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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <title>MR. AXWORTHY - ADDRESS TO THE CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS ROUNDTABLE ON RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION - OTTAWA, ONTARIO</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 99/22 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LLOYD AXWORTHY MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE CANADIAN JEWISH CONGRESS ROUNDTABLE ON RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION OTTAWA, Ontario March 17, 1999 (12:45 p.m. EST) As many of you are aware, Canada has been reshaping its foreign policy to reflect the increasing human dimension of global peace and security. Many of the challenges we face as a global community, from violent conflict to newer threats -- illicit drugs, terrorism or environmental degradation -- have a more direct impact on the daily lives of ordinary people. Human security is providing both the focus and the impetus for global action. As a result, Canada has been taking a more human-centred approach to global relations in the initiatives we take, the themes we pursue and the methods we use. Human rights are the cornerstone of human security. Promoting full respect for human rights and dignity is fundamental to a foreign policy that aims to focus on the welfare of people as well as states. Freedom of religion is a basic human right. It has a central place in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is an enduring concern of global human rights organizations -- governmental and non-governmental. It figures prominently in national human rights laws and provisions around the world. However defined, it is recognized as a fundamental human value requiring close attention. For good reason. An individual's faith goes to the core of that person's beliefs and identity. A society's respect for religious expression is a measure of its commitment to tolerance and a yardstick of its capacity to accommodate difference. Religious intolerance, on the other hand, has been and is a source of conflict, violence and human suffering. As a result, protecting and advancing freedom of religion is an intrinsic part of Canada's human security agenda. And in our changing global context, this is more rather than less urgent. The demise of Cold War constraints and the emergence of globalization has had its positive sides. But the new global reality also has a darker side, creating new stresses -- political, economic and social. Some individuals and groups have responded by retreating to more traditional, sometimes extreme, values to assert their identities. In some cases, leaders have preyed on the fears of an uncertain time, inciting or sanctioning hatred to promote their own ambitions. In other situations, a more transparent global environment has served to highlight or sharpen long-standing prejudice and oppression. In these circumstances, freedom of religion is particularly vulnerable. Abuses of religious beliefs occur in a variety of ways, from random acts of violence, to quasi-official persecution, to entrenched, state-sanctioned prejudice. The result is a global situation in which religious tension, persecution and oppression are a continuing if not growing concern, manifesting themselves in different forms including in Afghanistan, Belarus, China, Cuba, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Russia and Vietnam. The specific situations you will consider today -- Sudan, Iran and Tibet -- are also troubling, each for unique reasons. However, challenges to freedom of religion wherever they happen cannot go unanswered. Canadians need to be involved in responding -- as a way to project our values and advance our interests. Efforts to promote religious tolerance abroad reflect our experience at home. The same capacity for tolerance, accommodation, negotiation and goodwill that we have used to build a united, multicultural -- and multifaith -- country can and should be applied internationally. While we seek to project these values elsewhere, we must remain vigilant about the impact of religious extremism in our own midst and constantly work toward greater religious understanding at home. Advancing religious freedom also serves our national interests. Religious intolerance can and has led to uncertainty and violent conflict. As a result, it can affect our prosperity, which depends on global and regional stability. It can cost us directly through the funds Canadians devote to humanitarian and other aid to victims of conflict in which religious persecution plays a part or is used as an instrument of war -- in Sudan, for example, the conflict has cost Canada $1 million a month. It can increase the risks to our own security if it involves terrorism or if it spills over onto our own shores. Canada therefore needs to be engaged -- and we have been, in multilateral and bilateral forums. At the United Nations, we have strongly backed the activities of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Religious Intolerance. Canada was a key proponent of the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. We have worked vigorously to promote the implementation of its objectives. Canada has been an active co-sponsor of resolutions opposing religious intolerance at both the UN General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights. We have also been working bilaterally and with civil society to use religious dialogue as a tool for reconciliation. As a follow-up to the Oslo Interfaith Declaration, Canada and Norway are exploring an initiative involving the Canadian Council of Churches and their Norwegian counterparts aimed at building a broad-based international civil society coalition to advance freedom of religion. Freedom of religion is also part of the agenda in our bilateral human rights dialogues with China and Cuba. We are working hard to foster dialogue between Chinese and Canadian civil society groups in this area. In Cuba, the recent progress made by the Catholic Church results in no small part from the emphasis Canada and other countries have put on this issue. As part of our efforts to expand contacts with Iran, Canadian parliamentarians raised the issue of religious freedom during a visit there last month. In many ways our approach is still a work in progress. As we look to the future and to developing our ideas and activities further, we will focus our efforts in the following areas: 1. Reinforcing existing mechanisms. To a certain extent, we already have many of the instruments we require to move forward. What we now need is to make them work better. Multilaterally, Canada will carry on efforts at the UN while expanding our efforts, where appropriate, in other organizations in which we participate. The OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] is promising in that regard. We will support further reflection and initiate concrete actions to engage a multifaith dialogue in the OSCE region. To that end, the OSCE Advisory Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion has an important role to play. Canada will participate at an OSCE seminar on the subject in Vienna on March 22 to consider next steps. We will also continue to pursue our bilateral efforts. To that end, I am pleased to note that China has indicated its willingness to host a visit by a Canadian delegation to engage in a dialogue on issues of religious freedom. Member churches of the Canadian Council of Churches, in conjunction with their Chinese partners, are discussing options for such a continued dialogue. 2. Using information technology. From Bosnia to Burma, the information superhighway is making it possible to advance human rights objectives. Last fall, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade [DFAIT] organized an NGO [non-governmental organization] forum on the Internet and human rights. We are turning our attention now to how information technology, as well as improved networking, better reporting and enhanced information gathering, can all be developed and used more specifically as instruments to promote religious freedom. I am pleased to announce today that DFAIT is prepared to devote resources for this purpose. I would welcome your ideas about how we can work in partnership to that end. 3. Involving and mobilizing Canadians. The engagement of Canadians and Canadian civil society is essential in promoting religious tolerance around the world. The advice and views from individuals and groups such as yourselves will be important in determining the government's priorities. To that end, many of you participated in a roundtable discussion on freedom of religion and religious intolerance organized two weeks ago by DFAIT. You are meeting today under the auspices of the Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development for further reflection. The recommendations made two weeks ago and your discussions today will be helpful in moving forward. Religious beliefs are ultimately an intensely personal matter. Consequently, while governments have a role in promoting religious freedom abroad, this responsibility must be shared by individuals, NGOs and religious groups. Working through and mobilizing interest in our own parishes, temples and mosques, I am convinced that we can all make a contribution to advancing religious freedom beyond our borders. I would be interested to hear from you how we might work together in pursuing this objective. The promotion of religious freedom is integral to full respect for human rights. Human rights are in turn the foundation for human security. Consequently, in pursuing our human security agenda, we must be engaged in fighting religious intolerance. I have outlined some of the ways we are doing this and the direction we intend to take. I look forward to hearing the conclusions of your discussions. Thank you. </body> </html>

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