First Unitarian Universalist Church of Winnipeg

Bruce Knotts, Executive Director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO) writes the following:

I want to share with you what the Canadian Unitarian Council has just sent to their government. I fully agree with this statement and hope that leaders around the world will take concerted action to end the violence that is causing so much suffering in Libya. The Responsibility to Protect is a Canadian idea that we should all adopt. The entire international community can not sit and watch massive suffering on our television sets. We all equally have a responsibility to protect the innocent and the weak.

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A2

Dear Prime Minister

As the Libyan situation becomes more serious, on behalf of the Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC), I urge the Government of Canada to follow the precepts of international law and the Responsibility to Protect, particularly if military intervention is considered.

The Government of Canada is to be commended for its carefully considered and even-handed way in which the Libyan crisis has been dealt with so far.

However the deploying of the military frigate, HMCS Charlottetown, to join other ships in the crisis area raises questions in our minds. Has it been sent to the Mediterranean primarily for the evacuation of Canadian citizens and others, or may it eventually be intended for possible military intervention?

I urge that the Government of Canada ensure that any state intervention in which Canada participates be

"for humanitarian purposes that are fully and transparently compliant with international law and mandated by the UN Security Council

"OR

"in an exceptional case where the will of the majority of UN Security Council members is blocked by a major power veto,

"(a) that [such a state intervention] is undertaken by a coalition of willing member states committed to carry out their assignment consistent with the 'basic principles’ of The Responsibility to Protect . . . and


"(b) that has as an overriding consideration the avoidance of serious harm to the civilian population." [CUC Peace Resolution 3.1,vi, 2004]

We trust that the Government will follow international law and support the tenets of the Responsibility to Protect which Canada initiated.


Yours sincerely

John Hopewell
President, Canadian Unitarian Council

cc: Michael Ignatieff, House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A2
      Jack Layton, House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A2
      Gilles Duceppe, House of Commons, Ottawa ON K1A 0A2

I, Bruce Knotts, endorse this message as balanced and representing the best of both UU and UN intentions for peace and justice.

Sincerely,

Bruce Knotts

Executive Director
Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office