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Begin New Search Topic Human Rights Political Geography Canada Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 10 Years

1. Justice for the Victims: How Canada Should Manage Returning “Foreign Fighters”

Author:
Kyle Matthews
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
The U.S.-led international coalition has dislodged the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from the cities it had occupied and controlled, namely Mosul and Raqqa. But while the group is weakened, it lives on and remains dangerous. Both the U.S. Department of Defense and the UN estimate that approximately 30,000 ISIS fighters remain in those countries. At the same time, a significant number of “foreign fighters” have fled Iraq and Syria. Numerous countries are struggling to find policy solutions with regards to managing the return of their nationals who had joined the group. The Canadian government has stated publicly that it favors taking a comprehensive approach of reintegrating returnees back into society. Very few foreign fighters who have returned to Canada have been prosecuted. Canada has both a moral and legal duty to seek justice and uphold the most basic human rights of vulnerable populations. ISIS and other jihadist groups engaged in systematic mass atrocities against minorities in Iraq and Syria, including Christians and Shiites. ISIS has demonstrated a particular disdain for the Yazidi minority in Iraq, and the Canadian government has recognized the group’s crimes against the Yazidis as genocide. As a State Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and a signatory of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Canada has a responsibility to uphold these international legal conventions when formulating carefully crafted policy responses that deal with returning foreign fighters. Canada should attempt to prosecute its nationals in domestic courts using the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act. Open trials can serve as means by which to lay bare ISIS’ narrative and to help counter violent extremism and future atrocities. They can also serve as a deterrent and warning to other Canadians who might try to join ISIS as it mutates and moves to other countries in the world, such as Libya, Afghanistan, Egypt, the Philippines, Pakistan, or heaven forbid, in Mali where Canadian peacekeepers have recently been deployed. If Canada truly stands for multiculturalism, pluralism, the rule of law, global justice, human rights, and the liberal international order, then we must stand firm and take a principled stand to prosecute those who have fought under the ISIS banner. That includes our own citizens.
Topic:
Crime, Human Rights, Terrorism, Islamic State, Justice, and Foreign Fighters
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, Canada, Syria, North America, and United States of America

2. Learning from Equality and Diversity in Canada

Author:
Elizabeth Kirchhoff
Publication Date:
04-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center on Human Rights Education, University of Denver
Abstract:
In 2016, the world is arguably more socially, economically, and politically interconnected than ever before. And yet, while the process of globalization offers humanity the possibility for unprecedented growth, learning, and progress brought on by connectivity, it also presents its own challenges. Perhaps most evident of these trials is the question of how to reconcile the human values of diversity and equality. In a world characterized by global financial inequality, disappearing languages, and mass migrations, the necessity to protect both equality and diversity is perhaps needed now more than ever. Indeed, research findings suggest that cultural and ethnic diversity within a country is correlated with greater levels of inequality as well. And yet, this is not true in all cases, and in order to avoid the pitfalls of cultural and ethnic uniformity and economic inequality in a rapidly globalizing landscape, it imperative to study and learn from countries that excel in both capacities. Canada, for instance, provides us with an excellent success story. According to a study from the University of Oldenburg, Canada has the greatest level of ethnic and cultural diversity in the Western hemisphere, and is also ranks 9th in the world on the UNDP’s Human Development Index. And so the question becomes, How have they done it? How has Canada, a nation with more than 200 ethnic groups and 200 languages managed to ensure both cultural plurality and relative equality? And perhaps more importantly, can other countries learn from Canada’s success?
Topic:
Human Rights, Inequality, Social Policy, and Diversity
Political Geography:
Canada and North America