Mr. Speaker, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to take part in this debate. The first thing I must do is to congratulate the member for Rosemont—Petite-Patrie for initiating this debate here in the House and to give my support to his motion.
The motion reads as follows:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should take the necessary measures for Canada to ratify the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture.
This is a very important motion and it is absolutely necessary for the House to have a debate on the issues covered in this motion.
The House has a very important issue before it and I am pleased that we have this opportunity to debate it
Some have suggested in the course of this debate that this idea which calls for Canada to sign the inter-American convention to prevent and punish torture is redundant and unnecessary. It is my view, and I believe the shared view of many in the Chamber today, that it is not true that there is nothing we can do to address the issue of torture. It is important to speak out against the pervasive incidents of torture around the world. Nothing is redundant or unnecessary when it comes to dealing with this matter.
It is important to bring this issue out into the open every chance we can get and to put the facts on the table. The facts are disturbing. They need our attention and need ongoing action by the government and by our partners internationally.
I think all of us are shocked when we read some of the reports produced by Amnesty International as a result of its work in the field and on the frontlines. In its most recent report Amnesty International indicated that people died as a result of torture in over 80 countries and that torture or ill-treatment by state agents occurred in over 150 countries and was widespread in more than 70 countries. Amnesty International has documented how pervasive torture still is today in our society. More importantly for this debate, it has reminded us that governments continue to allow torture and ill-treatment to go on.
The question we are debating today is Canada's role on the international scene in response to the pervasive incidents of torture. The question for us today is not about the adequacy of Canadian police and security forces to address the presence of torture. It is our role in co-operation with other nations to suppress, stop and wipe out the incidents of torture in our society today. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the Americas.
The report by Amnesty International for the year 2002 has documented that very clearly. It has reported that in countries that are a part of the Organization of American States torture is alive and well and must be addressed by all of us. Amnesty International has reported that torture and ill-treatment by security forces continues to be present in at least 20 countries including Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Jamaica, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and the list goes on.
Amnesty International also focuses on the incidents that are occurring as we speak in Colombia which is significant because of the seriousness of developments, and in particular because the convention that we are talking about today was introduced in 1985 in Cartagena, Colombia. It has recently reported that the human rights crisis in that country has continued to spiral and it is feared that in the post-September 11 climate it will continue to exacerbate. It states that both the army, with their paramilitary allies, and armed opposition groups continue to commit grave human rights violations and abuses against civilians as the principal victims.
The year's statistics are chilling: over 300 people disappeared; more than 4,000 civilians were killed outside of combat, the majority by army backed paramilitaries; large numbers of people were displaced; and over 1,700 people were kidnapped, mainly by guerilla groups.
The documentation by Amnesty International and others with respect to the pervasiveness of torture in our society today must be taken into account by the Canadian government. It provides the basis for the government to seriously consider signing the inter-American convention to prevent and punish torture.
We have heard from members of the government side and from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They have said that any efforts to sign the inter-American convention would dilute and weaken the government's ability to focus on the issue of torture, particularly with respect to the UN convention against torture. It has been suggested to us again today that such a move by Canada would dilute and weaken Canada's efforts in terms of this important international objective.
It is hard to understand the rationale for that kind of argument. It would seem to me that when we are dealing with such a pervasive situation, with torture occurring on such a rampant basis in many countries around the world, everything we can do to send a message, to speak out publicly and to work with other countries to stop torture is important. It seems to me that rather than dilute and weaken Canada's efforts the signing of this convention would strengthen and reinforce our position and send a strong message internationally. I can see no harm with Canada signing the convention.
I cannot understand the rationale of government members for suggesting that all efforts must be focused on the UN convention and anything else would be problematic. I suggest to members of the House that the government ought to take seriously this call for participating as a full signatory in the inter-American convention to prevent and punish torture because it will make a difference.
It will make a difference to those people on the frontlines trying to repress torture. It will make a difference in terms of the message we send to countries where torture is allowed to go on. It will send an important international signal that Canada will not stand idly by and turn a blind eye to any country that refuses to crack down on torture and any government that may be engaged in acts of torture.
It seems to me that when we are talking about something as fundamental as people's lives being put through such torture, pain and agony that the least we can do as a nation is to be a party to a group of nations, as part of the Organization of American States, who want to take action and send a clear message that torture against individuals as outlined and defined by the accord must be opposed. Every effort must be taken to stamp out, crack down and eliminate any incidents of torture in our society today.