Government rebukes Canadian diplomat for cutting off debate at UN Human Rights Council
Canada’s UN Ambassador Marius Grinius erred earlier this month when he stopped a UN-accredited speaker from criticizing “Muslim-sourced anti-Semitic material” during a debate on human rights, according to Foreign Affairs spokesperson Catherine Loubier. In response to queries from Canwest News, Loubier acknowledged that Grinius, a career diplomat, had “acted in good faith” when he interrupted David Littman, who was speaking on behalf of the Association for World Education and the World Union for Progressive Judaism. His ruling was based on advice received by a UN procedural clerk, but Loubier told Canwest that the government has concluded that Littman “should not have been cut off.” In an interview with Canwest, Littman says that he has asked the council’s permanent chair to make sure that Grinius’s ruling doesn’t set precedent for future debates.