Canada and Human Rights

What does the term “human rights” mean?

Human Rights Rights to which all humans are entitled and which are considered basic to life in any society.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rights-feature/ . 1948

Canadian Human Rights Act Human Rights in the Charter Canadian Human Rights Act Covers all federally regulated business and agencies (banks, airlines, media) Canadian Human Rights Commission Deals with Federal Human Rights Complaints

Provincial Human Rights Codes Every province has a human rights code Most deal with employment, and tenancy and are interpreted by provincial bodies.

Section 33, The Notwithstanding Clause Allows the government to pass a law even if that law violates a specific freedom or right guaranteed in the Charter Example Bill 101 in Quebec. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-73-1297-7413/politics_economy/bill101/

So we have measures in place to safeguard human rights at home, but what about internationally?

The United Nations Created in 1945 to replace League of Nations Canada was a founding member of UN Four Goals of UN: World peace and preventing new wars Cooperation among nations Defending human rights Improving standard of living of all nations

The Structure of the UN The General Assembly Each country has one vote - Democratic A “meeting place” for the world 1945 UN had 50 member countries 2007 UN has 192 member countries

The Security Council Responsible for maintaining world peace Can force the members of the UN to carry out its decisions This is the primary feature of the UN that makes it very different from the League of Nations.

Security Council Five Permanent members( United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, China) Each member has a “veto” Democratic? Ten Rotating Members serving two-year terms (Canada has served many times)

The Secretariat Current Secretariat General is Antonio Guterres from Portugal The Secretary-General's duties include helping resolve international disputes, administering peacekeeping operations, organizing international conferences, gathering information on the implementation of Security Council decisions, and consulting with member governments regarding various initiatives

International Court of Justice Not the International Criminal Court Disputes are submitted by members Located at The Hague in the Netherlands Also known as the “World Court” Members must agree to its rulings

UN Humanitarian Agencies. UNICEF WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION (WHO) WORLD FOOD PROGRAM

Canada’s Contribution to the UN played a key role in drafting the UN Charter peacekeeping active supporter

Canada’s Peacekeeping role Peacekeeping is the term utilized in UN military organizations/missions. As a result of Lester Pearson's leadership in the 1956 Suez Crisis and Canada's role in the UN Emergency Force he helped create,  Canadians have sometimes considered peacekeeping part of the country's identity.

Canada has participated in many peacekeeping missions around the globe. The Congo Cyprus The Middle East The Balkans Rwanda Somalia Some of these missions of peacekeeping and humanitarianism have been very successful, others have not and have had tragic results. Show PBS Frontline Special “Ghosts of Rwanda”

Genocide The destruction of ethnic groups has marred the progress of human history almost from its beginnings. Ex: Ancient Greeks massacres in the Middle Ages Indigenous populations in the Western Hemisphere and Africa The destruction of ethnic groups has marred the progress of human history almost from its beginnings. There are reports of genocide-like massacres in the writings of the ancient Greeks and in the history of the Middle Ages. Indigenous populations in the Western Hemisphere, Africa, and elsewhere were sometimes slated for elimination by their "discoverers" or their colonizers. Excerpt from: https://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/ghosts/GhostsOfRwanda.pdf

“Crimes Against Humanity” But ethnic massacre truly seems to have flourished in the twentieth century. Armenians in WWI were destroyed despite the protests of Western governments. “Crimes Against Humanity” Excerpt from: https://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/ghosts/GhostsOfRwanda.pdf

The UN directed a treaty aimed at its prevention and punishment In WWII, Hitler’s “Final Solution”.- extermination of the Jewish population. After The Nuremberg judgement, the UN assembly declared genocide an international crime The UN directed a treaty aimed at its prevention and punishment In the Second World War, after nearly a decade of mounting anti-Semitism, Hitler undertook what he called the "final solution," reminding his generals that "nobody remembers the Armenians." Churchill called it "the crime without a name," and it was only in 1944 that a Jewish refugee from Poland teaching in the United States, Raphael Lemkin, coined the term genocide in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. Lemkin's neologism was rapidly accepted. In 1945, the Nuremberg prosecutors charged genocide in the indictment of Goering, Hess and the others, although the judges of the International Military Tribunal kept with the official terminology used in their statute and described the Nazi atrocities as "crimes against humanity." After the Nuremberg judgment, the UN General Assembly declared genocide an international crime and directed that a treaty aimed at its prevention and punishment be drafted. Excerpt from: https://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/ghosts/GhostsOfRwanda.pdf