What's Funny About
Rights & Democracy
by C. L. Cook
I wrote the p  iece below just over a year ago, shortly after the death by heart attack of the president of the rights group, Remy Beauregard. The troubles at R&D continue today, and tomorrow, Chairman Aurel Braun will, (if he deigns appear) be giving testimony to an inquiry about those troubles.
Today, the CBC Radio program, The Current ran 'Remy's Wake,' an excellent documentary about the death of Remy Beauregard and the circumstances leading to his heart attack.
Here's the piece from February 5th, 2010.
plaintive employees at R&D have been fired.]
by C.L. Cook
Feb. 5, 2010
The
Harper government's antipathy to Israel's opponents has erupted within
one of the nation's human rights funding and watchdog agencies. Rights
and Democracy was created by Brian Mulroney's Conservative government in
1988, and was meant to operate as an "arm's length" agency.
It is in the news now due to the fractious arrival of
Johnny-come-lately Harper appointees, who have taken over the board,
attacked the agency's record, most especially its gifting of grants to
Palestinian human rights organizations, and its support of the Israeli
human rights group, B'Tselem.
The prime minister, a fervent supporter of Israel who went so far as
to criticize Lebanese-Canadians caught beneath Israel's 2006 invasion
of Lebanon for their imprudent holiday choice, while some in his party
questioned the legitimacy of their citizenship, has yet to make a public
comment on the fiasco at the agency, but minister of foreign affairs, Lawrence Cannon did weigh in, saying;
"Obviously, there seems to be a governance structure problem here, and so I'll be looking at that."
Last week, a letter with the names of all 47 staff
members of Rights and Democracy demanded the resignation of the new
appointed head of the board, University of Toronto political science
professor, Aurel Braun. Braun declared the petition invalid when, according to him, one of the 47 listed signatories denied participation.
For his part, Braun blasted the agency's support of Palestinian
human rights groups, saying they were part of a conspiracy to
"dehumanize" Israel. Braun is also an outspoken critic of the Goldstone
Report for the United Nations on the Israeli invasion of Gaza in late
2008, and says the Palestinian organizations supported by Rights and
Democracy are;
"[T]oxic organizations that are at the forefront of demonizing and dehumanizing Israel."
In their letter demanding Braun and two of his colleagues stand down immediately, the staff cited the overt politicization of the agency, adding;
""You have lost the confidence of the employees of Rights and Democracy and we unanimously request your immediate resignation."
Canadian Press (CP) report dozens of human rights groups and organizations
called Braun's attacks against B'Tselem and the Palestinian groups, Al
Haq, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and Gaza's Al Mezan a "smear
campaign," and accuse Braun of attempting to gag agency reports. Whether
it is just reports critical of Israel, and not others too he would
suppress is unclear.
Last month, the former president of Rights & Democracy, Remy
Beauregard, a target of Braun and his associates since their
installation, died of a heart attack just hours after a "stormy" board
meeting. Beauregard's widow says she believes Braun and his associates
where indirectly responsible for her husband's premature death.
It has now been learned, Beauregard's offices were burgled
following his heart attack and computers detailing Rights &
Democracy business stolen. A private Montreal investigation firm has
been brought in to study surveillance pictures of the burgled offices.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Gazette is reporting,
chairman Braun and his ally, interim president Jacques Gauthier, have
suspended three senior associates without pay, pending "internal
investigations" of their conduct. The three all signed the letter
demanding the resignation of the chairman and interim president.
Ed Broadbent, a former chairman of the board of Rights & Democracy,
originally known as the International Centre for Human Rights and
Democratic Development (ICHRDD), and former national leader of the New
Democratic party (NDP) called criticism of the grants "ludicrous,"
lambasting Braun, saying;
"This is another example of another independent agency having their
independence either totally ignored or squashed or interfered with.
[...] This is extraordinarily serious in terms of Canadian democracy."
Sources:
Paul Wells - Macleans - http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/aurel-braun/
U. of T. bio - http://www.utm.utoronto.ca/~w3pol/faculty_braun.htm
Braun Gag -
http://drdawgsblawg.blogspot.com/2010/01/rights-and-democracy-aurel-braun-gags.html
The Star on...
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/756761--harper-remains-silent-on-rights-agency-fiasco#article
Braun fights back
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Rights+centre+chairman+rebukes+critics+smears/2519867/story.html
Mondowiess
http://mondoweiss.net/2010/02/canadian-official-threatens-to-cut-off-btselems-funding.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feedburner%2FWDBc+%28Mondoweiss%29
Ed Broadbent:
"I do not recall, in my long public life, such an unwarranted
assault on a senior public servant, none, and I don't recall a sequence
of events where you had such a total undermining of a PMO appointee
being treated so shabbily and dying in the middle of it. Without drawing
a direct parallel, I can think of only one incident, Herbert Norman,
our envoy to Egypt, a friend of Lester B. Pearson, committing suicide
[in 1957, after having been accused of being a Communist sympathizer].
That was the McCarthy era."
From the Rights & Democracy website:
Rights & Democracy is a non-partisan, independent Canadian
institution created by an Act of Parliament in 1988 to promote
democratic development and to advocate for and defend human rights set
out in the International Bill of Human Rights. In cooperation with civil
society and governments in Canada and abroad, Rights & Democracy
initiates and supports programmes to strengthen laws and democratic
institutions, principally in developing countries.
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2011/02/15/remys-wake-part-one/
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