CANADA CONTINUES PROGRESS IN WAR CRIMES INITIATIVES

OTTAWA, June 27, 2000 - The Honourable Elinor Caplan, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and the Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today jointly released the Government of Canada's third Annual Report on War Crimes covering the period from April 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000. The report details the government's progress in bringing to justice those involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, or other reprehensible acts in times of war, past or present.

Leaving Europe after having forged additional co-operation and information sharing links with senior officials of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia, Minister Caplan said: " Our ongoing resolve to deny safe haven to modern day war criminals is demonstrated in our third report. Last year we denied entry to 581 persons suspected of war crimes, intervened 127 times in refugee hearings to prevent access to that system, and removed 38 such persons from Canada. These numbers are all higher than our achievements in previous years."

"This third report demonstrates clearly the federal government's commitment to ensuring that Canada is not a safe haven for war criminals," said Minister McLellan. "We will continue to intensify our efforts in bringing those involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice."

Since 1995, 17 revocation of citizenship or deportation cases relating to World War II have been undertaken by the Government of Canada. Of these, two have left the country voluntarily and 12 have exercised their right to have the matter referred to the Federal Court Trial Division for determination. Of these 12, four were determined by the Court to have obtained Canadian citizenship by misrepresentation or concealment of their wartime activities, three were determined not to have done so, one died before proceedings were concluded, one is awaiting a decision and three cases are ongoing.

Significant legislative activity is also underway to make available the entire spectrum of options to address the issue of war criminals in Canada more effectively. The new Extradition Act came into force during 1999-2000, updating and enhancing Canada's ability to extradite war criminals. On December 10, 1999, the government introduced the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (Bill C-19) which would replace the current war crimes provisions in the Criminal Code with new legislation. The government also introduced the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Bill C-31) which in part proposes streamlined removal processes applicable to serious offenders, including war criminals.

Now before the Senate, the new Citizenship of Canada Act tabled on November 25, 1999 reaffirms the government's commitment to deny citizenship for reasons that include war crimes.

The Department of Justice, Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the RCMP were allocated $46.8 million in 1998 over three years to investigate and litigate new cases, expand capacity for interdiction abroad, improve case processing in Canada and provide enhanced infrastructure for the War Crimes Program. A full program evaluation is to be conducted in the current 2000-2001 fiscal year.

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For information:

For a hard copy of the third annual report of the War Crimes Program, call the Department of Justice (613) 957-4222 or Citizenship and Immigration Canada (613) 954-9019.

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