{"time": "2007-01-29 18:35:00", "attribution": {"en": "Mr. Paul Szabo (Mississauga South, Lib.)", "fr": ""}, "content": {"en": "

Mr. Speaker, I have had the opportunity to ask the government a number of questions related to our relations with China and with regard to a specific case of a Canadian citizen by the name of Huseyincan Celil who was picked up in Uzbekistan and was extradited to China. At this point we do not know his condition. We do not know where he is. We do not even know whether he is alive. This is a Canadian citizen who, unfortunately, has not been afforded under international law his basic human rights.

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Relations with China, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, are \u201cin a shambles\u201d. We need to restore our relationship with China so that we can carry on a dialogue, whether it be for trade, for cultural exchange or for other diplomatic affairs such as this one for Mr. Celil.

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The government has constantly said that things are in good shape with China but we know very well that it continues to send people over there as recently as during the break to mend fences. It has even contradicted itself by its own representations.

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The key here is that when Mr. Celil was picked up in Uzbekistan, the request by China to extradite him to China was preceded by a statement by the Uzbeks that they would have preferred to have Mr. Celil released to Canada but that Canada had not expressed sufficient interest in Mr. Celil. That is from the Uzbek officials. He was therefore extradited.

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Now we do not know where he is. We do not know whether he has been tortured. We do not even know whether he is alive. The ministry has written to people to say that it has worked tirelessly on the file. An official of the prison in which Mr. Celil was held in Uzbekistan told his family members that there were assurances that Mr. Celil would not be executed if he were extradited to China. That was not a representation from China. It was not a representation from the government of Uzbekistan. It was from a prison official. This is second or third-hand information.

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Since that time there has been no new information on the situation with Mr. Celil and yet the government continues to say that it is working tirelessly. It has been working tirelessly since last March and there is no new information even though the Conservatives continue to write letters that they have done things. They have done nothing and that is why I am raising this again. It is important.

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Today's press reports state that China has alleged that there are people from China who have come here who have allegedly broken the law in China and China is asking for them to be extradited back to China. In my view this is the kind of situation that calls out for a sit down behind closed doors with Chinese officials to work out the problems and the relationship with China so we can carry on a dialogue on matters of mutual interest.

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We need to respect the Vienna Convention. We need to respect our bilateral diplomatic affairs agreement with China. They do not recognize Canadian citizenship if the person has dual citizenship with China. As a consequence, China has said that they have no rights as far as Canadian law goes. This is precisely what we should talk about in a clear, open and transparent fashion with the officials and translators. That has never happened and it is time the government took the opportunity that we have today to sit down to repair the shambles it has created in the relationship with China so that we can deal with Mr.--

", "fr": "

Monsieur le Pr\u00e9sident, j'ai eu l'occasion de poser au gouvernement certaines questions concernant nos relations avec la Chine, et plus particuli\u00e8rement un citoyen canadien du nom de Huseyincan Celil, qui a \u00e9t\u00e9 extrad\u00e9 de l'Ouzb\u00e9kistan vers la Chine. Nous ne savons pas pour l'instant comment il se porte. Nous ne savons pas o\u00f9 il se trouve. Nous ne savons m\u00eame pas s'il est encore vivant. Il s'agit d'un citoyen canadien dont les droits fondamentaux, garantis en droit international, n'ont malheureusement pas \u00e9t\u00e9 respect\u00e9s.

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Les relations avec la Chine sont, aux dires de la Chambre de Commerce du Canada, \u00ab confuses \u00bb. Nous devons renouer nos liens avec la Chine afin de poursuivre un dialogue, que ce soit en mati\u00e8re de commerce, d'\u00e9changes culturels ou d'affaires diplomatiques, comme c'est le cas pour M. Celil.

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Le gouvernement r\u00e9p\u00e8te que les relations avec la Chine sont bonnes, mais nous savons tr\u00e8s bien qu'il continue d'y envoyer des repr\u00e9sentants, aussi r\u00e9cemment que pendant la pause du temps des f\u00eates, afin d'am\u00e9liorer les relations. Le gouvernement s'est m\u00eame contredit par ses propres repr\u00e9sentations.

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Le plus grave, c'est que lorsque M. Celil a \u00e9t\u00e9 extrad\u00e9, la demande formul\u00e9e par la Chine \u00e9tait pr\u00e9c\u00e9d\u00e9e d'une d\u00e9claration des autorit\u00e9s ouzb\u00e8kes affirmant que l'Ouzb\u00e9kistan aurait pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9 renvoyer M. Celil au Canada, mais que les autorit\u00e9s canadiennes n'avaient pas exprim\u00e9 suffisamment d'int\u00e9r\u00eat envers lui. Cela vient des autorit\u00e9s d'Ouzb\u00e9kistan. M. Celil a donc \u00e9t\u00e9 extrad\u00e9.

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Nous ne savons pas o\u00f9 il est maintenant. Nous ne savons pas s'il a \u00e9t\u00e9 tortur\u00e9. Nous ne savons m\u00eame pas s'il est vivant. Le minist\u00e8re a envoy\u00e9 des lettres disant qu'il travaillait sans rel\u00e2che \u00e0 ce dossier. Un repr\u00e9sentant de la prison o\u00f9 M. Celil \u00e9tait d\u00e9tenu en Ouzb\u00e9kistan a dit aux membres de la famille que la Chine avait donn\u00e9 l'assurance que M. Celil ne serait pas ex\u00e9cut\u00e9 s'il \u00e9tait extrad\u00e9. Ce n'est pas la Chine qui l'a dit, ni le gouvernement d'Ouzb\u00e9kistan, mais un repr\u00e9sentant de la prison. Il s'agit d'information de deuxi\u00e8me ou troisi\u00e8me main.

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Depuis ce temps, on n'a plus eu d'information sur la situation de M. Celil. Pourtant, le gouvernement continue d'affirmer qu'il travaille sans rel\u00e2che. Il a ainsi travaill\u00e9 sans rel\u00e2che depuis mars dernier et n'a obtenu aucun nouvel \u00e9l\u00e9ment d'information. Malgr\u00e9 tout, les conservateurs continuent \u00e0 \u00e9crire qu'ils font des choses. Mais ils n'ont rien fait, et c'est pourquoi je soul\u00e8ve de nouveau cette question. C'est important.

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Selon certains articles dans les journaux d'aujourd'hui, la Chine pr\u00e9tend que des Chinois qui sont venus ici auraient enfreint la loi en Chine et qu'ils devraient \u00eatre extrad\u00e9s. \u00c0 mon avis, cette situation exige une rencontre \u00e0 huis clos avec les autorit\u00e9s chinoises pour r\u00e9gler le probl\u00e8me et assurer le maintien de nos bonnes relations avec la Chine, afin que nous puissions poursuivre le dialogue sur les questions d'int\u00e9r\u00eat mutuel.

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Nous devons respecter la Convention de Vienne. Nous devons respecter notre entente bilat\u00e9rale avec la Chine sur les affaires diplomatiques. La Chine ne reconna\u00eet pas la citoyennet\u00e9 canadienne si la personne a aussi la citoyennet\u00e9 chinoise. C'est pourquoi la Chine a d\u00e9clar\u00e9 que ces gens n'avaient aucun droit en vertu de la loi canadienne. C'est exactement ce dont nous devrions parler franchement et ouvertement avec les repr\u00e9sentants de ce pays, avec l'aide des traducteurs. Nous ne l'avons jamais fait, et il est temps que le gouvernement profite de l'occasion qui lui est offerte aujourd'hui de s'asseoir avec ses homologues chinois pour dissiper la confusion dans nos relations avec la Chine. Ainsi nous pourrons nous occuper du cas de M. ...

"}, "url": "/debates/2007/1/29/paul-szabo-4/", "politician_url": "/politicians/paul-szabo/", "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/3198/", "procedural": false, "source_id": "1858987", "h1": {"en": "Adjournment Proceedings", "fr": ""}, "h3": {"en": "China", "fr": ""}, "document_url": "/debates/2007/1/29/", "related": {"document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2007%2F1%2F29%2F"}}