Canada Rejects UN Call For Review of Violence on Aboriginal Women

That will be part of its response today to the UN Human Rights Council, which is conducting its Universal Period Review of Canada's rights record.

Countries have their rights records reviewed every four years by the Geneva-based UN forum, but the Harper government has been skeptical of it in part because it allows countries with dubious rights records to criticize Canada, CTV News reported.

That also included a rejection of a series of resolutions calling on Canada to undertake sweeping national reviews of violence against aboriginal women.

Countries calling for such reviews included Switzerland, Norway, Slovenia, Slovakia and New Zealand.

Iran, Cuba and Belarus, also supported the call for an investigation into the disappearances, murder and sexual abuse of aboriginal women in Canada.

In a response to be formally tabled Thursday in Geneva, Canada says it is "strongly committed to taking action with aboriginal and non-aboriginal groups to prevent and stop violence against aboriginal women" through a series of federal and provincial initiatives.

Canada faced similar calls to better address the concerns of its aboriginal population in 2009, when it faced its last review by the UN body.

The issue reared its head again in February when the New York-based group Human Rights Watch issued a highly critical report alleging police abuse of aboriginal women in British Columbia.

The UN Committee Against Torture has also accused Ottawa of being "complicit" in human rights violations committed against three Arab-Canadian men held in Syria after 9-11.