NEWS RELEASES

March 10, 2005 (4:00 p.m. EST)
No. 42

MINISTER PETTIGREW TO ATTEND UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SESSION

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today announced that he will address the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 14, 2005.

“Canada is pleased to be back as a full member of the Commission on Human Rights this year,” said Minister Pettigrew. “We attach strong importance to the Commission, given its primary position within the United Nations in promoting and protecting human rights worldwide. This is a particularly important year for the international community as we look at ways to reinvigorate the United Nations and ensure that human rights remain central to its work.”

During his visit, the Minister will also deliver a speech at the Conference on Disarmament urging progress on multilateral cooperation on the crucial issues of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the non-weaponization of outer space.

The UNCHR meets for six weeks in March and April of every year. Minister Pettigrew will attend the high-level segment of the session and meet with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour. Canadian priorities for this session will include the Canadian-led resolutions on impunity, freedom of expression and opinion, violence against women, the rights of Indigenous peoples, mass exoduses of people and other issues such as ensuring the integration of gender perspectives throughout the UN system. Specific objectives include the renewal of the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and the extension for one further session of the mandate of the Working Group on the draft declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples. Canada will also use these meetings to continue raising its concerns about human rights situations in specific countries.

The UNCHR is composed of 53 member countries elected for three-year terms by the UN Economic & Social Council. In 2004, Canada was an observer to the Commission and was re-elected as a full member for the 2005 session.

- 30 -

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Sébastien Théberge
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851

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