Canada says it is “proud” of the stand it took on Sri Lanka’s human rights record just before the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.The Canadian press quoted Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird as saying in an interview that he is proud of his stand against the Sri Lankan government for not adequately investigating alleged atrocities by its military forces when they annihilated the LTTE in May 2009.
“We’re appalled at that. Someone needs to stand up and say the lack of accountability for war crimes, the lack of any meaningful reconciliation … it may not be very popular, but someone needs to raise these realities. I think it’s tremendously important,” he was quoted as saying.
Canada was trounced by Portugal last year for the second of two temporary two-year, non-veto-wielding seats on the UN’s top body. It was the first time in the six-decade history of the UN that Canada failed to win a seat for which it made a bid.
The loss sparked criticism in many quarters about whether Canada’s foreign policy under the Conservative government — perceived tilts in policy toward Israel and away from Africa and an unpopular policy on climate change, among them — may have cost the country support among a majority of the UN’s 190-plus member countries.
Baird shot back at critics on all fronts in a wide-ranging interview in his Foreign Affairs Department office shortly before Christmas.
“Maybe if we had shut up, and not talked about gay rights in Africa; maybe if we had shut up and been more quiet about our concerns about Sri Lanka; maybe if we hadn’t been so vocally against the deplorable human rights record in Iran, maybe Iran might have voted for us,” Baird said in the Dec. 20 interview, one of several he conducted with various media outlets that day.
“But we didn’t, and I don’t think we regret anything. Iran probably voted against us; North Korea probably voted against us; Gadhafi probably voted against us. I think those are all badges of honour.”
