Seeking justice all over

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

According to the 2005/2006 annual report of Canada's Program on Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes, "Since 1998, 3,360 persons considered involved in or complicit in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide have been prevented from coming to Canada and 408 such persons have been removed from Canada. Five individuals have had their Canadian citizenship revoked as a result of their activities in World War II."

The bringing to justice of people who have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity was the topic of a recent day-long conference. Hosted by the Vancouver working group of the Canadian Centre for International Justice (CCIJ), with support from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, Accountability without Borders featured speakers from countries in which human rights abuses have occurred, as well as a panel of legal experts.

The history of Canada's role in the treatment of war criminals began in the 1980s. It was rumored that Joseph Mengele had applied to immigrate to Canada in 1962 and that Canadian government officials had been informed at the time of his identity, and that he was still in Canada. The issue was raised in the House of Commons in January 1985 and an inquiry, led by Justice Jules Deschênes, was initiated to ascertain whether there was any truth in the charge that a considerable number of Nazi war criminals had gained admittance to Canada. Ultimately, the commission found sufficient evidence of war crimes in only 20 cases.

Now, the responsibility for addressing war crimes and crimes against humanity is shared between the Department of Justice, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Border Services Agency and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act (2000) gives Canada universal jurisdiction, meaning that Canada has the power to hold accountable someone who is not a Canadian but who has perpetrated crimes against humanity or war crimes outside of Canadian borders. The act is retroactive.

In her comments, Sen. Mobina Jaffer spoke about the International Criminal Court. She noted several challenges to its success: limited financial resources, imperfections in the process and people's expectations. She said that, on one mission to Darfur, she met a refugee who had been gang raped. The girl said to Jaffer, "'You know, your country is the one who's talking about indictment of these people. You have set up such expectations for us, but they have not even been arrested yet. Where is the hope for us? Don't create half-hopes for us. You create this picture that there will be justice, that we would have relief and yet, once the indictment has been served, in fact things worsen.'

"I have to tell you," continued Jaffer, "I couldn't look them in the eye and say anything. In my mind, in my heart, I felt I had failed these girls. We raise expectations and then we don't go the next step."

In his remarks, Lama Mugabo of Rwanda compared one aspect of the genocide committed in his country with that of Nazi Germany. In Rwanda, he said, "in 100 days, a million people were killed. They had to be dehumanized [as Jews were in Nazi Germany]. The machinery in the Rwanda government had to persuade the Rwandans that these were not Rwandans, that the Tutsis had come from Ethiopia and, therefore, [they] had the right to not only kill them but get rid of them and send them back to where they'd come from."

Eric Sama from Sierra Leone and Marco Marin from El Salvador also spoke. They gave moving accounts of how they came to Canada, fleeing regimes where torture and war crimes are perpetrated.

In the afternoon session, David Matas, a Winnipeg-based lawyer who specializes in immigration and human rights law, discussed a recent report he co-wrote with former MP David Kilgour on organ harvesting by China of Falun Gong practitioners. He also detailed the status of a human rights case, involving a torture victim, on which he's working. He called the case "an attempt to use the legal system to try to bring to bear international criminal justice principles."

Montreal lawyer Bruce Broomhall explained the need for universal jurisdiction, saying that, while it would be preferable to have war criminals or human rights violators tried in the countries in which the atrocities took place, it is not an ideal world, and universal jurisdiction offers the possibility that there will be justice. He also updated attendees on the case against Desiré Munyaneza, who is the first person to be charged under Canada's war crimes act. He is charged with involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide and Broomhall estimated that there would be a verdict in spring or fall of 2008.

Currently, said Broomhall, there are between 700 and 800 people being evaluated by Canada's war crimes program. He said that local communities could help by letting the officials of the program know that they are interested in participating and by supplying the program with background information on the conflicts in question. He put forward the notion of the CCIJ acting as an intermediary between people who are potential complainants and the war crimes program.

American panellist Gerald Gray spoke about U.S. efforts to hold torturers accountable, with a focus on the successful suit against two former El Salvadorean generals, in Florida. And local lawyer Megan Ellis spoke about the difference between criminal and civil suits, the latter of which includes damages. She described the state of human rights legal action today as being akin to that of sexual assault and abuse 30 years ago.

Ellis stressed that, in law, "Even when you fail, if you're able to get public opinion on your side ... eventually, you'll win." While using civil claims to achieve redress in human rights cases is a "social experiment," she said that such experiments are the kinds of experiences that change the world.

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