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September 21, 2001
The Right Honorable Jean Chrétien,
Prime Minister of Canada,
House of Commons,
Ottawa , Canada, K1A 0A6
c.c. The Hon. John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Hon.
Arthur Eggleton, Minister of Defense
Dear Prime Minister,
First of all we join you, as do all our fellow
citizens, in expressing profound sorrow and compassion for all those who died
and those who now suffer as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks on
the United States. As representatives of a very broad Christian ecumenical
community we join with Muslims, Jews, Hindus and many other faith communities who
have condemned these acts of terror, confident in the knowledge that the God
who cares for all peoples of the world now calls us all to recommit to the
pursuit of justice and peace.
We write also to offer our prayerful support to you and your Government
In the face of the grief and rage that tempt many to
yield to vengeful retaliation, the appeal to enduring values and principles
helps to steer us toward more measured and, in the end, more effective action.
We fear that the widespread use of the language of “war” is undermining efforts
to understand the true nature of the challenges that terrorist attacks present
to the world.
We understand the struggle against terrorism to
involve two distinct, and operationally very different, objectives:
accountability and prevention. Accountability requires that the perpetrators of
terrorism be brought to justice, and prevention requires a two-fold effort—to
enhance security measures in the interests of reliable public protection and
safety, and to address the social, political and economic conditions that
promote or are conducive to terrorism.
We are grateful that an advanced public debate has
already identified many of the key values and approaches that should guide
Canada’s, and the international community’s, response, and with this letter we
wish to offer for your consideration six specific action guidelines.
1. Accountability
The perpetrators of these heinous crimes must be
brought to justice. This imperative is
unambiguous and it is not rooted in revenge but in the principle of
accountability. It is those responsible for the acts of September 11 who are
now properly the focus of public attention, but it is also appropriate to
remind those now promoting a new priority struggle against terrorism that the
obligation to bring terrorists to justice is a broad obligation to bring to
justice all those who commit terror and other crimes against humanity,
regardless of where the victims are.
2. Due Process
In bringing those accused of terrorism to justice, the
obligation to respect due process is also unambiguous—for reasons of justice as
well as political and moral legitimacy. We acknowledge that in international
relations due process is not always clear, but we remind you that the United
Nations and its Security Council are the essential custodians of international
due process, and along with the affected national governments are central to
ensuring that those being pursued, and the societies in which they are pursued,
have the protection of law and just practice.
We also encourage you and your Government to give
consideration to the importance of introducing an international element to the
legal proceedings against those accused of the criminal acts of September
11. An exclusively American trial is
unlikely to have the confidence of many states which nevertheless are committed
to a broad equitable campaign to prevent acts of terror and to hold those
guilty of terror accountable. The
introduction of an international dimension to such a trial could help to
legitimize the results and thus strengthen the resolve to combat terrorism
internationally.
3. Interdependence
The September 11 events tragically demonstrate what
Canadians know to be the case: that the world is interdependent. We know that
if the world itself is an unsafe, hostile place, there is no reliable means by
which to build islands of enduring, fortified safety within it.
The security and safety of the people of the United
States are no less dependent on international cooperation.. The heightened
solidarity with the US being expressed world-wide in the aftermath of the
horrific events of September 11 is potentially a powerful factor in a dynamic
that could, if respectfully nurtured, enhance world peace. We also know,
however, that long-term international support for a sustained effort to reduce
and prevent terrorism, will require an unambiguous commitment to cooperative
interdependence. Canada, with its clear commitment to multilateralism, can help
the United States understand the need for it to re-engage with the world in
support of collective security measures such as the International Criminal
Court, the Kyoto environmental protocol, the Comprehensive (nuclear) Test-Ban
Treaty, the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, small arms controls and other similar
measures.
4. Justice and grievance
In the context of intensified efforts to reduce and
prevent terrorism, it is important for Canada to assert that it is possible to
hear and address the grievances that are linked to acts of terror without
thereby in any way condoning such terrorism. Just as any serious crime
reduction effort cannot be confined to more intensified police work and must
also address the economic and social conditions that tend to produce increased
rates of crime, a serious campaign against terrorism needs to address the
social, economic and political conditions that tend to nurture the emergence of
terrorism.
Canada has led the international community in the
understanding that there are human security and peace-building dimensions to
national, regional and international security problems. Such measures,
especially the promotion of democracy, good governance, participatory public
institutions, and a civil society actively engaged in shaping public priorities
and values, are an essential element of reducing the risks and incidence of
terrorism and of persuading states not to knowingly harbor terrorists. Indeed,
there are vital connections between this issue and the whole range of
international economic behavior, including the handling of international debt
and the development of fair, transparent and considerate arrangements for
trade.
5. Resort to force
The surviving individuals charged with responsibility
for the September 11 attacks on the United States are now fugitives from
justice - fugitives who must be pursued and apprehended if they are to be held
to account and brought to justice. The international community faces an
extraordinary challenge to bring to justice those accused that are harbored by
sovereign states unwilling to cooperate with efforts to bring the accused to
trial. And the early characterization of the response to the terrorist attacks
on the United States as “war” misrepresents the nature of that challenge. The
pursuit of fugitives across international borders without the consent of states
involved requires authorization from a responsible body, which we understand to
be the Security Council; but it does not require, and must not include, broad
military attacks.
We fear that the current mobilization of a broad
spectrum of US military force, from strategic bombers, to cruise and ballistic
missiles, to special forces for possible assassination missions, is likely to
lead to a resort to military force well beyond police or police-support actions
and, sadly, well beyond the limits of international and humanitarian law.
Canada cannot be a party to such actions. All police action, including any
military support for such action, must be lawful. Justice must be done and must
be seen to be done.
6. Recovering perspective
A campaign against terrorism is required, but not at
all costs. More than a decade ago the single-minded drive against communism in
Afghanistan, for example, led to the unrestrained spread in the region of small
arms which still fuel civil war and chaos and violence in Pakistan. The same
zealous campaign made common cause with the now accused terrorist Osama bin
Laden and helped to spawn the Taliban movement itself.
A similar, single-minded campaign against terrorism is
likely to have similarly damaging consequences, if it is not guided by due
process and actions that hon our the laws, values and freedoms that terrorism
threatens. We urge you to resist the growing pressures to permit increased
invasion of privacy, reduced access to information, reduced immigration, reduced
access to safe havens for refugees, increased military spending at the expense
of social programs, and any number of other measures that would erode
fundamental rights and freedoms, all in the name of combating terrorism. If Canada does not resist such measures we
will have failed in true respect for the victims of the September 11 attacks.
Their death is a loss great enough to deserve, as a memorial, a new resolve to
make the world they left behind a safer place.
The deep sadness felt in our churches at the events of
September 11 is compounded by our knowledge, through our association with
churches and partners in many parts of the world, that such horrific attacks
against civilians are not isolated events. Throughout the world innocent people
are under attack. By most accounts the majority of victims of armed conflict
are civilian non-combatants. In many instances they are killed with arms that
have been delivered there from northern democratic states. In some instances,
we regret to have to say, they are killed by military attacks carried out by
northern democratic states.
There is an imperative in the aftermath of September
11 to act against attacks on innocent civilians. We agree that it will be a
long and difficult journey to act effectively, and it is our hope that the
emerging campaign against terrorism becomes a genuine effort to advance the
safety and well being of people wherever they are threatened.
We wish to assure you that our thoughts and prayers
will be with you as you travel to Washington next week and as you and your
Government continue to plan for appropriate Canadian action.
Sincerely yours,
Most Rev. André Vallée
President, Canadian Council of Churches
Rev. Dr. David Pfrimmer, Chair,
Commission on Justice and Peace
Canadian Council of Churches
Janet Somerville
General Secretary
Canadian Council of Churches
Ernie Regehr
Director,
Project Ploughshares Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies
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