For Immediate Release
Toronto (March 18, 1997)...Ten years after the release of the report of the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals (Deschenes Commission), Canada's record of bringing to justice Nazi war criminals living in this country remains dismal. Despite Mr. Justice Jules Deschenes' recommendation to the government that immediate action be taken against twenty suspected war criminals and that investigations be carried out on 218 others, to date only one Nazi war criminal has been deported; the proceedings against other suspects remain bogged down in technicalities while the Court has yet to hear the substantive issues of these cases.
In this 10th year of the Deschenes Report, B'nai Brith Canada and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre have convened a special commission, comprised of Jewish community leaders and legal and academic experts, to urge the government to deal effectively and immediately with Nazi war criminals residing in Canada. Chaired by Canadian Jewish community leader and child Holocaust survivor, Thomas O. Hecht, the commission has received the support and endorsement of a wide range of Canadian ecumenical, religious and non-governmental organizations. B'nai Brith Canada was the first organization to receive standing before the Deschenes Commission and is recognized as an expert by the courts and government on the issue of the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, having been granted intervenor status in numerous court proceedings.
"Because of the lack of serious activity regarding Nazi war criminals in this country, Canada's profile as a moral society is at stake. This is a matter of concern to all Canadians," said Hecht. "By allowing itself to be a haven for Nazi war criminals, Canada has created a precedent for other war criminals as well, including those from the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. We can no longer allow the perpetrators of some of the worst crimes in history to live side-by-side with their victims," he added.
"Justice Deschenes made several key recommendations which have yet to be implemented by the government," said David Matas, Honourary Senior Legal Counsel for B'nai Brith Canada. "These include the consolidation of denaturalization and deportation proceedings and amending the Old Age Security Act so that old age pension information, currently deemed confidential by the Privacy Commissioner, may be used to identify individual suspects and for the purpose of systematic cross checking. This demonstrates that the government is not doing all it can to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. B'nai Brith Canada calls upon the government to follow through on these recommendations which are still highly relevant today."
The commission has begun to meet with government ministers and members of the opposition to sensitize them to the severity of this issue and to present them with a series of proposals and policy recommendations.
B'nai Brith Canada is Canada's senior advocacy and volunteer service organization.
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