You are here: 2004 / Other Activities / Reception at the Stockholm City Hall / Address by the Minister of Justice of Canada, Irwin Cotler
	Participants Countries and organizations Conference documentation Conference programme				Address by the Prime Mininster of Sweden, Göran Persson Address by Professor Samantha Power Address by the Minister of Justice of Canada, Irwin Cotler Address by the Minister of Justice of Canada, Irwin Cotler Cotler, Irwin Address by Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice of Canada Prime Minister, Ministers, Excellencies, distinguished guests - in particular students, and scholars, of Genocide. Introduction I am delighted to be here to participate in the common cause which brings us together - the remembrance of things too terrible to be believed, but not too terrible to have happened - the struggle against hatred, against intolerance, against racism - and the search for truth, justice and reconciliation - all of which have underpinned the Stockholm Fora - and now at Stockholm IV - the struggle against the unthinkable - the unspeakable - the ultimate crime against humanity whose name we shudder to speak - Genocide. This struggle against genocide is part of the larger struggle for human rights in our time - reflected in the adoption of the Genocide Convention - the “Never Again” Convention - on December 9, 1948; and the adoption on December 10, 1948 of the “Magna Carta of Human Rights” - the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This Struggle Against the Unspeakable - the Unfathomable - is in the most profound existential sense of the word - the struggle for Ourselves - because in what we say - or more importantly in what we do - we make a statement about ourselves as a People - we make a statement about ourselves as people. I want to express my appreciation to the Government of Sweden and to Prime Minister Persson - a role model for inspired and inspiring leadership - for their moral and political leadership in organizing this Forum. Indeed, we meet at a critical and historic juncture - in this struggle - where we have had a literal explosion of human rights law and remedy, where Human Rights is the new secular religion, where more has happened to prevent Genocide in the last 10 years than in the previous fifty. And yet “Never Again” has happened...again and again. Where Genocide has emerged as the paradigmatic form of killing in the last decade alone, where the 10th anniversary of Rwanda is a reminder not only of the unthinkable...but the unspeakable...because this genocide was preventable. As Prime Minister Persson put it, “Where were we in April 1994?” And we might ask ourselves, in this post-genocide universe, where were we for the acts of genocide in the eastern region of the Congo? And so we ask ourselves, yet again - what can be done. Herewith are suggestions as to what is to be done. I. Threat/Responsibility - Danger of State-Sanctioned Incitement to Genocide One of the enduring lessons of Auschwitz, Rwanda, Srbrenica is that the genocidal killing resulted not only from the machinery of death but because of the State-Sanctioned ideology of hate. This teaching of contempt - this demonizing of “the other” - this indoctrination and incitement of willing genocidaires - this is where it all begins. As the Supreme Court of Canada put it, “The Holocaust did not begin in the gas chambers, it began with words....” These are the chilling Facts of History - the catastrophic effect of Racism. And so what is needed is for States to cease and desist from state-sanctioned incitement to hate and genocide; to criminalize the advocacy of genocide as a state responsibility under Genocide Convention; and to bring the perpetrators of incitement to hate and genocide to justice - as in the recent landmark judgement of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. What is needed then is a culture of respect in place of a culture of contempt - a culture of human rights in place of a culture of hate - organized around foundational jurisprudential principles of the inherent dignity and worth of the human person; the equal dignity of people, and the right of minorities to protection against group vilifying speech. May I renew my proposal - joined in by Prime Minister Persson 2 years ago - for an International Committee of Jurists to Prepare Foundational Principles to Protect Against Genocide and Assaultive Hate Speech, including incitement to Genocide on the Internet - the new super-highway of hate. II. Set of Threats and Responsibilities: Crimes of Indifference, Conspiracies of Silence - The Imperative of Political Will - of Moral Leadership. In a word, the Holocaust of European Jewry, and the genocides from Cambodia to Rwanda, succeeded not only because of a state-sponsored culture of hate, but because of crimes of indifference - because of conspiracies of silence. Indeed, we have been witness to an appalling indifference in our day - in the 1990s - to the unthinkable - ethnic cleansing - and worst of all, to the preventable genocide in Rwanda. No one can say that we did not know. It is our responsibility, then, as political leaders, intellectuals, NGOs, “Citoyens du Monde” - to break down the walls of indifference, to unmask the “Trahison des Clercs” - of Nuremberg crimes - by Nuremberg elites- to shatter the conspiracies of silence wherever they may be. As Nobel Peace laureate, Elie Wiesel put it, “neutrality always means coming down on the side of the victimizer - never on the side of the victim;” and as Professor Yehuda Bauer reminded us in the second Stockholm International Forum, and again today, “Never be a perpetrator. Never allow there to be victims. And never, never allow yourself to be a bystander - to be indifferent.” As Edmund Burke put it, “the surest way to ensure that evil will triumph in the world is for enough good people to do nothing” - for enough good people to avert their eyes to evil, for enough good people to insulate themselves from the feeling of the pain and identification with the victim. In a word, and we must adhere to this ourselves, if we are to convey this to others: neutrality in the face of evil - whether of individuals or states - is acquiescence in, if not complicity with, evil itself. It is not only abandoning the victim; it is encouraging the victimizer. III. Threat and Responsibility: Protecting Against Genocide - Towards a Culture of Prevention It is as trite as it is profound that the best protection against mass atrocity is the prevention of the “killing fields” to begin with. Yet as the Carnegie Commission of Nine Case Studies of War-Affected Countries demonstrated, the international community spent eight times more dealing with the aftermath of conflict and genocide than it invested in the prevention of it - from a cost-benefit point of view it makes no sense, but much more compelling, from a human point of view, from the point of view of lives ruined and communities devastated - the human cost of Genocide is incalculable. Accordingly, may I identify lessons learned from studies of these killing fields during these Stockholm Fora - and from the Genocides from the Holocaust to Rwanda - which include the following: 1. The Importance of Democracy: simply put, it is an empirical law of International Relations, as Per Ahlmark has demonstrated, that democracies do not make war on each other - or incite to the genocide of others or their own people. 2. The Constitutionalization of Rights - particularly equality rights - of rights of minorities - a free press, and independent judiciary - as an antidote to Genocide. 3. The need for an Early Warning System of Incipient Mass Atrocity and a commensurate Early Response - the need for a human insecurity index of systemic assaults on human security - such as State-Sanctioned violence in armed conflict against women and discrimination. 4. Holocaust Remembrance and Education as a paradigmatic case of Genocide - for example the Swedish “Living History” Project as a model for all countries. 5. The UN Secretary-General’s recommendation this morning of the invocation of international human rights law and remedies, including, a Genocide Working Group as part of the Treaty Monitoring System to the Genocide Convention and a Special Rapporteur on Genocide reporting to the Secretary-General. IV. The Responsibility to Protect If the duty to prevent and protect against mass atrocity is unavailing and unrequited then a duty may arise for the international community to intervene so as to avert a humanitarian catastrophe. As UN Secretary General Kofi Annan put it, “surely no legal principle - not even sovereignty can ever shield Crimes Against Humanity.” The Secretary General’s call to action inspired Canada to establish the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2000, whose report on “The Responsibility to Protect” posits a new norm of “sovereignty-as-responsibility”, and argues that, where states are unable or unwilling to protect their populations from mass atrocities - or where the state is itself the perpetrator - the international community has the responsibility to act. As State Parties, we will have to win the trust of the developing world. This people-centred approach to human security dovetails with the general undertaking by States to prevent genocide contained in the Convention - and the corresponding need of prescribed Principles to authorize humanitarian intervention - when, under what circumstances, pursuant to what authority, and in accordance with what interest can humanitarian intervention be authorized. It is important that the Security Council rise to the challenge posed by the new security environment if it is to retain its value and validity. This means applying a broad definition of the UN Charter’s peace and security mandate, enforcing humanitarian norms, applying the principles equally, and to all nations, and performing to a much higher standard than it did in Rwanda and Srebrenica. V. Bringing War Criminals to Justice: Simply put, the struggle against impunity must be a priority on our domestic and international agendas. For if the 20th Century was the Age of Atrocity, it was also the Age of Impunity. Few perpetrators were brought to justice. The most dramatic development in the history of International Criminal and Humanitarian law has been the establishment of the International Criminal Court. The challenge now for the ICC is to institutionalize and internationalize the Nuremberg legacy; work to end the culture of impunity and help deter international crimes; while protecting international peace and security; counter the failure of national systems to bring war criminals to justice; provide enforcement mechanisms thereby overcoming one of the main failings of international law; it must underpin the vital importance of the “complementarity principle” - of states developing a National Justice system to prosecute individuals in their territory who are accused of international crimes of genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity; and help protect the most vulnerable of persons in armed conflict, such as women, children, and refugees. As a Canadian, I take pride in our efforts in support of the International Criminal Court - and that a fellow Canadian, and confrère, Philippe Kirsch, is its President. In a word, the ICC Treaty is a wake-up call and a warning to war criminals everywhere: there will be no safe havens , no base or sanctuary for the enemies of humankind. And Canada is committed to playing a leading role in building a global system of justice in the 21st century. CONCLUSION: Raoul Wallenberg and the Responsibility to Protect Recently the Canadian Government established a Raoul Wallenberg Commemorative Day to recognize annually – on the anniversary of his disappearance on January 17th - this disappeared hero of the Holocaust, this Saint-Just of the nations, whom the UN characterized as the greatest humanitarian of the 20th century for having saved more people in the Second World War than almost any government. It is an historic initiative that I trust will have enduring resonance and I commend it to others. For learning about , reflecting upon, and being inspired by the unparalleled and unprecedented heroism of Canada's first Honorary citizen who, in his singular protection of civilians in armed conflict, signified the best of international humanitarian law; who, in his singular organization of humanitarian relief, exemplified the best of the responsibility to protect; who, in his warning to Nazi generals that they would be held accountable for their crimes, foreshadowed the Nuremberg principles; who, in saving 100,000 Jews, personified the Talmudic idiom that if a person saves a single life it is as if he saved an entire universe;and who, in having the courage to care and the commitment to act, showed that one person can make a difference, that one person can confront radical evil, prevail and transform history. Each one of us here - and each one of our governments - has an indispensable role to play in the Prevention of Genocide - in the indivisible struggle for human rights and human dignity. Each one of us can and does make a difference. May this Stockholm Forum be not only an Act of Remembrance for the Victims of Genocide - but a Remembrance to Act on behalf of all peoples - everywhere - at all times. If not now - when? >> Back to top				Introduction Opening Session Plenary Sessions Workshops, Panels and Seminars Closing Session and Declarations Other Activities Reception at the Stockholm City Hall Concluding Words from the Secretary General, Krister Kumlin
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