I am happy to announce that the Government of Canada is being called on the carpet by a UN Human Rights body due to a complaint filed by Ernst Zündel, dated August 21, in connection with the Zundelsite.
Surely many of my readers remember how Mr. Zundel was being banned from the precincts of Parliament because he wanted to announce to the Canadian citizens that, according to a Marxist-style ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, TRUTH WAS NOT A DEFENCE and intent of a communication was IRRELEVANT.
Now his complaint to the UN about the Parliament of Canada banning him from holding a press conference in one of the Press Gallery's rooms, where issues of national importance could and were aired for over 100 years, is officially before the UN Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights.
The topic of the press conference was to deal with the obscene Canadian Human Rights Tribunal's ruling in the Zundelsite case that "Truth is no defence" and that Mr. Zündel's motives were "immaterial" to the case. What mattered was solely that Jews ***felt*** they were exposed to possible hatred and contempt.
Remember how the Mayor of Toronto, Barbara Hall, red in the face, tried to find "hate" in the Zundelsite documents - and couldn't find it, even though she was mercifully given a coffee break to pull herself together? It was one of those moments where Zundel folks almost felt sorry for her!
Zundel's "crime" causing this, so far, non-documented "hatred and contempt" still seems to be that he dared to call the Holocaust "blackmail", a "racket", a "shake-down" etc. - words since used liberally in the media, by the President of Switzerland, among others, and by people like Norman Finkelstein and, in a milder form, even Professor Raul Hilberg and hundreds of media commentators around the world.
It will be interesting how Canada will respond, since all Canadian courts have ruled against Ernst Zundel so far in this matter. The UN Human Rights body already ruled in a similar fact case against Canada because the government had banned a Canadian journalist/publisher named Gauthier from Parliament. Gauthier, too, lost every court case in Canada - yet won at the UN. He is presently negotiating a settlement with the Government of Canada - apparently monitored by the UN.
Here is that UN letter, for the record, addressed to one of the attorneys on the Zündel legal team:
I have the honour to inform you that the communication dated August 21, 2000 which you submitted to the Human Rights Committee for consideration under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, on behalf of Mr. Ernst Zündel, has been registered as communication No. 953/2000. You are kindly asked to refer to the registration number in any future correspondence.
In accordance with rule 91 of the Committee's rule of procedure, a copy of the communication has been sent to the State party today, with the request that any information or observations in respect of the question of admissibility and merits of the communication should reach the Committee within six months.
Any reply from the State party will be communicated to you in due course to enable you to comment thereon, if you so with.
For information, please find herewith a copy of the rules of procedure.
Let's wait and see how this one will play out. A lot of folks will find themselves "leaned on" at the UN level on this one!
=====
Thought for the Day:
"No seed shall perish which the soul hath sown."
(John Addington Symonds)
Back to Table of Contents of the Nov. 2000 ZGrams