Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Program

Remedies and Legislative Framework

• International Support
• National Legislative Framework

International Support

Apprehending and dealing appropriately with persons who have allegedly committed or are involved in crimes against humanity or war crimes requires a great deal of international effort and cooperation. To that end, Canada supports the work of many international bodies including the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR) and the hybrid Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Canada has ratified both the International Criminal Court Statute (ICC) and the protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts. Canada was the first country to introduce comprehensive legislation incorporating the provisions of the ICC statute into domestic law with the proclamation of the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act on October 23, 2000. Canadaratified the ICC Statute on July 7, 2000. The Statute entered into force on July 1, 2002, when the 60^th country ratified.

National Legislative Framework

There are several remedies available to deal with alleged war criminals and persons who have been involved in crimes against humanity. The decision to use one or more of these mechanisms is based on a number of factors. These factors include: the different requirements of the courts in criminal and immigration/refugee cases to substantiate and verify evidence; the resources available to conduct the proceeding; and Canada's obligations under international law. These remedies are:

• prosecution in Canada under the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act;
• extradition to a foreign government (upon request);
• surrender to an international tribunal (upon request);
• revocation of citizenship and deportation;
• denial of visa to persons outside of Canada;
• denial of access (ineligibility) to Canada's refugee determination system;
• exclusion from the protection of the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees;
• inquiry and removal from Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and/or
• the designation of governments considered to have engaged in gross human rights violations under 35(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The decision to utilize a particular remedy is carefully considered and is assessed in accordance with the Government's policy that Canada not be a safe haven for war criminals.

Extradition to a foreign government or surrender to an international tribunal occurs only upon request and is considered in accordance with Canadian law. The provisions contained in Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act govern criminal prosecutions in Canada. This relatively new statute strengthens the legislative foundation for criminal prosecutions in Canada.

The following Canadian statutes authorize enforcement action against alleged war criminals or persons who have committed crimes against humanity.

The Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act:

• provides for the prosecution of any individual present in Canada for any offence stated in the Act regardless of where the offence occurred;
• codifies offences of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and breach of responsibility by military commanders and civilian superiors;
• creates new offences to protect the administration of justice at the ICC, including the safety of judges and witnesses; and,
• recognizes the need to provide restitution to victims and provides a mechanism to do so for victims of offences (regulations to implement these provisions have not yet been passed).

The Extradition Act:

• in addition to allowing Canada to extradite to other states upon request, even in the absence of a treaty, the Act allows for the surrender to international criminal tribunals if so requested by these Tribunals;
• allows for the use of different forms of evidence that will facilitate surrender to the International Criminal Tribunals and States with a different legal tradition;
• permits the use of video and audio link technology to provide testimony from witnesses located in Canada or abroad; and,
• establishes clear procedures for the extradition or surrender process.

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act:

• provides for the examination abroad of all persons seeking to enter Canada for permanent residence;
• provides for the examination abroad of persons seeking to visit Canada where a visitor visa requirement is in effect;
• provides specific grounds of inadmissibility for persons involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity and outlines procedures for their reporting, admissibility hearing and removal;
• provides for the exclusion from the refugee determination process of persons involved in war crimes or crimes against humanity;
• provides for the designation of regimes governments considered to have engaged in gross human rights violations, war crimes or crimes against humanity (senior officials of those regimes, including senior diplomats and senior military officers, are considered complicit in war crimes or crimes against humanity); and,
• limits appeal rights of persons involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Citizenship Act:

• provides for the revocation of citizenship of persons who have obtained citizenship by fraud or misrepresentation;
• deems that persons who gained admission to Canada by fraud or misrepresentation and subsequently obtained Canadian citizenship are considered to have gained citizenship by fraud or misrepresentation; and,
• provides that citizenship shall not be granted where the person is under investigation by the CBSA, the RCMP, the Minister of Justice, or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

Full text of these statutes may be found on the Department of Justice website.