Minister Garneau Speaks with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet

March 12, 2021 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today spoke with Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Minister Garneau had a productive first call with UN High Commissioner Bachelet. The Minister reiterated Canada’s commitment to engaging with partners multilaterally to promote human rights and advance gender equality as part of the government’s feminist foreign policy. He also underscored the critical role of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in promoting respect for human rights internationally, and reaffirmed Canada’s support for the work of the OHCHR. High Commissioner Bachelet thanked Minister Garneau for Canada’s engagement on human rights and institutional support to the OHCHR.

Minister Garneau presented Canada’s priorities at the current session of the Human Rights Council and raised a number of human rights issues of concern to Canada. These included the recent overthrow of the democratically-elected government in Myanmar and efforts by the military regime to curtail civil and political rights; the human rights situation in China, including the treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, recent restrictive actions against journalists, opposition members and humanitarian workers in Venezuela; and the ongoing human rights violations in Belarus, including torture, suppression of the media, and crackdowns on peaceful protestors and the human rights situations in Sri Lanka and Nicaragua.

The Minister and the High Commissioner agreed to continue working closely together to promote and protect human rights.