Can Canada, Israel and US practice as they preach on arbitrary detentions?

Canada is spearheading an initiative denouncing the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political agendas.

The non-binding statement is known as the “Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations” and has so far been signed by 56 other countries including the United States.

Announced on Monday, the declaration is primarily geared towards Canada’s continuing efforts to negotiate the release of two of its citizens currently being held in China on espionage charges.

The retired Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, a political consultant on North Korean affairs, were detained by Chinese authorities in December 2018, days after Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of the founder of the company was arrested by Canadian authorities at the request of the United States.

China at the time condemned Wanzhou’s detention as arbitrary and of trampling international law. Canada, for its part, has accused China of holding the two Canadians as leverage following Wanzhou’s arrest.

The declaration proposed by Canada is aimed at rallying countries around Toronto’s position.

“The arbitrary arrest or detention of foreign nationals to compel action or to exercise leverage over a foreign government is contrary to international law, undermines international relations, and has a negative impact on foreign nationals travelling, working and living abroad,” says the declaration.

China has condemned the latest manoeuvring by Canada calling it “Megaphone Diplomacy."

In a statement, a spokesperson at the Chinese embassy in Canada said that “attempt to pressure China...or ganging up is totally futile and will only head towards a dead end.”

Human Rights Watch has warned leaders signing up to the declaration that in order for the initiative to bear fruit, the country’s should practice what they preach.

“The practice we condemn today is only as strong as the broader standard against arbitrary detention....a principled approach is the best way to ensure justice and fairness for all detainees,” said the Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, Kenneth Roth.

The point raised by Roth is noteworthy because the declaration qualifies opposition to arbitrary detention as only applying between “State-to-State” relations. The qualifier in the declaration, however, was likely essential to get certain countries to sign on.

France, one of the signatories to the declaration has been accused by Human Rights Watch of engaging in the arbitrary detention of protestors in the country as recently as this month.

Whereas, Israel, another signatory to the declaration has a long-standing record of arbitrary arrest and detention of Palestinians which violates international law.

The US, another signatory to the declaration was until recently, under the Trump administration, arresting thousands of migrants and arbitrarily detaining them in operations that were widely condemned as illegal.

Additionally, the US continues to operate the Guantanamo Bay prison which is a prison facility that operates outside the US legal system. At its height, the prison arbitrarily held more than 800 prisoners illegally, now the numbers are less than 50.

If as Roth suggests the international community needs to take a “principled approach” to arbitrary detentions rather than a political one, then that would surely help millions around the world currently also being held in arbitrary detentions.