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Libert@s online: Issue 5
May 2002

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FINAL CALL FOR NOMINATIONS - 2002 JOHN HUMPHREY FREEDOM AWARD

The deadline for nominations for the 2002 John Humphrey Freedom Award is upon us. Send in your candidates now. For details on how to nominate an outstanding human rights activist or group, and for eligibility requirements, please click here.

Middle East: Call for Peacekeeping and Respect for International Law

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is in an unprecedented bloody phase, which threatens to destabilize the entire region. While both sides are carrying out increasingly horrendous, daily attacks on innocent civilians, Rights & Democracy has called on the international community to intervene. In a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham, Warren Allmand calls for a United Nations international peacekeeping force to stand between Palestinians and Israelis to prevent further carnage. He states, "Rights & Democracy believes that the Israeli occupation is contrary to Article 2 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War adopted on 12 August 1949 and is the root cause of the Palestinian crisis." Mr. Allmand also urges Canada to actively pursue peace in the Middle East as part of its prevention of terrorism strategy and reminds the government to comply with its own Middle East policy, which includes the following:

Canada does not recognize the permanent control exercised by Israel over the territories occupied in 1967 (Golan Heights, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza strip) and is opposed to any unilateral action aimed at predetermining the outcome of negotiations, including the establishment of settlements in the occupied territories and unilateral measures aimed at annexing East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Canada considers such actions to be contrary to international law and counterproductive in the framework of the peace process."

Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade: Canada's policy regarding the Middle East peace process,

http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/peaceproces/menu-e.asp.

Canada's Shameful Position in Geneva on the Middle East

At the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva on April 5th, Canada voted against the proposal to allow the UN's Human Rights Commissioner, Mary Robinson, to travel to the Middle East to investigate reports of serious human rights abuses in the region. Canada was one of only two countries to vote against the proposal. Rights & Democracy wrote a letter to Bill Graham questioning Canada's shameful position against a mission that would prove useful in reducing tension and promoting respect for international law in the region.

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