Dura lex, sed lex

In my career a s a lawyer, I remember explaining to people why even “criminals” have the right to be represented in court. It is written in the Constitution of many countries. This right simply means that if you are unable to afford a lawyer, one will be appointed for you. Having a lawyer matters even for those people called “ criminals”. “Dura Lex, sed Lex”

Everyone is equal before the law, we say. But it is sometimes difficult to admit that a category of offenders have lawyers to represent them in Court. Personally, I didn’t enjoy at all to be appointed. Only “beginners” with less than 2 years of experience are appointed to represent “Pro Deo” in my country of origin.It is a good exercise, though. Most of time, I was in Martial court.

Against Euthanasia

I think everyone has a story of a friend or a family member who has experienced a very high level of pain in his/her life at a point that even pain killers can’t help. When you have a pain stretched over months or years, you will be tempted to find a way to stop that suffering: take an overdose of sleeping pills, shoot yourself, or ask for assisted suicide. People would say they want to die peacefully and certainly.   One of my sisters died from colon cancer in 2000. She was terminally ill and she had no energy for racing about collecting poisons. We didn’t like to think about death or plan ahead for it. But day after day, we thought she will be able to talk and stand on her feet. I remember that smile. It’s the only thing she could do. She was so cute... I strongly believe that he terminally ill are persons who need protection from family, social, and economic pressures, because of chronic pain and the effects of medication. I’m committed to the fundamental belief that the intentional killing of another person is wrong.

Good news for Human Rights

Canada is very active on the diplomatic front and a key contributor to international efforts to ensure full implementation of peace and human rights.

Diplomats have taken every possible opportunity to raise the issues of humanitarian crises and human rights in Syria. The good news today is that Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced that Canada has closed its embassy in Syria because of the continuing violence there.

"International consensus is that this regime has lost all legitimacy and the only course of action is for Assad to leave and leave now," Baird said in Ottawa, referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He also announced further sanctions that will be taken against Syria.I think with world pressure at a peak in the boiling crisis, the Syrian regime will be forced to change.

Read more here

Bill C-30

 Child pornography has become a huge problem in Canada. Pedophiles are using powerful tools in social media and other online programs to illegally share child pornography. They are taking advantage of privacy to make investigations difficult or impossible. To the question " where do you stand on the new online surveillance bill?", I would say, I am with the Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.I know there is many controversial opinions on this, twitters users are not happy with the bill...but, please! if you really care about protecting children, there's nothing to worry about this bill. This is NOT a Conservative Bill, it is a responsible way of finding a solution to child pornograpy.

Weapon trade

Uncontrolled small arms' circulation in Africa cause death and make the continent unsafe. 

Speaking of small arms, Kalashnikovs and AK-47 are all over the continent and, since 1980, they have become the killing weapon of choice. These arms make victims and they keep flowing into the continent. Is the UN  aware of the illegal trade? Sure! But what can the UN do against somecountries veto?                                                                                                      ,    

When the weapons arrive in Africa, the traffic becomes easy because the boarders are porous and the leaders are corrupted.

This illegal trade is highly profitable to the countries of fabrication, but what about the civilians? the children who are forced to serve in different rebel groups? People dying in syria? We should be more concerned about these lives and start thinking about peace issues.

Freedom but not libertinism

"Neo-Nazism in Canada have been affiliated with public controversies ranging from isolated hate crimes to the plot of Wolfgang Droege to take over the island of Dominica. The majority of Neo-Nazi leaders have been arrested for inciting or participating in violence and have been criticized in the media and by public officials." Wikipedia.
Canada is a free country and has a long experience of multiculturalism. CBC has reported today that  people of the neo-nazism movement  in Canada are known and their names are contained in files leaked by computer hackers in Europe.The alleged white supremacists' names were revealed earlier this month by members of a loose-knit group of hackers called Anonymous on a website called nazi-leaks.net, which is now offline.( CBC news)
Neo-nazism is as awful as genocide and I wonder how this happen in Canada.

Elections: For or Aigainst Democracy?

What can we expect from elections? 
Free and fair elections provide good government and governance. This means that elections are supposed to legitimate the political process. The leaders we have are the result of the culture predominant in our societies' political, social and educational institutions. But, are elections a criteria for democratization? I doubt.

In developed countries, elections are a sign of progress. This is not the case in africa. Every time African countries have elections, there are tensions and deadly violence. Here is the question: are these countries technically and practically ready for elections? There are so many cases cases that have shown that elections in Africa, instead of being a step forward, are used to consolidate an existing political system. The international community should think about this matter whenever it attempt to encourage or rush people toward elections. So, at this stage, deep rethinking is important.

Freedom of speech: that's Democracy.

       

In a free society, we presume  that people should be able to speak freely, especially in relation to public issues and an individual's behavior in relation to these issues. But, people need to watch themselves for potential abuse of this freedom. The positive effect of freedom of speech is the fact that it promotes and encourages the  flow of ideas , preserving democracy and all of the democratic institutions.This helps to uncover the truth and to make the leaders accountable for their actions.