Dear Minister Garneau,
Dear Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you Minister Garneau for organizing this conference.
I want to congratulate Canada, and of course you and your team, for this courageous initiative and all the work you have done in promoting the Declaration against Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations.
And I want to reiterate Albania’s support for the Declaration.
We share the concern of all the countries gathered here today with the fact that, unfortunately, in recent years we have witnessed an increasing number of arbitrary detentions of innocent foreign nationals by governments, who clearly mean to use them as bargaining chips in their dealings with the home countries and governments of those thus detained.
I want to say unequivocally that such behaviour is unacceptable. And we should be no more tolerant of such behaviour in relations between states, than we are of arbitrary detentions in our own countries.
There is a telling asymmetry between the countries engaging in such behaviour on the one hand, and those who are in the receiving end of such violations of human rights, the rights of individuals, and relations between states, on the other.
No country that believes in the rule of law, can engage in such behaviour. Nor can it tolerate such disregard for the rule of law and the rights of the citizens.
The calculations behind such actions are as simple as they are cynical.
Any country, that believes in the rights of its citizens will do all it can to guarantee their wellbeing and release, especially when they are the victim of circumstances beyond their control. And no such country, can or will reciprocate. Or even contemplate arbitrarily detaining a foreign national in order to secure the release of its nationals thus detained.
I know this is often perceived as a weakness, but I believe this is anything but a weaknes. We draw strength from our values, our norms, our standards.
And it is precisely because of these shared values, norms and standards that we can come together, from different continents, different cultures and tradition and reject such behaviour in no uncertain terms. We can make certain to send a clear message to all those who consider the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals to be a tool of foreign policy, that such actions do have a price. And that price is not insignificant because the price is a stain on the reputation and image of those who engage in such actions.
I believe that this Declaration is an important step in the fight against arbitrary detentions in relations between states. And once a critical mass of likeminded countries join in support of it, I believe the price of such behaviour will become too steep for anyone who may consider it.
I once again congratulate you on the initiative and look forward to working together in the future.
