Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Certainly. With respect to the issue of whether without a treaty we require states to subject themselves to our jurisdiction, the simple answer is that in many respects, we've already accepted that this is not the case. As I stated, the idea of absolute immunity does not exist

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In response I'll add very quickly two practical points and one theoretical one. First, from a practical perspective, there's a heavy obligation on the federal government, if we adopt this modus operandi of continually adding countries to the list, of keeping track of everything.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll simply add to that my agreement with what Professor Larocque said. I believe it's certainly incontestable that in a certain context sexual violence will fall within the context of this bill, and I do believe that well it should. It should be treated as seriously--in fact, as

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Again, simply to build on what Professor Larocque has said, the United Nations Committee against Torture has specifically noted with respect to Canada that, as a subject of concern, there is an absence of effective measures to provide civil compensation to victims of torture in a

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll take the opportunity to build on what Professor Larocque said. This bill could help litigants because it removes the automatic arguments of immunity which allow states to invoke impunity in disregarding Canadian courts. With respect to the Hachemi and Kazemi case, we hav

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. Distinguished members of the committee, I would like to sincerely thank you for this opportunity to testify before you. I believe everyone here today is aware of the significance of the matters that are being considered by this committee. A brief overview o