Human Rights Still Matter, Eh?
Indeed. The following insightful article speaks quite eloquently for itself on the matter:
Human rights still matter
Our politicians have a moral duty to do more than just strive to be elected on the easiest ticket possible.
by Monia Mazigh
I found it troubling to follow the recent federal campaign without hearing a firm and strong interest from any of the party leaders on the issue of human rights.
I understand that economic issues have affected the politics of the debate, but even though the collapse of the US financial markets is a clear concern to many citizens, the dwindling of the leadership role of Canada in human rights, both at home and abroad, is an ongoing worry for all of us.
During the debates, the question of the repatriation of Omar Khadr was left unasked, and Canada has still an ambiguous position with regard to the closing of Guantanamo Bay, despite the importance of the issue.
However, south of the border, both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama have clearly stated that they are in favour of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, which has become an international embarrassment for the Bush administration and for the American people.
Are our politicians afraid to focus on more than one complex issue at a time, despite the fact that we are faced with several? Our needs for human rights and security have not disappeared because of this financial crisis; they remain among the most important issues at stake for Canadians.
The fate of Mr Khadr, the last westerner to be left in Guantanamo, is not the only question that is left unanswered; there is also the problem of the treatment of Afghan prisoners; and what about the hundreds of missing aboriginal women who have disappeared from our streets, never to be heard from again?
These problems are important to Canadians, and certainly important enough to be raised during an election. Is the fact that these issues were left out of the debate a reflection of the disinterest of the population in human rights, or is it a symptom of our political leaders' unhealthy reliance on briefing notes, as evidenced by the carefully repeated and simplistic marketing messages that they regurgitate to us with monotonous precision?
(Keep reading ...)
Our politicians have a moral duty to do more than just strive to be elected on the easiest ticket possible.
by Monia Mazigh
I found it troubling to follow the recent federal campaign without hearing a firm and strong interest from any of the party leaders on the issue of human rights.
I understand that economic issues have affected the politics of the debate, but even though the collapse of the US financial markets is a clear concern to many citizens, the dwindling of the leadership role of Canada in human rights, both at home and abroad, is an ongoing worry for all of us.
During the debates, the question of the repatriation of Omar Khadr was left unasked, and Canada has still an ambiguous position with regard to the closing of Guantanamo Bay, despite the importance of the issue.
However, south of the border, both Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama have clearly stated that they are in favour of closing the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, which has become an international embarrassment for the Bush administration and for the American people.
Are our politicians afraid to focus on more than one complex issue at a time, despite the fact that we are faced with several? Our needs for human rights and security have not disappeared because of this financial crisis; they remain among the most important issues at stake for Canadians.
The fate of Mr Khadr, the last westerner to be left in Guantanamo, is not the only question that is left unanswered; there is also the problem of the treatment of Afghan prisoners; and what about the hundreds of missing aboriginal women who have disappeared from our streets, never to be heard from again?
These problems are important to Canadians, and certainly important enough to be raised during an election. Is the fact that these issues were left out of the debate a reflection of the disinterest of the population in human rights, or is it a symptom of our political leaders' unhealthy reliance on briefing notes, as evidenced by the carefully repeated and simplistic marketing messages that they regurgitate to us with monotonous precision?
(Keep reading ...)
It's amazing how little traction issues of torture, illegal detention, rendition, death penalty, racism, mines and cluster bombs, occupation, etc have these days. We used to be considered champions of human rights and leaders in building multi-lateral agreements to protect people, including the UN Declaration of Indigenous Peoples, which the Harper government refused to sign.
ReplyDeleteAye - and not counting the fact that those subjects are not being mentioned at all by either of the two presidential candidates ....
ReplyDelete