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Correspondent: B.C. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION June 10, 1999 Ms. Mary-Woo Sims
Dear Ms. Sims: For your information I enclose a copy of a letter I have written to the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, Attorney General, on the subject of infant male circumcision. Does the BC Human Rights Commission have policies on male and/or female circumcision? If so, would you be kind enough to provide me with copies? Yours sincerely,
June 21, 1999 Dear D ennis H arrison: I am responding to your letter of June 10, 1999. Thank you for enclosing a copy of your letter to the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh on the subject of infant male circumcision. In response to your question, “does the BC Human Rights Commission have policies on male and/or female circumcision?” the commission does not have a policy on this issue, nor is it contemplating developing one. Thank you for taking the time to write to me. Yours truly,
August 18, 1999 Dear Ms. Phillips: I am responding to your letter of August 11, 1999 in regards to genital mutilation. The BC Human Rights Commission has taken no position on circumcision, whether male or female and the commission does not have a policy on this issue, nor is it contemplating developing one. Thank you for taking the time to write to me. Yours truly,
August 24, 1999 Dear Mary-Woo Sims: Thank you for your letter dated June 21, 1999. You state that the BC Human Rights Commission does not have policies on either male or female circumcision, and does not contemplate developing such policies. The Commission's vision is to "create a society...in which all people are treated with dignity and respect." Circumcision and other forms of genital mutilation raise important issues on the score of treating people with dignity and respect. How will the Commission achieve its stated objective without giving due consideration to all related issues? Does genital mutilation of children impinge on any provisions of the BC Human Rights Code? Sincerely,
Copies to: Dr. Ian Courtice, President, B.C. Medical Association
September 21, 1999 Dear D ennis H arrison: Thank you for your letter of August 24, 1999, which I received upon returning to the office after my annual vacation. The BC Human Rights Commission, which has been in operation since January 1, 1997, has been dealing with a number of human rights issues including the investigation of a complaints investigation backlog. We have also been developing the Commission's 5-year strategic plan that identifies a number of initiatives that we wish to undertake in the next five years. The development of policies on male and female circumcision is not a priority for the Commission at this time. I have attached copies of both the strategic plan and the BC Human Rights Code for your perusal. If a person believes their rights under the Code have been infringed, they may contact the Commission at 660-6811, speak to a complaint analyst and file a complaint. Again, thank you for taking the time to write to me. Yours truly,
October 4, 1999 Dear Mary-Woo Sims: Thank you for your letter of September 21, 1999, and for the attached copies of the strategic plan and the BC Human Rights Code. I am very supportive of the Commission's work. Human rights thinking is always evolving. Little more than a century ago, the concept of human rights barely existed. Only radicals on the fringes of society embraced the idea of equal rights for men and women. In light of these facts, it is obvious that any organization charged with defending human rights must take a proactive approach. It must be prepared to look at all issues through a human rights lens, not just those that are currently in the headlights. As our scientific knowledge increases, and our awareness of human rights issues deepens, circumcision of boys and girls is increasingly being viewed as a serious matter. Last year, it was the topic of discussion at an international conference held at Oxford University. I'm requesting that the Commission give this issue serious thought. It has already been taken up by leading ethicists. Moreover, the Ontario Human Rights Commission has a policy on female genital mutilation (FGM). I understand that B.C. has the second-largest number of refugees and immigrants from Africa (after Ontario), so if Ontario has a policy on FGM, why doesn't B.C.? For your information, I enclose (1) a copy of an article on the human rights aspects of male circumcision by Jacqueline Smith, researcher at the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, and (2) an article that appeared a couple of years ago in the Ottawa Citizen. Sincerely,
October 18, 1999 Dear D ennis H arrison: Thank you for your letter of October 4, 1999. I agree with you that our understanding of human rights has evolved over the years. I also agree that human rights commissions are not only charged with the responsibility for looking at human rights issues that are current, but also must look at emerging issues to determine whether they present barriers to equality. I thank you for sending me the information on the human rights aspect of male circumcision and other material that you have sent. When we are in a position to consider a policy on the issue of circumcision, this material will no doubt be of great use to us. Thank you again for taking the time to write. Yours sincerely,
March 13, 2000 Dear Mary-Woo Sims: I am writing to provide you with further information on an emerging human rights issue: circumcision of boys for non-medical reasons. A report prepared recently for the Swedish National Board of Health characterizes ritual circumcision of boys as a violation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. I enclose a copy of a news item from the Radio Sweden Web site referring to this report. I also enclose copies of two letters written by one of Canada's most prominent ethicists: Dr. Margaret Somerville. One letter is in regards to statements made by the Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, former Attorney General, while the other is to the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Somerville is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the founding director of the McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law in Montreal. In addition, I enclose copies of recent correspondence I personally have had on the subject of circumcision with the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons. I can well appreciate the heavy workload faced by the BC Human Rights Commission. But with all respect, if someone like Dr. Somerville can find time to defend human rights in British Columbia, shouldn't the BC Human Rights Commission be able to do the same? Yours sincerely,
March 17, 2000 Dear D ennis H arrison: Thank you for your letter of March 13, 2000 and the attached correspondence. While I appreciate your concerns on the subject of infant male circumcision I must reiterate what I said in my letter to you of June 21, 1999, that the Commission does not have a policy on this issue nor is it contemplating developing one. The mandate of the Commission is very clearly spelt out in the Human Rights Code and does not include this subject at this time. Thank you for taking the time to write to me. Yours truly,
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