Canada rallies 57 countries against arbitrary detention

Melania Marquis
Tap

Secretary of State Mark Guerrero will host a virtual summit this Monday. “We are very proud. This is a very important initiative,” he said in an interview Tap Hinge on this international conference.

In total, 58 countries from all continents signed the text; More than 40 of them chief diplomats will address the event on Monday. Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney invited Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth to speak.

“We want to say that this is totally unacceptable and completely unethical for countries that arbitrarily detain for diplomatic gain, which creates problems for citizens who want to visit or work in another country, because they are in danger. It must stop,” Mark Garnio said at the other end of the line.

The authorship of the ad goes back to its predecessor Franకోois-Philippe Champagne. “I give him a lot of credit and he is very happy to take the baton,” the new chief diplomat said. And by seizing, it dictates the work of expanding the list of countries committed to the initiative. “I can tell you that other countries are studying this,” he said.

No country pointed out

No country has been accused of participating in the practice. But we know them. Just days after the arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the financial director of the Chinese company Huawei, on December 10, 2018, in Vancouver, who arrested Michael Kovrig and Michael Spawar from North Korea, Iran, Russia, Venezuela … and, China, Canada.

By rallying so many countries for its purpose, is Canada angry over Beijing?

He is not even ready to say whether Ambassador Bob Ray can bring this statement to the United Nations.

However, it was clear in his mind that we were “momentarily gaining momentum” and should continue to make as much noise as possible, so that this statement would gain notoriety on a planetary level. In fact, he compared it to the personal anti – landmine crusade adopted by the Canadian government, resulting in the 1997 Ottawa Accord.

“At first, Canada’s initiative did not seem to attract much attention, but we persevered, and in the end it was accepted by the majority of countries in the world,” said Minister Garnia. The conference, signed by 133 countries in the Canadian capital, now has parties from 164 states.

“Very good” initiative

France-Isabelle Langlois, Director-General of Amnesty International, the French-speaking Canadian branch, “welcomes the principle.” She was warned that “the challenge is for nations to stick together” and “it will not happen overnight”, noting that “there are definitely questions how”. But “was born this way [ce genre d’initiative] », She suggests.

According to Franకోois Audette, director of the Canadian Observatory on Crisis and Humanitarian Action (OCCAH) and the Montreal Institute for International Studies, the interest shown by “intermediate countries” in this process is significant. At the bottom of the statement he cites Brazil, India and Southeast Asia, which have not yet signed.

Because through this kind of policy, we promise to be “very promising,” in the context of geopolitics we are trying to “develop economies or developing democracies join democracy”. , And on the other hand, the dictatorial Chinese model, ”he explained. “But apparently the devil’s statement is in the details,” Professor Adette said.

This announcement has so far been launched by all G7 and Five Ice member countries. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary Dominic Robb will address the gathering on Monday. The international conference is taking place at 9 p.m.