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| The Department of Foreign Affairs has consular offices
to assist Canadians overseas in more than 180 countries. |
OTTAWA | Oct. 17, 2003
After three years in a Saudi jail on questionable
charges, a Canadian citizen was released and not executed. That is "proof
that our system worked" says Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham.
Many disagree.
William Sampson - a Canadian and British citizen who faced the death
penalty - has told his story of torture and abuse at the hands of Saudi
officials.
But, that wasn't enough to persuade the Canadian government to send the
Saudi ambassador home, even temporarily.
It's the latest example of how foreign governments violate the rights
of Canadians without a tough diplomatic response from the Canadian government.
Ask the wife of Mahar Arar. She and her two children were recently reunited
with their father (a Canadian and Syrian citizen), after he was arrested
in New York and returned to Syria where he was jailed in without any charge
for almost a year.
In that case as well, there was no diplomatic retaliation from Ottawa.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade says it handled
1,840 cases of Canadians being arrested or detained overseas last year.
Of these, three-quarters were in the United States and mostly involved
the possession of drugs.
The problems of dual citizenship
It is important for Canadians to recognize the risks inherent in travelling
abroad.
About three million Canadians were born abroad and since 1977, foreign-born
Canadians no longer have to renounce their previous citizenship to become
Canadians.
The problem is that many countries do not recognize dual citizenship.
So, if a Canadian holding citizenship in one country visits that country,
by law, he or she will be treated as a national of that country.That means,
for some, a vacation can turn into jail time, or a three-year hitch in
a foreign army.
One way this can be avoided is through bilateral agreements between Canada
and other countries. These agreements establish that Canadians with citizenship
in another country will be treated as Canadian citizens if they enter
that country on their Canadian passport. Canada has such an agreement
with China.
| 'The problem is that many countries
do not recognize dual citizenship.' |
Canadians are protected under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.
Countries are required to allow open communication between citizens of
other countries who may be detained and diplomats from their home country.
Countries are also required to promptly notify the embassy or consulate
of a country if one of its nationals is arrested or detained.
But there is a difference between what treaties may say and what happens
in practice. In the cases of Bruce Balfour (a Canadian missionary accused
in Lebanon of spying for Israel) and Zahra Kazemi (the Montreal photojournalist
killed in Iran) Canada was not informed.
What explains the government’s passive approach to dealing with
such regimes?
Playing softball with tyrants?
The Liberal government has been influenced by what the international
relations community calls the ‘soft power’ approach to foreign
relations.
This school of thought - referred to as the Axworthy doctrine (named
for former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy) - promotes respect
for human rights by influence, rather than coercion. It plays up negotiation
and diplomacy and downplays force and sanctions.
We should always try to exhaust diplomacy before taking action, but we
must recognize that it is sometimes naïve to believe that regimes
that maintain power through force and terror will be swayed by diplomatic
niceties.
'Soft diplomacy’ has its limits when confronting tyrants.
Consequences
It’s rare for the NDP and the Canadian Alliance to agree on anything
but Alexa McDonough and Stockwell Day - foreign affairs critics for their
respective parties - have been unambiguous in calling for Bill Graham
to show Syria and Iran that Canada means business in ensuring justice
for Canadians.
Day says that only "very public, concentrated pressure intended
to embarrass" will lead to respect from such regimes and more often
than not, concessions.
| 'We should be prepared to "use
our economic and trade leverage" to ensure fair treatment of
the accused and their return to Canada.' |
In the case of William Sampson, Day pushed for the Saudi ambassador to
be sent home. For Zahra Kazemi, Day says diplomatic ties should have been
cut with Iran until Kazemi’s body was returned to Canada.
Irwin Cotler, a Liberal MP from Montreal and human rights lawyer, is
not too far off the mark when he calls for concrete ways to pressure these
regimes.
Cotler proposes that Canada apply full pressure on any regime where evidence
exists that Canadian citizens have not received a fair trial or have been
tortured. Cotler also says that Canada must insist on regular visits to
Canadian prisoners by consular officials as well as by the Red Cross to
prevent abuse.
Lastly, Cotler calls for tough consequences for these regimes.
We, he says, should be prepared to "use our economic and trade leverage"
to ensure fair treatment of the accused and their return to Canada.
As an example, he says that Canada could reconsider authorizing an agreement
between Shell, Petro-Canada and the Syrian government to drill for oil
in Syria. Petro-Canada, he says, currently purchases nearly one-fifth
of Syria’s 100,000 barrels per day of oil production.
That could have influenced Syria to release Maher Arar sooner.
All of these tough reponses have one thing in common: they produce real
consequences in the real world for the offending country.
After all, there's only so many times you can tell the school bully that
you disagree with what he's doing before you have to take action. 
Catherine Sobocan |
Editor's Note
Move over racism, sexism and ageism. After years of
prominence in the news, other sociological matters have moved to
the forefront. How to handle pesky telemarketers, putting a stop
to psychological harassment in the workplace and online fraud are
some of today’s more pressing issues.
In this issue of Capital News Online we explore some
of the moves being made toward increasing our personal protection.
Stacy O’Brien reports on a Bloc Quebecois MP's private member’s
bill aimed at putting a stop to negative remarks, gossip and gestures
deemed inappropriate in the workplace. A fine of $10,000 for those
found guilty of psychological harassment is part of Diane Bourgeois
proposal.
Other bills and motions in the name of personal protection
are also on the table. Alliance MP James Moore wants to have so-called
‘date rape’ drugs classified as weapons instead of illegal
substances. In an interview with Louise Brown, Moore explains how
his proposal would ensure jail time for the guilty.
There are even new methods in place to do our own
policing . Michelle Astill reports on a new program from the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police called Reporting Economic Crime On-Line
that encourages Canadians to make fraud complaints from home.
In the US, lawmakers heard the complaints against
unwanted phone calls from telemarketers, deemed by many to be an
invasion of privacy. A do-not-call law is now in force. A similar
movement is underway in Canada. The Canadian Radio-television and
Telecommunications Commission is expected to announce telemarketing
regulations by the end of the year. Our reporter Peter Koven spoke
to government officials and visited a call centre.
Credits
Managing Editor
Catherine Sobocan
Production Editor
Alexis Kazanowski
Photo Editor
Alexis Kazanowski
Connections Producer
Jen Skerritt
News Editors
Jennifer Pak
Abigail Martinez |
Personal protection issues stretch far north. In Nunuvit
sexually transmitted infections are reaching epidemic levels. Michelle
Catton reports that the rate of genital chlamydia in is more than
16 times the national average, and that of gonorrhea is 13 times
higher. The prevalence of syphilis, a believed precursor to HIV/AIDS,
is greater in the Far North than anywhere else in Canada. Health
organizations are pressuring the federal government for culturally
specific education to counter the problem.
Our columnist, Joseph Quesnel, takes a more international
approach in exploring the personal protection of Canadians. William
Sampson — a 44-year-old dual British and Canadian citizen
working for a Saudi company, spent close to three years in a Saudi
jail with little intervention from Ottawa. He was sentenced to death
at a secret trial for allegedly taking part in car bombings in Riyadh
in Decmeber 2000.
Now free, he says he was forced to make a false confession
after police hung him upside down, kept him awake for more than
a week and threatened to harm his family. Sampson says the Canadian
government backed down on helping him get out, when Saudi Prince
Abdullah canceled a trip to Canada because Ottawa dared to question
his regime. Quesnel questions Ottawa on its handling of this and
other cases.
Also in this issue we consider Canadians who’ve
suffered trauma overseas. This year marks the 50th anniversary of
the end of the Korean War and Jill McCormick reports on veterans
who believe they have yet to receive full recognition from Ottawa
for their service. The Korean Veterans Association of Canada, wants
the federal government to recognize a service medal awarded to them
by Syngman Rhee, South Korean president during the war.
Our Connections team tackled a cultural issue: our
identity as Canadians. How do we define Americans? How do they define
us? How do we define ourselves? We went north and south of the border
to find out.
For anyone looking to travel south, reporter Karie
Dufour has a hot story. The Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos
are once again being touted as a possible addition to Canada. She
updates us.
And lastly, Canada’s capital region hopes to
soon be the location for American filmmakers who want to head north.
The Ottawa-Gatineau Film Development office officially opens at
the end of the month. Alissa Von Bargen stirs our creative juices
in her story on how Ottawa could soon be in the movies.
Enjoy!
Catherine Sobocan,
Managing Editor
Letters to the editor
Travels with Adrienne
I was leaving Russia at the end of a vacation the
day the Governor General arrived.
Having talked to a number of people in Russia about
the preparations made for Adrienne Clarkson’s trip, I got
the impression that not only did Capital News Online do homework
with respect to a broad range of issues, the reporters also took
a thorough and intelligent approach to Canada/Russian relations.
If everyone were this well prepared, not only with
respect to bilateral relations, but also with the environment, aboriginal
issues, energy, cultural exchanges and international development,
we’d be getting a bargain for our tax dollars.
Why haven’t I heard these questions in the press?
Was one million dollars too much to pay for Clarkson’s
trip?
What are Canada’s interests in Russia?
Do we want co-operation in safeguarding nuclear materials
and weapons? Do we want improved trade relations? Do we want to
share cold climate technologies?
Bob Thomson,
Ottawa
Kudos for Cap News
Capital News Online is a great site. It has a lot
of information delivered in a concise and objective manner with
articles that I wouldn’t find elsewhere.
Laura Armitage,
Thunder Bay
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