From the Ottawa Citizen:

The Defence Department has quietly removed from the Internet a report into the killing of a Canadian military officer by Israeli forces, a move the soldier’s widow says is linked to the Conservative government’s reluctance to criticize Israel for any wrongdoing.

Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener and three other United Nations observers were killed in 2006 when the Israeli military targeted their small outpost with repeated artillery barrages as well as an attack by a fighter aircraft.

IN early 2008, the Defence Department posted on its website a 67-page report from the Canadian Forces board of inquiry into the killing. The board found Hess-von Kruedener’s death was preventable and caused by the Israeli military.

But less than a year later, the report was quietly removed from the DND website and has since remained off-limits to the public through official channels.

Hess-von Kruedener’s widow, Cynthia, told the Citizen that the decision to remove the document from the public domain was made by DND and the government in an effort to protect Israel’s reputation.

“They don’t want people reading about it,” she said. “It’s embarrassing to the Israelis and, as we know, Prime Minister (Stephen) Harper has given his unconditional support to the Israelis.”

The report, currently not available elsewhere, follows:

Inquiry Report on the Death of Major Hess-Von Kruedener

Larry Miller, the Conservative MP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, wants Canada to withdraw from the United Nations, outrageously suggesting we be the first of 193 countries to leave the international organization that has promoted peace, cooperation and human rights since 1945.

In response, Liberal Foreign Affairs critic Dominic LeBlanc issued the following statement:

“Conservative MP Larry Miller’s ignorant comments calling for Canada to withdraw from the UN are symptomatic of a government that has no interest in protecting Canada’s place on the world stage.

Their foreign policy, comprised of press releases, criticizing others and throwing hissy-fits when others dare criticize them, has damaged our international reputation, and affected our ability to work collaboratively with other governments and multilateral organizations.

We live in an interconnected world where we can only protect Canada’s interests by playing a positive role internationally. We cannot isolate ourselves as the Conservatives seem to believe. Canadians are best served by a policy of constructive engagement – priorities that value actions more than rhetoric.”

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Law students Rashmi Bhat and Omar Ha-Redeye had both been to the United Nations before, but only as observers. This year they returned as presenters.

“To be able to appear at the United Nations and actually present was a real honour,” says Ha-Redeye.

…The University of Western Ontario is the first Canadian University to present at the Annual General Meeting under the registration sponsorship of UN-accredited public policy agency.

Omar Ha-Redeye was part of a delegation from UWO that presented at the 53 Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations on Efforts by Canadian Organizations to Help Reduce the Social Impact of HIV/AIDS.

On Feb. 3-6, 2008, students from UWO Law travelled to New York city.  Here is a write-up that Omar did:

“A national law school with an international outlook.”

That’s how Western describes itself, and this February nearly a dozen Western law students made it true.

We were a rather international group ourselves, many of us working or traveling overseas prior to law school.  Most of the students were first-years, but we also had several international exchange students from Europe and New Zealand.

Our first stop was the center of international law – the United Nations.  We toured the chambers and had the opportunity to speak to two people in the U.N.’s Office of Legal Affairs.  Both were Canadians.  They shared with us the immensely important role that Canadians play within the U.N., and information on diplomatic legal careers.

We also met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy.  She shared a touching yet heart-wrenching video of children rehabilitated after serving in child armies in West Africa.

The next day we took on an educational focus and visited the Columbia School of Law.  Our own Prof. Ooosterveld, who accompanied us on our trip, did her Masters in Law at Columbia.  Prof. Oosterveld has published her own book on international law, and considered the school one of the foremost in the field.  This was followed by a stop at the Canadian Mission, where some controversial and topical areas of international law were discussed.

We concluded our trip with some exposure to very different areas of international law.  We first saw the Open Society Justice Initiative.  They set up live website (charlestaylortrial.org) in a war crimes court trying former Liberian President, Charles Taylor.  Allegations against Taylor include arming rebels in Sierra Leone, who in turn used child soldiers.

After seeing children in conflicts in the video at the U.N. earlier in the week, this initiative truly illustrated the role that law plays in holding such individuals accountable for their actions.

Our final stop on the last day was at the New York office of Torys LLP.  They are unique among the Seven Sisters in that they are the fist and only one to have a branch there.  The move was precipitated in trying to meet the needs of their clients, who were doing more business in the U.S.

We were hosted by Mr. Brian Flood, a corporate and commercial lawyer, former chair of the firm’s executive committee, and graduate of Western Law (1968).  Another Canadian lawyer, Gavin Sinclair (UVic, 2000) led us through a case study of how an international merger and acquisition was conducted.

The most fascinating thing about the transaction was the number and types of lawyers in different countries interacted with, spanning several continents.  They also talked about how Canadian law students can pursue legal careers in the U.S.

When we eventually left New York for London, ON, we truly felt we visited the world.  The issues were discussed were dwarfed only by the number of flags at the U.N.  The scope of legal practices we observed truly broadened our international outlooks, globally.