“What has happened to you guys? I thought you were the human rights good guys.”
That is what my military escort at Guantanamo Bay said one day in August while I was there to observe Omar Khadr's military commission trial. He was well aware that Khadr had long been the only Westerner left in the prison camps and that the Canadian government had no interest, to put it mildly, in giving him a hand.
Those were the words of a U.S. soldier on active duty at Guantanamo Bay — not a human-rights activist or opposition politician. And they are words that invite reflection, at year's end, about Canada's human rights standing on the world stage. What has happened to us? Are we still the human rights good guys?
The year 2010 held great promise for Canada, with tremendous opportunities to shine on the world stage, including the chance to highlight important human rights issues. The world was watching Canada stage the Olympics and Paralympics; host the G8 and G20 summits; and, of course, promote our candidacy for a seat on the UN Security Council.
But it went awry in so many ways. Hosting the G8 and G20 summits did leave behind a new initiative to tackle a critical human rights concern, maternal and newborn health. But the financial support from other governments is uncertain. And the initiative was strained by the government's refusal to ensure that a solid sexual and reproductive rights framework, including some attention to access to abortion services, was at its heart.
At the end of the day, what transpired within the official summits was overshadowed by the staggering assault on freedom of expression that played out on the streets of Toronto. It still seems impossible to imagine that more than 1,100 people were arrested over the weekend, the overwhelming majority of whom were involved in peaceful acts of protest or were just passing by.
What is needed in the aftermath is a comprehensive joint provincial/federal public inquiry that will examine how policing the demonstrations could have gone so terribly wrong. So far, however, neither government shows any appetite for doing so.
Canada's ill-fated Security Council bid, with a withdrawal from the process to avoid certain defeat, still smarts. Many Canadians hung their heads in shame when they realized past supporters had deserted us, and it became clear that Portugal was going to leave Canada in the dust. It is the first time in UN history that we have run for a seat and lost — by no means a proud moment.
Of course there are many explanations for the result, some of which are wrapped up in the often deceptive and complex world of back-scratching that mars many UN votes. But there is no denying that a significant piece of the outcome stems from our tarnished global reputation impacted by failure to respect human rights.
There is Omar Khadr. Our defiant refusal to come to the aid of a child soldier, who has made credible (fully corroborated in at least one instance) allegations of torture and ill-treatment and who has been ensnared in Guantanamo injustice for eight years, has certainly been noted. It has left open just where Canada stands on key human rights issues that we long championed, including protecting child soldiers and standing firm against torture.
There is Africa. Our nearly wholesale shift of humanitarian, diplomatic and political attention away from Africa has sent a distressing message. Canada, which has long played a key role in addressing serious human rights concerns in Africa — apartheid-era South Africa, military rule in Nigeria, catastrophe in Sudan — has now virtually become a non-player in most corners of the continent. It is a continent that needs more, not fewer, human rights champions.
There is Israel. The government proudly proclaims that Canada is a staunch friend of Israel and will not apologize for being so. Apologies are not necessary. Being a friend of Israel is a fine thing. But with friendship must come honesty about human rights. Canada has refused to criticize the Israeli government — be it at the UN or in one-on-one dealings — about the vast array of grave human rights violations that are the daily reality for Palestinians in the region; it does no favours for Palestinian victims of those violations, the hopes of lasting peace in the Middle East, and Canada's standing and reputation.
And what transpires globally has been matched domestically. Over the past year, a stunning number of Canadian organizations have lost government funding for important humanitarian programming because those organizations strive to strengthen protection of Palestinian rights. In the end, Canada's reputation as an honest broker about a contentious and long-standing human rights tragedy lies in tatters.
There is the death penalty. In 2007, 2008 and again this year, an important resolution came before the UN General Assembly seeking a global moratorium on executions. Canada votes for it. But Canada refuses to demonstrate leadership by joining the more than 80 other countries that have put their names to the resolution and co-sponsored it. We are the only firmly abolitionist country to refuse to do so. We are the only country with a track record of co-sponsoring earlier UN death penalty resolutions that refuses to do so now. That is beyond a failure to demonstrate leadership, it is a retreat from leadership.
And then there are Indigenous peoples. Part of what went sour for Canada during the Security Council vote can be traced back to our appalling behaviour in 2006 and 2007, when the UN finally adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which had been in the works for more than 20 years. We not only voted against it, we aggressively (and fortunately unsuccessfully) pressed other countries to oppose it. And when it was passed by an overwhelming majority we claimed it did not apply to us because we had voted against it. That was an unacceptable view of the status of UN decisions that we would never accept from other countries.
Finally this year — after four years of bullying and defiance — Canada changed its mind. It wasn't announced until November, after the Security Council vote. And it could have been such a good news moment. Only it was clear there was nothing proud or genuine about the change of heart. In fact, the decision was announced to no fanfare, with a posting to government websites on a Friday afternoon (a well-established trick for burying a news story).
So, the soldier's view from Guantanamo may well have hit the mark. It is time to ask what has happened to Canada, the human rights good guys. And it is time to turn it around.
Globally, we end the year with grave worry about simmering human rights crises in places like Haiti and Ivory Coast. However, we also end the year with a bit of a boost from the uplifting news of Aung San Suu Kyi's release from imprisonment in Myanmar and the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese prisoner of conscience Liu Xiaobo.
Struggles go on. Victories are possible. Human rights good guys are in short supply. Canada needs to get back in that game.