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Canada accused of hypocrisy on human rights
WebPosted Sun Apr 8 08:16:41 2001
CBC News


GENEVA - A new study claims most countries, including
Canada, are not honouring their obligations under United
Nations human rights treaties.

The author of the study is Anne Bayefsky, a professor of
political science from Toronto's York University. She
accuses Canada of hypocrisy.

The 900-page study says the whole human rights international
legal system is threatened and in need of reform. It notes
100 countries have ratified treaties that obligate them to
uphold human rights, yet they fail to implement these
requirements.

Bayefsky is critical of Canada's performance. She says
democracies have a special responsibility to play a
leadership role in the area of human rights.

"Canada is part and parcel of the attitude of democratic
regimes, which suggests that perhaps the UN treaty system is
primarily for countries with egregious human rights records,
and Canada doesn't need improving."

Over the years human rights monitoring committees have found  Canada in
violation of various provisions of the human rights treaties. Bayefsky says
Canada has a very poor record of compliance with their rulings. She says
this smacks of hypocrisy because Canada is always calling on other countries
to abide by their human rights commitments.

Canadian officials say they have not seen the study and cannot comment.