On 15 February 2021, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Latvian Foreign Ministry, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, participated in a live-streamed event organised by Global Affairs Canada (the Canadian Foreign Service) in order to launch the Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations. Marc Garneau, the Canadian Foreign Minister, opened and chaired the event.
During her address to participants at the meeting, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica commented positively on the Canadian initative and welcomed it, emphasising the key role played by international cooperation and outreach in encouraging States to respect their obligations to uphold international norms on human rights and to refrain from arbitrary arrest, detention, and sentencing to exercise leverage over foreign governments in the context of State-to-State relations.
Latvia has been tirelessly voicing its concerns over arbitrary detention at the United Nations and in other international fora, and Latvia will continue to do so, with the aim of preventing and ending this reprehensible practice. It is unacceptable to have arbitrary arrest and detention employed in international relations as a means for one state to put pressure on another, the Parliamentary Secretary said.
The Declaration Against the Use of Arbitrary Detention in State-to-State Relations is an initiative spear-headed by Canada. The European Union and 60 countries around the world are endorsing this new international declaration.