Canada losing title as global human-rights champion?

OTTAWA - Conservative wavering on the world stage has risked Canada's reputation as a human-rights champion, Amnesty International says in a report released Monday.

The report - Canada and the International Protection of Human Rights: An Erosion of Leadership? - slams the federal government on several fronts.

It cites Ottawa's sudden refusal last month to fight the death penalty in all cases; its vote against a United Nations declaration on the rights of indigenous people; the short shrift given to abuses in Colombia; and how the Tories played down reports earlier this year that Taliban suspects handed over to Afghan authorities were later tortured.

"There's no question that the concerns we've highlighted are things we've seen in the last 18 months or so," since the Tories took power, says Amnesty spokesman Alex Neve.

"It's not that we're trying to make this a political issue," he said in an interview. "But we are taking note of the fact that this government is pursuing policies and adopting positions with respect to some crucial human-rights issues that ... we believe risks selling Canada's long-established leadership short."

The Conservatives countered by stressing efforts to protest abuses in Iran, rebuild and restore security in Afghanistan, and impose sanctions after the Myanmar regime cracked down on peaceful demonstrators - many of them monks.