“Nazi war criminals were able to enter Canada after World War II. Their Jewish intended victims fleeing the Holocaust were denied entry by Canada before and during World War II. Except for the recent extradition proceedings against Albert Helmut Rauca, alleged Nazi war criminals have remained in Canada free from any attempts bringing them to justice.”
This searing indictment of Canada’s laxity in dealing with Nazi war criminals is made by David Matas, a Winnipeg lawyer who is chairman of the League for Human Rights of B’nai B’rith Canada, in his report, “Bringing Nazi War Criminals to Justice in Canada.”
The 122-page report, published by the League and released this week, states that it “has a basic and simple point to make: the crime of murder should not go unpunished. Nazi war criminals in Canada should be brought to justice. Canada has no statute of limitations for murder …. Canada should not impose upon itself a statute of limitations for these (Nazi) murders.”
The report points out that Canada, “has said that the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity constitutes a universal commitment for all states. It has maintained that position year after year at the United Nations, from 1946 to the present. In 1981, at the General Assembly, Canada even proposed that position. Canada should do what it has committed itself at the UN to do. Canada must not say one thing abroad, and do something else at home.”
LEGAL OPTIONS CITED
The report examines the legal options available for bringing Nazi war criminals in Canada to justice. It deals with five options: extradition, deportation, prosecution under existing legislation, prosecution under new legislation and naming. The report also determines if there are legal difficulties in pursuing the options and recommends how the alleged difficulties can be overcome.
“These remedies are all available now”, said Matas. “Most have been available since the end of World War II. Any one of them is preferable to doing nothing, yet until the recent Rauca extradition proceedings, none has been pursued.”
Of the options available, extradition for trial in the Federal Republic of Germany or any other country with which Canada has an extradition treaty where the crimes were committed is seen as the best solution of all.
Nevertheless, the report points out that for war criminals from Eastern bloc countries, extradition may not be possible because Canada’s extradition treaties do not allow for it, or because Canada has not received extradition requests. In such cases, Matas states, “there should be prosecution in Canada rather than simply letting the crimes go unpunished.”
“Soon all the accused, all the witnesses, all the survivors of the Holocaust will be dead. The chance of justice being done will disappear. If Canada is not to have a permanent stain on its justice system, it must act now to bring Nazi war criminals in Canada to Justice, he said.
The League has sent the report to the Federal Justice Minister John Crosbie with a letter requesting a meeting with Jules Deschenes, chairman of the recently established Federal Commission on Nazi war criminals, to discuss the legal options available to Canada as indicated in the report.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
