed at overcoming Turkey's objections to his government’s bid to join NATO along with Finland. “We are working very hard to fulfill what Sweden is supposed to do,” he said after a meeting in Helsinki with his Finnish counterpart, Sanna Mirella Marin. Turkey wants both Nordic countries to stop being havens for expatriate critics it sees as terrorists. [node:read-more:link]

The U.S. has charged 13 Chinese nationals, including 10 government officials, of participating in schemes to repatriate critics of the Chinese government, obtain secret information about a U.S. investigation into a Chinese telecom firm and recruit spies. Attorney General Merrick Garland said October 24 that China had unsuccessfully “sought to interfere with the rights and freedoms of individuals . . . and to undermine our judicial system that protects those rights.” [node:read-more:link]

Manitoba plans to be the fourth province to stop incarcerating migrants, including asylum seekers, on behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency. Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen’s office says migrants not convicted of crimes should not be “languishing” in facilities better suited to detain criminals or persons held for trial. [node:read-more:link]

Air strikes by Myanmar’s military government killed more than 60 participants in an October 23 celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main political organization. The reported attack came three days before a Southeast Asian foreign ministers’ meeting in Indonesia to discuss widening violence in Myanmar. [node:read-more:link]

The former leader of the Canadian Nationalist Party was sentenced by a Saskatchewan judge October 20 to a year in jail, less seven months served, for wilfully promoting hatred against Jews. Travis Patron also has been ordered to refrain from posting about Jews for a year after his release. [node:read-more:link]

China’s Consul General in Manchester, England, says “any diplomat” involved in an assault on a protester dragged by his staff onto consulate property would have done the same. Questioned October 19 about having grabbed the protester by the hair, Zheng Xiyuan said had a “duty” to maintain his country’s dignity. [node:read-more:link]