UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor calls for a strengthening of the CORE to provide redress for human rights defenders
Photo: PBI-Canada meets with Mary Lawlor and Michael Phoenix, her Head of Research and Campaigns, in Ottawa, June 26, 2024.
On February 5, The Globe and Mail reported: “Starting this year, over a six-month period, the government said it will assess the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise’s ‘effectiveness and progress to date.’”
Then on May 6 of this year, the CBC reported: “The first ombudsperson, Sheri Meyerhoffer, completed her five-year term on schedule last week. Last Tuesday [April 30], Trade Minister Mary Ng announced that Global Affairs Canada staff lawyer Masud Husain would be Meyerhoffer’s full successor.”
Photo: Interim ombudsperson Masud Husain.
On November 14, Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, posted comments she made earlier in the month “calling for the significant strengthening of the CORE.”
Lawlor highlights: “The establishment of the CORE was a pioneering step to make good on this commitment, and I acknowledge the work done by the first Ombudsperson. Ms. Sheri Meyerhoffer, to build the institution. I have long-standing concerns, however, as to the adequacy of the CORE, in its current form, to provide any adequate form of redress for human rights defenders and the communities they represent when their rights have been violated or been put at risk by Canadian companies operating abroad. This has been reflected in conversations I have had with human rights defenders since taking up my mandate, who, where aware of the CORE, have repeatedly told me they have no confidence in its effectiveness.”
Among her four recommendations, Lawlor calls on the Government of Canada to: “Provide the CORE with legally enforceable powers to compel evidence and testimony from companies, in line with international standards and best practice on ombudspersons’ offices, to enable effective investigations of all cases and overcome the barriers presented when companies refuse to meaningfully engage with the CORE.”
Canadian embassies and Voices at Risk guidelines
In July of this year, Lawlor also told The Globe and Mail: “[Canada] parades itself on the world stage as being the good guys … But when it comes to the conduct of companies in the context of business and human rights, the UN guiding principles and the obligations of Canadian embassies themselves abroad, they’re really found wanting.”
That article further noted: “[Lawlor] also singled out Canadian embassies, saying many have failed to respond adequately to those who raise serious concerns about the impacts of mining and oil activities abroad. Canada introduced ‘Voices at Risk’ guidelines in 2019, aimed at supporting human-rights defenders and giving advice to Canadian diplomats working overseas, but she says it hasn’t been properly implemented.”
PBI-Canada
Peace Brigades International-Canada continues to document violations by Canadian companies notably in the countries where PBI physically accompanies land and environmental defenders, including Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico where 119 defenders were killed last year.
Our initial research, utilizing the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) database, found that 21 Canadian companies have been implicated in 88 attacks against human rights defenders over the past nine years.
We are additionally concerned that Lawlor’s office has registered 15 cases between June 2019 and March 2022 of retaliation against human rights defenders that she alleges can be linked to the activities of Canadian mining companies.
It is not clear when the review of the CORE will be published, and what if any recommendations will be meaningfully implemented, but we will continue to follow this.
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