NEWS RELEASES

November 25, 2005 (3:10 p.m. EST)
No. 238

CANADA SUPPORTS INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TOWARD ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew and Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler today announced Canada’s accession to a UN treaty that confirms its continued opposition to the death penalty. The treaty, the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, is considered the most significant international legal instrument relating specifically to the death penalty.

“Becoming a party to the treaty is part of Canada’s effort to send a clear message on this important human rights issue,” said Minister Pettigrew. “Canada opposes the death penalty and we support the international trend toward its abolition. We urge all states that retain the death penalty to abolish it or to impose a moratorium on its use, and to become parties to the Second Optional Protocol.”

“Canada has been abolitionist in practice for decades—no one has been executed in Canada since 1962,” said Minister Cotler. “By acceding to the UN treaty, we not only formalize our long-standing support for the abolition of the death penalty, but take our place at the forefront of the international struggle toward abolition.”

The Second Optional Protocol requires that states abolish the death penalty and not execute anyone within their jurisdiction. Canada voted in favour of the treaty when it was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 29, 1989. It entered into force on July 11, 1991. There are now 56 states (including Canada) that are parties to the Second Optional Protocol and another eight which have signed but not ratified.

Canada has been a consistently strong voice for the protection of human rights from its central role in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1947 and 1948 to its work at the UN today. Canada is a party to all six major international human rights conventions: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

James Christoff
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs Canada
(613) 995-1874
http://www.international.gc.ca

Marc Chalifoux
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Justice
(613) 992-4621

Media Relations Office
Department of Justice Canada
(613) 957-4207