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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <meta name="DATE" content="3/15/1997"> <meta name="Author" content="Jason Hynes"> <title>MS. STEWART - ADDRESS BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSIONON HUMAN RIGHTS - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 97/16 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE CHRISTINE STEWART SECRETARY OF STATE (LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA) BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS GENEVA, Switzerland March 19, 1997 This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca Mr. Chairman: I was honoured to address this Commission in 1995, and following the visit of Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy last year, I am pleased to be with you again today. This regular ministerial attendance at these meetings reflects the importance that human rights play in Canada's foreign policy -- as a threshold issue in our relations with other states. And it reflects the central role of the Commission in advancing the cause of human rights in all parts of the world. Over the past 50 years, the Commission on Human Rights has presided over a transformation of the common values of humanity -- freedom and democracy, sharing and community -- into internationally recognized norms -- universal standards of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Today, our attention increasingly focusses, in this Commission and elsewhere, on the task of implementing those norms. In this, there can be no question of choosing certain rights over others. Human rights begin with the day's first meal, but without the freedom to speak, how can anyone say he is hungry? The challenge of implementation is complex and must be met by each society in its own way. But this does not relieve the international community of its responsibility: under the Charter of the United Nations, all of our governments are pledged, individually and collectively, to promote "human rights and fundamental freedoms for all." So Canada considers it a matter of obligation: we must seek to address human rights concerns in a forthright and effective manner. And we must do so at every appropriate opportunity -- and certainly before this Commission, which exists for no other purpose. The preferred approach to this shared responsibility is one of dialogue and engagement. This explains the particular effort that Canada and its independent Canadian Human Rights Commission have invested in working with other countries to assist in the development of national institutions for the protection of human rights. Independent national human rights agencies (like independent electoral commissions) or similar structures are one of the most effective means of safeguarding the constitutional and legal rights of individual citizens. This Commission and the many mechanisms created by the UN to promote human rights offer a wide variety of opportunities for engagement. The High Commissioner has made an important contribution to helping Rwanda begin the reconstruction of its devastated judicial and human rights infrastructure. At this session, Canada will again work closely with Rwanda and others to reinforce that effort. We hope that the Commission can also contribute to a co-ordinated international response to the situations in Burundi and Zaire -- where the lives of innocent civilians must not be regarded merely as a necessary cost of military pursuits. In another part of the world, Canada congratulates both the High Commissioner and the Government of Colombia on their progress in establishing a UN human rights office in Bogota. However, we wish to emphasize that further practical steps must be urgently implemented to meet the challenge of protecting human rights in a very difficult environment. Mr. Chairman, the pursuit of dialogue and engagement in support of human rights must be sustained by this Commission in all circumstances -- even in the face of refusal by some governments to respond in kind. Frank, forthright discussion of specific situations and problems is not an alternative to dialogue. It is, rather, an essential element of the process -- especially in cases where governments deny the existence of problems, or challenge the Commission's authority to consider them. Therefore, Mr. Chairman, when the Commission takes up its debate on human rights situations in all parts of the world, Canada will participate actively. We will, in a frank, constructive manner, express our views on a range of situations in specific countries. Situations like that in Nigeria, whose government Canada has sought, with disappointing results, to engage in a serious dialogue on human rights and democracy through bilateral and multilateral channels. And situations like that in China, with whom we have discussed human rights in a constructive bilateral dialogue on the basis of mutual respect. And we will urge all governments to engage in similarly constructive dialogues with this Commission. And I hasten to add, Mr. Chairman, the Canadian delegation will, as in the past, be more than prepared to hear out and respond constructively to concerns that others, governments and NGOs [non-governmental organizations] alike, may wish to express about human right problems in Canada. For there is no country represented in this room that does not have human rights problems -- and this Commission is the place to discuss them. As I have said, the review of specific situations is a matter of obligation -- obligation under our Charter, but above all obligation to victims of human rights violations wherever they may occur. We would do well in this connection to recall the eloquent words of Mrs. Olusegun Obasanjo in receiving the Indira Gandhi International Prize on behalf of her husband last November: in the face of injustice to individuals anywhere, we must not become "quiet and seemingly acquiescent to realpolitik." It is a matter of obligation to the countless individuals, many of them members of non-governmental and other organizations, who daily place their own rights on the line to defend those victims. I want today to pay tribute, on behalf of Canada, to those who have in the past year made the ultimate sacrifice in this cause -- including the human rights monitors recently murdered in Rwanda. Canada has lost two of its own in the past 12 months: Ms. Nancy Malloy, a nurse with the International Committee of the Red Cross in Chechnya, and Father Pinard, a Missionaire d'Afrique in Rwanda. They will not be forgotten. I want also to join those who have called for the early completion of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. In the 11 years since Canada and Norway tabled the first draft for this declaration, individuals and members of NGOs have played an increasingly important role, as an essential front-line force, in promoting and protecting human rights throughout the world. We were gravely disappointed at the limited progress at the most recent Working Group session. We strongly urge all parties -- and above all the very few who have raised obstacles to the process -- to give renewed attention and commitment to concluding the work on the Declaration in the coming year. Mr. Chairman, Canada attaches similar priority to advancing the Commission's work on a comprehensive Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. At the 1996 session of the Working Group, Canada sought to give momentum to the discussions in recognizing that indigenous peoples have a right to self-determination that respects the territorial integrity of democratic states. We encourage all parties to seek ways to co-operate so that important progress can be made in developing the Declaration at the next Working Group meeting. On the scale of human injustice, there can be no greater cause for alarm than abuses suffered by children. The Canadian government has made the rights of children a priority in both domestic and foreign policy agenda. We take seriously our commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and we strongly support the work of this Commission on guidelines for two optional protocols to the Convention: one on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and the other on children in situations of armed conflict. We are also following up on the Agenda for Action of the Stockholm World Congress Against Sexual Exploitation of Children. As Foreign Affairs Minister Axworthy said at that conference, it is hard to believe that on the eve of the 21st century, we are still trying to deal with what is essentially a form of slavery: the sex trade involving children. Canada's efforts on this front have included a parliamentary bill that will make Canadians who engage in child sex tourism abroad liable to prosecution in Canada. Last month, I attended the Amsterdam Child Labour Conference, where representatives of governments, international organizations such as the ILO [International Labour Organization] and concerned non-governmental organizations came together in a common cause to meet this challenge. Canada recognizes child labour as a human rights issue as well as a development issue -- a challenge demanding a multi-disciplinary response from a broad alliance of national and international authorities, civil society and non-governmental organizations. Mr. Chairman, as I said before this Commission two years ago: the Charter's promise of "human rights for all" will not be fulfilled until the rights and full equality of half the world's population are recognized and respected, in law and practice, in all countries. This Commission has played an important role in advancing this cause, including through the creation in 1994 of the post of Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. The Special Rapporteur has now completed her first term. We believe her work has made an important contribution to the search for concrete solutions that can be applied at all levels of society. At this session of the Commission, the Canadian delegation is honoured to lead in seeking renewal of this important mandate for a further three years. Mr. Chairman, I have mentioned but a few of the substantive areas in which Canada hopes to work with others during the current session of the Commission. However, our agenda will not be complete, and our efforts to advance the many vital causes before us will not reach their potential if inadequate attention is given to the basic health of the United Nations human rights system. We are, in this regard, entering a period of great challenge and opportunity. On March 10, our proceedings were launched by the words of a new Secretary-General, pledging to be a champion of human rights in his own right. Canada has been most encouraged by the initial steps he has taken in reforming the Secretariat, identifying human rights as one of the core functions of the United Nations. The further reforms he is developing and the crucial personnel choices he must now make for the Human Rights Program present an opportunity to give operational reality to that vision, and to ensure that human rights will, as he declared last week, be fully integrated into the action of the organization in all domains -- peace and security, development, and humanitarian affairs. He will have Canada's full support in that effort. He can also count on our contribution in practical ways, including the human rights roster that Canada is developing to assist in creating a rapid reaction capacity for the UN and other international organizations. Next year -- the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and occasion for the five-year review of the Vienna Declaration and Program of Action -- will provide a further critical opportunity to adapt to the human rights challenges of a new millennium. A crucial milestone, within our reach for 1998, would be the establishment of an effective and independent International Criminal Court. Canada will spare no effort in seeking to achieve that goal. I would like to mention three other areas in which Canada sees scope for important progress. First, new information technologies should be an important part of our strategy for the future promotion of human rights. The Internet can give human rights advocates increased access to information and an improved capacity to communicate. Information technologies can also be tools in human rights education, which will help to ensure the commitment of the next generation to human rights. Canada intends to play a leadership role in this area. Second, Canada has for several years advocated efforts to make the work of this Commission and its many mechanisms, and of the human rights treaty bodies, better known and more accessible to the media and the general public. The many rapporteurs and working groups of the Commission, and the various committees do superb work with the resources available to them -- but it is, frankly, among the best kept secrets of the United Nations. One vehicle to help remedy this would be an annual report on the state of human rights worldwide, based on the findings of the UN's independent human rights mechanisms. As part of our commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Canada will sponsor the development and publication of a prototype for such an annual report on human rights. Finally, and in the same vein, Canada believes that the time is long past due for this Commission to mobilize the great interest shown in its work by political figures and other distinguished personalities from all parts of the world. A high-level segment of the Commission, bringing leaders, ministers, and top representatives of civil society together at the same time would go a long way toward carrying the Commission's message beyond the basement of the Palais, and out to the real world and to the people whose well-being we seek to advance. Canada thus strongly urges the holding of a high-level segment at the 54th session of the Commission on Human Rights. To conclude, Mr. Chairman, the quest for human freedom and justice is a noble cause -- a UN Charter obligation in its own right. But it is even more. It is, in Canada's view, an indispensable instrument in the pursuit of all of the basic purposes of the United Nation. We believe that the United Nations' human rights machinery can and must serve all of these goals: peace, justice and prosperity for all. And to that end, Mr. Chairman, we pledge our full co-operation to you and to all participants in this session of the Commission on Human Rights. Thank you. </body> </html>

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