Opinion
Can’t we agree to end torture?
By Murray Fallis December 2, 2020
Nearly 25 years later, Canada still has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, leaving us a pariah on the international stage. Article 2 of the UNCAT required countries to ban torture domestically.
Canada’s human rights record is far from squeaky clean. Residential schools, the Kamagata Maru, Japanese internment, a Chinese head tax. Yet, in moments of our history a positive record on human rights has shone through. If we want to be proud of the Canadian history that we are presently writing, we need accede to the UNOPCAT. If not, how can we ever demand the same of others? Photograph courtesy of Pixabay
MONTREAL—In 1984, the United Nations Convention Against Torture was passed. Given the atrocities of the 20th century, the UNCAT sought to “recognize the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family.” Nearly 25 years later, Canada still has not ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture, leaving us a pariah on the international stage.
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