Canada should shut up about Chinese violation of human rights, its government grumbles. On June 22, Zhao Lijian, a Chinese spokesperson, publicly told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “China urges the relevant Canadian leader to earnestly respect the rule of law, respect China’s judicial sovereignty and stop making irresponsible remarks.”
I agree.
It’s time to stop talking and time to act. We need to apply sanctions on Chinese officials guilty of the world’s most extensive and brutal suppression of human rights applied to its 1.4 billion citizens at home and others abroad. And we have just the law to do that. It’s called the Magnitsky Law. More about that later. First, consider China’s oppression, as outlined in the 2019 annual report of Amnesty International.
“The human rights situation continued to be marked by a systematic crackdown on dissent. The justice system remained plagued by unfair trials and torture and other ill-treatment in detention. China still classified information on its extensive use of the death penalty as a state secret.”
“The government continued to intimidate, harass, and prosecute human rights defenders and independent NGOs, including raids on their homes and offices. Human rights defenders’ family members were subjected to police surveillance, harassment, detention and restrictions on their freedom of movement.”
Secret detention increased the risk of torture and other means of enforced confessions. Information on 20 new cases of enforced disappearance in just the four-month period February to May was sought by a U.N. agency.
Restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly were strengthened. “Officials mastered the use of facial recognition, real-name registration systems, and big data to keep people under indiscriminate mass surveillance and control.” “Citizens were threatened, detained or warned for being active on Twitter.” Control of cyberspace was extended “by launching powerful malware and denial of service attacks against overseas servers, websites and messaging apps.”
Authorities attacked religion and belief. “Many Buddhist and Taoist temples and statues, along with mosques and churches, were damaged or destroyed on the direction of the government.” They jailed religious leaders for “endangering state security.” From early 2017 to the end of 2019 they imprisoned an estimated more than one million Muslims in euphemistically termed “vocational training centres” for “transformation through education.” Others have called it brainwashing.
Closer to home, on December 2018 China illegally detained Michael Kovrig, human rights advocate and former Canadian diplomat, and Michael Spavor, Canadian business consultant active in North Korea, in apparent response to Canada’s house arrest of Chinese telecommunication official Meng Wanzhou, pending hearings on extradition to the United States where authorities want her on fraud and other charges. After 18 months of detention, the two Michaels on June 19 this year were indicted on charges of espionage, as good as convicted under Chinese justice. They could face life imprisonment or even execution.
Our Magnitsky law is the most powerful response we have, especially if other nations join us in this. Some might well act on that, but not the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump, who has never met a dictator, or autocrat, whom he does not admire. But if opinion polls are correct, the United States seems almost certain to have a new administration after national elections in November.
The Magnitsky law is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who opposed confiscation of Russian investments held by his U.S. client. For that, Magnitsky was clubbed to death by Russian authorities in 2009.
Barrack Obama signed the U.S. Magnitsky Act in December 2012. It empowers the United States to sanction human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and disbar them from entering United States. Canada followed suit five years later with its Magnitsky law, officially the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act. It provides “restrictive measures in respect of foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
Although Canada has never invoked its Magnitsky law, prominent Canadians have long urged it to do so. The first were probably David Matas, Winnipeg human rights lawyer, and Irwin Cotler, Canada’s former federal minister of justice and attorney general. In a May 2005 article in Policy Options online periodical they accuse China of downplaying the severity of the covid-19 epidemic, detaining people for rumour mongering, censorship of online discussion, and failing to provide appropriate access to medical care.
“By applying targeted sanctions against Chinese officials, Canada would send a powerful message to Beijing that it stands firmly for human rights and democratic values,” Irfan Yar of the Macdonald Laurier Institute argued in March, 2019.
In December 2019 Senators Leo Housakas and Tshanh Hai Nego say they will introduce a motion in the Senate advocating use of the Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials for the abuse of human rights. “We have not hesitated in invoking Magnitsky sanctions against Russia, Venezuela, Myanmar, South Sudan, and others. Why should China be any different?” (Maclean’s, December 10, 2019.)
Six months later, June 2020, they write to Prime Minister Trudeau urging imposition of Magnitsky law against Chinese officials “for gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Thirteen senators sign the letter.
That followed a statement in May by Peter MacKay, Conservative Member of Parliament and contender for party leadership, advocating use of the Magnitsky law against Chinese authorities if they are found to have supressed information about the covid-19 pandemic.
After so much urging by so many prominent Canadians, the time seems ripe for our government to stop talking about China’s abuses and impose our Magnitsky law on oppressive Chinese officials and urge other nations to do the same.