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Canada and international justice

Be off with you

Aug 4th 2011, 14:52 by M.D. | OTTAWA

“WANTED” posters aren’t seen much these days outside of Western films. But Canadian government officials are crowing over their recent success in repackaging this age-old law-enforcement tactic for the internet age. On July 21st the country’s Border Services Agency (CBSA) put on its website the names and photos of 30 people it said were war criminals hiding in Canada, and asked for tips on their whereabouts. By July 29th, five of them had been arrested. They will soon be deported to their countries of origin. People “active or complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity can no longer hide in the shadows,” proclaimed Vic Toews, the minister of public safety, after the fourth suspect was captured. He says he hopes to expand the cyber-posters to cover other categories of fugitives as well.

Observers outside the government have been a bit more cautious in evaluating the programme. First, the authorities have not disclosed whether the arrests depended on tips from people who saw the web site, or whether the police were already on the suspects’ trail. Moreover, the list probably does not include any Ratko Mladics. It is thought to consist mostly of people who once belonged to security forces in countries where war crimes have been committed, such as Congo and Ghana, or have relatives that did. These individuals are guilty of immigration violations for failing to leave the country when their residency applications were rejected. But the government has not revealed any evidence directly tying them to specific atrocities.

Canada is making little pretence of presuming the suspects’ innocence of these vague allegations. Although Mr Toews insists that “we are not making a finding of guilt or innocence”, the CBSA web site says that “it has been determined that [the suspects] violated human or international rights under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act or under international law.” One man on the list, a Salvadoran army veteran named Francisco Manuel Hernández Hernández, moved to the United States in 1993 after Canada rejected his refugee application. He is now an American citizen and a pastor in New York. He is threatening to sue if CBSA does not remove his name and photo from its web site.

Most importantly, if the government is right that vicious war criminals are on the loose in Canadian territory, it is shirking its obligation to bring them to justice. Suspected war criminals from foreign conflicts can be tried under Canadian law. And if the government decides not to undertake that costly and lengthy process, it could still try to arrange extraditions, which would guarantee that the suspects would face trial elsewhere. Instead, Canada simply plans to put them on the first flight out and wash its hands of them. “It’s appalling the way they are handling it,” says Jayne Stoyles, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, a campaign group.

Canada’s immigration system can certainly be taken advantage of by visitors with unsavoury pasts. The country accepts around 250,000 “New Canadians” a year through a drawn-out process that makes it easy for applicants to disappear. In 2008 the government’s auditor-general reported that immigration officials had lost track of 41,000 rejected candidates. Ms Stoyles estimates that as many as 2,000 alleged war criminals may be living in Canada. But the right-wing government’s disinterest in determining these suspects’ guilt or innocence suggests that it is more concerned with courting anti-immigrant and law-and-order conservatives at home than with the fight for justice abroad.

Readers' comments

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Brandon Taylor

I can say quite plainly that this is just another step in the lip service Conservative Party of late. There are far too many cases of these policies where, at first sight, they appear to be rational. Of course we shouldn't have any war criminals in Canada. We are a peaceful, UN-participating country. The problem lies in the execution of these plans and the failure to consider their ramifications before enacting them. Harper's government is rushing through a lot of policies in the time they have, trying to lock their priorities in place before those pesky Liberal's come in and left-wing the place up.

It's a little scary, really, to see the Conservative's in this position now. They've got their hands in every cookie jar and mother has left the house. Sooner or later they're going to end up a bloated, over-fed and undernourished organization that is toppled over. Once either the Liberal's or the NDP pick up the pieces, we'll be left with no cookies, dough, or chocolate chips. Pardon the poor metaphor but you understand my meaning.

The Conservative Party is failing in long term planning at almost every turn, which is the most disturbing part of this situation. Once the housing market pops (it's definitely a bubble, so it will pop) we will be left with a flagging market and nothing but oil and lumber to support us. China will be our biggest customer and maybe, just maybe, our policy-maker too.

That's a little apocalyptic, but as I've mentioned in some of my earlier posts, our relationship with the Chinese government is very disquieting.

pbcroy@vt.edu

While Canada has its heart in the right place with this new legislation, it happens to smack of lip service with little substantial influence. A country that truly cared for the world's safety and the global justice system would take all necessary actions to see a law book thrown at these individuals for their alleged misconduct. However, Canada fails to do anything but make these individuals someone else's problem. The country is thumbing their nose at true justice and proves it will do anything to appear tough on illegal immigration for a few votes. Governments around the world must do better than this and realize that no longer do we live in a society of individuals, but rather, we live in a society of groups and that group just so happens to include every citizen on planet earth.

jbz

the Economist needs to get a Canadian correspondent who is not drinking the purple Kool-aid in the Liberal caucus office.

guest-ianjese

If we handed them over to the authorities in their respective countries we would have complaints from human rights activists similar to the detainee issue. We can't win.

Athomist

As an Albertan Cowboy I think the bottom line here is that the government is getting rid of those who abuse our generous immigration system. The economist and some of the above posts are only indignant because, lo and behold! the Canadian government has actually begun to do something about the criminals in our midst after years of liberal hand wringing, whining and inaction.

Long live the new Cowboys in Ottawa.

Bouffon

As a Quebecer, a "Wanted" poster makes me believe that we are being run by an Albertan posse of hillbillies and wannabe cowboys. Our leaders should stop watching so much US television and simply enforce the law in a polite and dignified manner.

As to deporting undesirable applicants from our country, it should definitely not be at the local taxpayer's expense. I would much rather the rejected applicant be swiftly flown back to his culture on the cheapest flight available than to have to foot the bill for his never-ending trial.

David P Montgomery

@EddyBuck

Our diminishing reputation? Who are we trying to impress?

I am not sure what you mean by the "Saudi disaster". Perhaps you mean the loss of our military base in the UAE? Since we are pulling out of Afghanistan anyway it becomes moot. Our training contingent can traverse through US bases in the region.

When the Conservatives were hard on China for human rights they were condemned for it. They were told they should not criticize China in public but only behind closed doors. I guess that attitude has changed?

The UN snub speaks more about the UN than it does us... but that is easily fixed. Canada need only withhold our funding to the UN for a year and they will make us Chair of the security council to get it restored.

The Conservatives let you down? That is what political parties do. It is why we have elections - so the electorate can punish them for doing so.

Cheers,

Eddybuck

Im tired of our diminishing reputation. From the Saudi disaster, the cowtowing to China, this, the UN snub....I expected to be let down by the Conservative majority, but so much...and so quickly!

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In this blog, our correspondents provide reporting, analysis and opinion on politics, economics, society and culture in Latin America, the Caribbean and Canada.

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