[View the story "Alarm over human rights in Canada" on Storify ]Alarm over human rights in Canada A controversial law in Quebec has drawn notice from the UN Human Rights Council. Storified by The Stream · Mon, Jun 18 2012 12:09:49
Moves to restrict freedom of assembly in many parts of the world are alarming. In the context of student protests, I am disappointed by the new legislation passed in Quebec that restricts their rights to freedom of association and of peaceful assembly.
Pillay also expressed "concern" and "deep concern" over restrictions on freedom of assembly in Russia and Eritrea, respectively. The speech uses "alarm" in reference only to Quebec, where the passage of Bill 78 limits the ability to organise demonstrations and increases the fine for violations. The montage below, uploaded June 12, allegedly shows clips of Montreal police using force against protesters.
Brutalité policière à Montréalplouillezone
Quebec Premier Jean Charest responded to the turbulent situation in the province in an ad campaign launched on June 17, saying that his job was "not a popularity contest."
Jean Charest addresses Quebecers directly: choosing responsibilitypartiliberalduquebec
Comments online were mostly negative toward the move, both on Twitter and on social news site Reddit:
Even the United Nations thinks Quebec is mishandling the student protests - https://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/talks-over-quebec-student-1450278.html #cdnpoliGustavo Melo
As Canada is placed on the UN's human rights watch list due to the draconian anti-protest law, my heart breaksMegan Gibson
Reddit user pistachio_handler said of Pillay's choice of language:
I think "alarm" is the correct term, because the new law in Quebec is a massive shift for Canada.
Though the controversial law was passed by the provincial government in Quebec, some were critical of Canada's federal government, including conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
#Canada is now on UN human rights Watch, Harper has brought nothing but failure & shame to this nation #DenouncementDay #denounceharperDaniela Aum
Others questioned the need for such a high-profile move, including the director of UN Watch, the site reporting the criticism. Canadian lawyer Hillel Neuer said on the UN Watch
blog :
for Pillay to divert the world’s attention to what in a global context is an absolutely marginal case—a law already under before the chief justice of the Quebec Superior Court, and less demanding than the Geneva laws regulating the human rights rallies we hold in front of her own building—is simply absurd.
The controversial UN Human Rights Commission is about to lose even more credibility by attacking Canada/Quebec today: http://blog.unwatch.org/Sébastien Théberge
Reddit user winterorange agreed that the criticism of Canada mischaracterises the reality in the country.
So, we've moved up to 4th place on the Global Peace Index AND yet also managed to get ourselves on the UN human rights watch list. The people of the world just can't make up their minds about us.
Others had a more satirical take on the UN's assessment of Canada. Users pool 92 and eaturbrainz said on Reddit:
Quebec's mishandling of the tuition issue has managed to put the entire nation of Canada on a UN naughty list, alongside with serial achievers such as Syria, Pakistan and Zimbabwe. Don't worry Canada, this list is just to ensure that UN's office printer's stapling function is working. No further action will be taken.
I think we can all applaud the UN for finally placing blame where it belongs: squarely on Canada.
Many on Reddit responded critically to questions about the severity of the human rights situation in Canada. User daiz- said:
What makes this move in Quebec such a pressing cause for alarm is because of where it is. Where however unfortunate it is in China and Iran for example, what's going on there is the status quo and much more difficult to correct. They don't need to be called out so much because the world is aware of these problems and all eyes are already on them.However all of a sudden we have something crazy going on in Canada, a country that's known as one of the freest of countries. Even more astonishing is that it's happening in Quebec, which is also known to be one of its most leftist provinces. So despite everything else going on in the world, it's a big deal when a place like Quebec does something totalitarian by limiting freedom of assembly. They are basically taking away what is a fundamental human right, and if it can happen in Quebec of all places it can happen anywhere.They need to call attention to this before it becomes the status quo. So that the kinds of people who like to sidestep issues by pointing out where it's worse, can't point at Quebec and use it to excuse other places following suit.
The Stream covered Quebec's student protests in an
episode on June 7, speaking to student protest leaders Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois and Yanick Gregoire.
The Stream - Canada's Maple Springaljazeeraenglish
