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The Canadian Government Must Not Allow Human Rights Abusers To Control Canada’s Foreign Policy Agenda

mai 19, 2016 Estonian Life No. 20 2016

TORONTO - The Estonian Central Council in Canada is extremely disappointed in the Liberal Government's decision to renege on its 2015 election promise to introduce legislation modelled on US Magnitsky legislation that would impose meaningful penalties on corrupt foreign officials who violate human rights.

We understand the desire for Canada to re-engage diplomatically with Russia, but engagement should not result in appeasement. As former Liberal Party interim leader Bob Rae notes, "The decision by the government to re-engage with Russia and Iran and other countries should never mean that we lower our own standards with respect to conduct by individuals who are working in those systems."

The Estonian Central Council in Canada, urges the Government of Canada to continuously evaluate the progress of its re-engagement strategy against realistic objectives. The Russian government's actions over the past several years suggest limited opportunity for a cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and shared values:

  • The illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014 and ongoing military support for separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine;
  • A precipitous decline in press freedom such that Russia now ranks 183rd out of 202 countries according to Freedom House's 2016 international rankings;
  • Imprisonment, attempted murder and assassination of the Putin regime's political opponents including Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Kara-Murza and others;
  • The ongoing persecution of human rights and pro democracy activists and the systematic violations of basic democratic principles including elections;
  • Violent, accelerating, persecution of Russia's LGBT community;
  • Creation of a National Guard paramilitary force directly subordinate to President Putin with the right to shoot protestors without warning;
  • The well documented shooting down of a civilian airliner, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, a scheduled international passenger flight over eastern Ukraine with a loss of 298 passengers and crew; and
  • Prolonging the Syrian civil war and inflaming the refugee crisis with air strikes against civilian infrastructure and non-ISIS opponents of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad.

In addition to our international allies, such as the United States, who have adopted this important pro-Russian human rights legislation, the OSCE has also called “on national parliaments to take action to impose visa sanctions and asset freezes on persons responsible for the false arrest, torture, denial of medical care and death of Sergei Magnitsky.”

If the Russian government is committed to human rights and eliminating corruption, it should not have any concerns with other countries passing Magnitsky legislation. By targeting documented human rights abusers and corrupt officials, Magnitsky legislation sanctions only the wrongdoers and avoids punishing innocent Russians who make up the vast majority of the country's population. It also serves Canada's long term interests by encouraging a Russian political and legal environment that upholds the rule of law and values public accountability – essential elements for protecting Canadian investments in Russia.
If the Liberal Government does not feel bound to honour its election promises, we call on Prime Minister Trudeau to respect the will of Parliament and permit Bill C-267, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, to proceed unhindered to a free vote.

The members of the Canadian Estonian community will be watching how the Liberal Government proceeds, along with the 4 million other Canadians of Central and Eastern European heritage. This community will not support Canadian appeasement of a regime that systematically engages in and benefits from the abuse of human rights and its citizens: we cannot allow Russia's corrupt murderers and torturers, to travel in or hide their assets in Canada.

We strongly encourage all members of the Estonian community in Canada to contact their Members of Parliament, The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prime Minister to ask them to stand up for Canadian values and tell our officials that we cannot allow criminals and the abusers of human rights to find shelter in our country. Canada must immediately adopt Magnitsky legislation.

Community members can email Jessie Chahal directly at the Prime Ministers office with their concerns : jessie.Chahal@pmo-cpm.gc.ca

The Estonian Central Council in Canada

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For more information contact estoniancentralcouncil@gmail.com

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