The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today made the following statement on the April 24 trial and sentencing of human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni to five years’ detention, as well as the conduct of the April 22 and 23 legislative elections:



“The Government of Canada is very concerned about the outcome of the trial of Anwar al-Bunni on charges related to his efforts to build a culture of human rights in Syria and denounce torture in Syrian prisons. We are also concerned about the ongoing trials of opposition figure Kamal Labwani and intellectuals Michel Kilo, Mahmoud ’Issa, Khalil Hussein and Suleiman al-Shummar.



“Syria must ensure that its domestic laws and practices are in keeping with its international human rights obligations. Canada urges Syria to release all political prisoners and take concrete steps toward respecting and protecting human rights, and guaranteeing freedom of expression, assembly and association, starting with the recall of its 44-year-old Emergency Law. Syria must also take firm measures to stop arbitrary arrest, incommunicado detention, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, as well as to investigate allegations of these practices, prosecute perpetrators and provide remedies for the victims.



“The Government of Canada is furthermore concerned with the shortcomings of the Syrian election law, system and process. Syria should guarantee its citizens the right to genuinely democratic legislative and presidential elections, as part of a fully fair and participatory political process, as part of a move toward providing its citizens freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”