Let’s call it ‘genocide’
On Tuesday, I stood with t hree of my Liberal colleagues to support a Conservative motion. My government encourages reasonable and respectful disagreement, yet it was still an odd position to be in, and one that I’d like to explain to my constituents and to Canadians.
The actions of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are unspeakable, and should be condemned without reservation. But do they amount to genocide? The Conservative motion called on the House of Commons to declare yes.
Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion is right to insist that such a determination should ultimately be a legal one, on a standard beyond a reasonable doubt, with all the l egal consequences that entails. He has called on the UN Security Council to create a mechanism to determine formally whether a genocide has occurred, and to limit veto use at the council where a mass atrocity has been ascertained. These are good steps.
I do not believe, however, that such a process precludes our House of Commons from making its own determination. We speak, through Parliament, on behalf of Canadians, and our declaration does not bind any international tribunal. Nor am I convinced that we must deliberate on the same legal standard of “beyond a reasonable doubt” when we deal with non- binding motions versus a full hearing at the International Criminal Court.
In my view, the ISIL has committed genocide and, as a result, I supported the Conservative motion to declare just that. I came to that conclusion based on my review of a number of articles, resolutions and reports, including the evidence and findings in the following reports: ❚ March 2015 report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); ❚ June 2015 report of the OHCHR and the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq ( UNAMI); ❚ June 2015 report of the UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; ❚ January 2016 report of the OHCHR and the UNAMI; and ❚ February 2016 report of t he Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, established by the UN Human Rights Council.
The UN reports docu- ment, in great detail, grave abuses against religious and ethnic minorities, women and the LGBTQ2 community. Yazidis, Christians, Muslims and others who do not ascribe to ISIL’s narrow religious views are murdered, tortured and enslaved. The details are horrific.
The reports make i nescapable factual findings. For example, one report states:
“ISIL continues to del i berately t arget ethnic and religious communities through a range of abuses and crimes as part of its policy of suppression, expulsion or elimination of these communities, and to employ sexual violence as a tactic of war.”
We should not be reckless with the language of “genocide,” but nor should we be so cautious that we fail to heed the facts before us. If this is not genocide, I do not know what is.
While not determinative, I note that similar resolutions have been adopted unanimously by the European parliament, the U. K. parliament, the Australian parliament, and the U. S. Congress. In March, the International Association of Genocide Scholars adopted a resolution declaring that ISIL has committed genocide. Luis Moreno Ocampo, former chief prosecutor for the ICC, has said that it is “a very clear case” of genocide.
On behalf of the U. S. State Department, Secretary of State John Kerry has also declared that, in his judgment, ISIL is responsible for genocide. Kerry said the “full facts must be brought to light by an independent investigation and through a formal legal determination by a competent court.”
My approach is the same. I agree with Kerry, just as I agree with Dion, that a full investigation and formal legal determination should take place.
In the meantime, based on the evidence before me, I have no reservations about declaring that ISIL has committed genocide. More than that, I believe it is important to name genocide, as a first step toward ending it.
I’M A LIBERAL MP. BUT IF ISIL’S ACTS AREN’T GENOCIDE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS.