She is the world’s top human rights defender. Soon her voice will be silenced and she will come home to Canada. But don’t expect her to stay quiet very long.
On March 7, Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, announced that she will not renew her four-year term when it expires at the end of June.
Some have speculated that pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office effectively pushed her out of the job. The Washington Times, a right-wing daily in the U.S.’s capital, cited anonymous sources close to the Canadian government as saying that her criticism of U.S. policies triggered her ouster.
But Arbour has repeatedly denied that internal politics influenced her decision.
Arbour is an outspoken champion for individuals and groups whose fundamental rights are trampled by repressive regimes and authoritarian states. On occasion, she has not shied away from accusing leading democracies as well.
Last year, in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, she denounced the detention of terrorism suspects at the controversial Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba. She had earlier condemned the war in Iraq, and on a visit to the Middle East, Arbour also doubted the legitimacy of Israel’s 2006 bombing of Lebanon.
These pronouncements attracted the scorn of the Bush administration and its close ally, Israel. The two countries are among only a handful of UN member states who have refused to ratify the creation of the International Criminal Court, the jurisdiction where crimes against humanity are prosecuted since 2002.
Canada should be proud of the dedication with which Arbour has performed her duties. As the UN’s chief prosecutor for war crimes, a job she held for eight years, she indicted former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic for atrocities committed during the Bosnian war. Few believed he would ever be brought to justice.
In her current capacity, Arbour advocates for the rights of the most disenfranchised populations. She negotiates with unsavoury leaders while others prefer to shun them and ignore the plight of the victims their policies create. Her office regularly conducts observation missions and reports instances of abuse to the UN Security Council.
Upon Arbour’s announcement, members of the Security Council praised her commitment and energy. Some even offered her flowers. The Canadian delegation, apparently instructed by the Prime Minister’s Office, remained silent. Several hours later, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier issued a 130-word statement thanking her for her work.
Canadians should be ashamed that their meek government would rather show allegiance to the U.S. than acknowledge one of its own citizens’ preeminent role in the fight against large-scale abuse and impunity.
Choosing not to dwell on past insults and disagreements, Arbour is looking ahead. She says that, for now, she relishes the idea of having no set plan.
When former UN deputy secretary general Louise Fréchette, another Canadian the U.S. openly criticized, quit in 2005, she was quickly recruited by the Centre for International Governance and Innovation in Waterloo. The power-house think tank was established by Jim Balsillie, co-founder of Research In Motion (developer of the BlackBerry).
The entrepreneur and philanthropist recently invested $33 million for the creation of the Balsillie School of International Affairs, also in Waterloo. With her extensive credentials, unique expertise and international reputation, expect Arbour to be the top candidate for one of the 12 research chairs to be filled before the school opens next year.