THE ADVOCATE 535
VOL. 79 PART 4 JULY 2021
NEWS FROM
LAWYERS’ RIGHTS
WATCH CANADA
By Catherine Morris*
The 2020 annual report of Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (“LRWC”)1 was
released in April 2021 and reported on LRWC volunteers’ interventions in
21 countries during 2020 to address threats to human rights defenders, independence
of the legal profession and the rule of law. This column draws
largely on the executive director’s message in that annual report and briefly
summarizes LRWC actions during the first several months of 2021.
2020–21: A PANDEMIC OF RIGHTS VIOLATIONS HAS MET WITH DRAMATIC
CIVIL RESISTANCE TO INJUSTICE
The year 2020 and the first half of 2021 have tested the resolve and mettle
of human rights advocates around the world. Public health measures to suppress
the spread of COVID-19 led to globalized donning of masks, physical
distancing and other restrictions. However, there was far less effort to protect
human rights.
Events in 2020 exposed a parallel pandemic of severe international
human rights violations along with revelations of grave impacts of historic,
systemic injustices and inequalities faced by marginalized peoples and individuals
around the world. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,
the gap between international human rights law and practices on the ground
has seemed wider than ever, with fewer resources to address violations.
While positive developments in human rights protection by governments
and corporations were few and far between, popular resistance to injustice
has been dramatic. In 2020, civil resistance movements were seen in Hong
* Catherine Morris has been the pro bono executive director of LRWC since June 2020. She has been a volunteer with LRWC
for two decades and serves as its Main Representative at the UN Human Rights Council. LRWC’s founding executive director,
Gail Davidson, led LRWC for over two decades including the first half of 2020. Under her leadership, LRWC became
one of Canada’s leading international human rights organizations. LRWC has held special consultative status with the
United Nations Economic and Social Council since 2005.