CBC News, August 07, 2008
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/07/cotler-report.html
On the eve of the opening ceremony of the Olympics, Liberal MP Irwin Cotler sharply criticized China's human rights record and called the awarding of the Games to Beijing a betrayal of the Olympic Charter.
The MP made the comments Thursday at a press conference in Ottawa flanked by journalist Beryl Wajsman, human rights activist and former Miss World Canada Nazanin Afshin-Jam and former Liberal MP David Kilgour.
Cotler called the press conference to announce the release of a report he authored that detailed what he called China's assault on human rights.
"What we are witnessing today … is a persistent and pervasive assault on human rights in China," Cotler said.
"A betrayal of the Olympic Charter, the Olympic Games and China's pledge to respect both."
Among the concerns outlined in the Cotler report are the treatment of Tibetans, limits on freedom of expression and inaction in dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, where 200,000 people have died since 2003.
Despite promises from the country's Communist regime to improve its human rights record when the Games were awarded to China in 2001, abuses of human rights have escalated, said Cotler.
Foreign leaders who are visiting the Games must publicly call for the release of political prisoners, he said. Cotler's comments come a day after U.S. President George W. Bush rebuked China for its human rights record.
Cotler questioned whether Foreign Minister David Emerson, who will be leading a delegation of Canadian ministers to the Games, including Secretary of Sport Helena Guergis, would take the opportunity to address China's human rights violations.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will not be attending the opening ceremonies, but has said that his decision to forgo the Games should not be considered a boycott.
Emerson said he's not heard any murmurs of disapproval from Chinese officials that Harper isn't attending the Games.
"They've been very very happy with the relationship and the plans that we have to engage much more deeply," he said.
Emerson said that Canada-China relations are in a period of renewal, following a greater push at the country to improve its democratic record.
"I think everybody's aware that there has been a bit of testiness in the Canada-China relationship in the last couple of years," Emerson told reporters at a reception in Beijing on Thursday.
"We're now at a stage where both China and Canada are very happy to be engaging in ways that will enable us to continue to express our differences of view but to ensure the relationship continues to deepen and get stronger across the board."
Back in Ottawa, Cotler called for Canada to review its trade relations with China.
"We cannot proceed in terms of business as usual," he said, but did not specify what actions a Liberal government would take.
Later on Thursday, about the opposition politicians joined about 100 demonstrators from several groups across the street from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, waving flags and hoisting placards, the seond demonstration in Ottawa in as many days.