1999 Fredericton Encaenia - Ceremony B
Arbour, Louise
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
Orator: Patterson, Stephen E.
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 1999
LOUISE ARBOUR
to be Doctor of Laws
It has been three hundred years since John Locke asserted that all people have fundamental rights of life and liberty, and two hundred since Thomas Jefferson added that those inalienable rights included the right to pursue happiness. Yet in our time, we still struggle with the implications of those assertions, and daily have evidence that such fundamental rights are violated.
For the past century the nations of the world have attempted, in the name of human decency, to define and enforce laws and conventions to protect human rights, but with mixed success. The World Court arbitrates disputes between nations when those nations want it; the UN struggles to create the conditions of peace and justice essential for the enjoyment of rights, yet its own members frequently defy it. Dictators and generalissimos still exist who would seek power by playing on ethnic differences; who resort to murder, rape, and genocide for their own self-interested purposes; and who escape apprehension by hiding behind diplomatic immunity and the barrier of sovereignty. Canadians were stunned by the stories that carne out of Rwanda. Perhaps we were ignorant of the atrocities committed in Pinochet's Chile. And now, inescapably, the stories flow from the former Yugoslavia, and especially Kosovo.
If there is any hope that the world can come to grips with war criminals and other abusers of human rights, that hope rests largely on the shoulders of the woman who stands before us. Louise Arbour is the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. She heads a team of 729 investigators, prosecutors, and their helpers working in The Hague. Her job is to identify and bring to justice politicians, presidents, military chiefs and any others who have breached the Geneva Conventions of 1949, violated the laws or customs of war, committed genocide, or committed other crimes against humanity. Her tribunal is the creation of the United Nations, her mandate is broad, yet her powers are ones that she herself is largely defining almost daily. She is assaulting the notion of sovereignty and brushing aside the false sanctity of diplomatic immunity because civilized people want her to.
Justice Arbour is tough. When the United Nations came looking for a new prosecutor in 1996, they were attracted by her record. She had taught criminal law at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, she had served as vice-president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She had sat with distinction on the Appeal Court of Ontario, and while there, had headed up the investigation into the treatment of female prisoners at Kingston Penitentiary for Women after riots and allegations of abuse in 1995. The UN wanted someone experienced and resolute, and they found her. When she took over the International Tribunal, only a handful of indictments had been issued. Today, largely due to her perseverance, 84 individuals have been indicted, 25 are in custody, and proceedings are continuing against 58. If only a fraction of what we hear about Kosovo is true, we can expect that there will be many more.
When UNB decided to offer Louise Arbour an honorary degree, it was with the hope that the demands of her work would have subsided, permitting us to express our pride and admiration for a Canadian who is contributing so much to international order and civility. Instead, her task has escalated, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that she has at this moment perhaps the world's most challenging job. She is here today because she promised us she would come, and we thank her for the great personal sacrifice she has made to travel here from her onerous and pressure-filled duties in The Hague.
But equally, we thank her for all Canadians who are awe-struck by the magnitude of her contribution. Louise Arbour is a pioneer in the field of human rights and international law. She is carrying the concepts of justice and decency to unprecedented heights. She gives hope to thousands of refugees who long to return to Kosovo, a glimmer of satisfaction to the multitudes who have suffered at the hands of dictatorial bullies, and real evidence that civilized behaviour can triumph over evil.
Madam Justice Arbour, you do us great honour by your presence here today. Please accept the highest tribute we can give you in return.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
LOUISE ARBOUR
to be Doctor of Laws
It has been three hundred years since John Locke asserted that all people have fundamental rights of life and liberty, and two hundred since Thomas Jefferson added that those inalienable rights included the right to pursue happiness. Yet in our time, we still struggle with the implications of those assertions, and daily have evidence that such fundamental rights are violated.
For the past century the nations of the world have attempted, in the name of human decency, to define and enforce laws and conventions to protect human rights, but with mixed success. The World Court arbitrates disputes between nations when those nations want it; the UN struggles to create the conditions of peace and justice essential for the enjoyment of rights, yet its own members frequently defy it. Dictators and generalissimos still exist who would seek power by playing on ethnic differences; who resort to murder, rape, and genocide for their own self-interested purposes; and who escape apprehension by hiding behind diplomatic immunity and the barrier of sovereignty. Canadians were stunned by the stories that carne out of Rwanda. Perhaps we were ignorant of the atrocities committed in Pinochet's Chile. And now, inescapably, the stories flow from the former Yugoslavia, and especially Kosovo.
If there is any hope that the world can come to grips with war criminals and other abusers of human rights, that hope rests largely on the shoulders of the woman who stands before us. Louise Arbour is the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. She heads a team of 729 investigators, prosecutors, and their helpers working in The Hague. Her job is to identify and bring to justice politicians, presidents, military chiefs and any others who have breached the Geneva Conventions of 1949, violated the laws or customs of war, committed genocide, or committed other crimes against humanity. Her tribunal is the creation of the United Nations, her mandate is broad, yet her powers are ones that she herself is largely defining almost daily. She is assaulting the notion of sovereignty and brushing aside the false sanctity of diplomatic immunity because civilized people want her to.
Justice Arbour is tough. When the United Nations came looking for a new prosecutor in 1996, they were attracted by her record. She had taught criminal law at Osgoode Hall in Toronto, she had served as vice-president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. She had sat with distinction on the Appeal Court of Ontario, and while there, had headed up the investigation into the treatment of female prisoners at Kingston Penitentiary for Women after riots and allegations of abuse in 1995. The UN wanted someone experienced and resolute, and they found her. When she took over the International Tribunal, only a handful of indictments had been issued. Today, largely due to her perseverance, 84 individuals have been indicted, 25 are in custody, and proceedings are continuing against 58. If only a fraction of what we hear about Kosovo is true, we can expect that there will be many more.
When UNB decided to offer Louise Arbour an honorary degree, it was with the hope that the demands of her work would have subsided, permitting us to express our pride and admiration for a Canadian who is contributing so much to international order and civility. Instead, her task has escalated, and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that she has at this moment perhaps the world's most challenging job. She is here today because she promised us she would come, and we thank her for the great personal sacrifice she has made to travel here from her onerous and pressure-filled duties in The Hague.
But equally, we thank her for all Canadians who are awe-struck by the magnitude of her contribution. Louise Arbour is a pioneer in the field of human rights and international law. She is carrying the concepts of justice and decency to unprecedented heights. She gives hope to thousands of refugees who long to return to Kosovo, a glimmer of satisfaction to the multitudes who have suffered at the hands of dictatorial bullies, and real evidence that civilized behaviour can triumph over evil.
Madam Justice Arbour, you do us great honour by your presence here today. Please accept the highest tribute we can give you in return.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
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