Quebec City, May 9, 2023 – Lawyers Without Borders Canada (LWBC) is pleased to learn that Canada will apply for a seat on the Human Rights Council from 2028 to 2030. This initiative demonstrates Canada’s commitment to promoting and defending human rights on the international stage.
The United Nations Human Rights Council is composed of 47 Member States elected by a majority of the members of the United Nations General Assembly and has a mandate to strengthen the protection of human rights around the world.
“The priorities that Canada intends to put forward, such as justice, the protection of human rights defenders, gender equality, the rights of indigenous peoples and the protection of rights in the context of climate change, are issues that Lawyers Without Borders Canada has been working on for the past 20 years”,
said LWBC’s Executive Director, Pascal Paradis.
LWBC also sees this candidacy as a springboard for Canada to increase its official development assistance budget in order to better support human rights initiatives around the world.
Canada’s bid for a seat on the Human Rights Council also requires that the country set an example in the implementation of its own international human rights obligations. For example, LWBC encourages Canada to make greater use of universal jurisdiction to bring to justice alleged perpetrators of international crimes that find themselves on Canadian soil and to ratify international human rights conventions to which Canada is not yet a party, including the American Convention on Human Rights.
About Lawyers without Borders Canada
“LWBC is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to promote human rights, particularly of those in vulnerable situations, by strengthening access to justice and legal representation.”
For further information:
Sandrine Muir-Bouchard, Communications Advisor
sandrine.muir-bouchard@asfcanada.ca / 581-980-3098
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