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On Monday Stéphane Dion, the foreign affairs minister, moved to insulate the Liberal government from at least some of this potential criticism. After meeting with the United Nations’ top human rights official, Dion announced that Ottawa would automatically plead for the life of any Canadian sentenced to death abroad. This revives a policy in place until 2007, when the Conservatives said they would seek clemency on a case-by-case basis. Critics claimed this represented a de facto acceptance of capital punishment, which Canada abolished 40 years ago.

There is a valid argument to be made on both sides of this issue. Dion says the Conservative approach reduced the likelihood of success: “In order to be able to maximize the possibility that you will get clemency for some, you need to ask for clemency for all.” Really? It can just as easily be argued that going through the motions with cursory appeals in hopeless cases does nothing to bolster the credibility of the government or the strength of its request. But the Liberal approach does allow Ottawa to claim it tried.

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Dion would perform a more valuable service if he were to launch a determined effort to restore some credibility to the operations of the much maligned – and deservedly so – UN human rights operations. Membership on the Human Rights Council is assigned by region rather than merit. Current and past members include some of the world’s most flagrantly abusive regimes. Saudi Arabia, China and Russia sit on the council at the same time Russian bombers target opponents of Syria’s blood-soaked president Bashar al-Assad, China kidnaps Hong Kong booksellers and spirits them away to mainland jails, and Saudi Arabia – which was named chair of the council in September — continues to hold mass executions and treat women as inferior beings. The council is famed for its obsessive criticism of Israel, despite the fact Israel is a rare haven of peace and democracy in a region aflame with hatred and religious intolerance.