Below is an index of features from October 2006
Amnesty International brings REEL AWARENESS to Toronto from October 27-29th
25 October 2006
Amnesty International is presenting Reel Awareness, a new human rights film festival in Toronto running Friday October 27 to Sunday October 29 at the National Film Board. The festival features powerful and moving dramas and documentaries on global human rights issues, from child soldiers to indigenous women issues ... Video Promo | The programme
Urgent Action: Chinese border guards shoot and detain children
18 October 2006
On 30 September, an international group of mountaineers climbing in the Himalayas witnessed Chinese border control guards shooting at a group of Tibetans, including children, who were trying to flee to Nepal. At least two children, one of whom was Kelsang Namtso, a nun, are thought to have been killed. Nine children, thought to be aged between six and 10, and one man are known to have been detained by the Chinese authorities, and around 20 other individuals are unaccounted for. Amnesty International fears for the safety of those detained and those unaccounted for ... Take Action
k-os joins "Make Some Noise by recording John Lennon song
17 October 2006
Canadian hip-hop artist k-os (stands for ‘knowledge of self’) releases a new recording of "Jealous Guy" in support of Amnesty International's Make Some Noise Campaign which aims to inspire a new generation to stand up for human rights ... News Release | Download "Jealous Guy" at the Make Some Noise Website
Maher Arar receives 2006 Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Award
17 October 2006
Amnesty International congratulates Maher Arar as he receives this year's prestigious Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award from the US based Institute for Policy Studies. This is the 30th year that the award has been bestowed, going to an individual or organization who exemplifies being a "hero of the human rights movement." Maher's courage and determination in standing up for justice and human rights in the face of secrecy and counter-terrorism has certainly been heroic. He is more than deserving of this honour ... More about the Award | Video: Arar acceptance speech
Canada: More Canadians alleging torture demand an independent inquiry
12 October 2006
At a press conference today, Muayyed Nurreddin, Abdullah Almailki and Ahmend El Maati, told the media that the federal government must heed the findings and recommendations of the Arar Commission report and call an inquiry into their imprisonment and torture in Syria ... Read the Backgrounder
International Day of Action in support of the UN Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
12 October 2006
Beginning at sunrise on October 12, the Midnight Messenger will be drumming on Victoria Island in Ottawa for 24 hours to celebrate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples ... Photos and Video from Victoria Island | About the Declaration | Take Action | Sign the Global Petition
Maher Arar: Share your thoughts on the findings of the Arar Commission
Posted: 5 October 2006
Justice O'Connor's final report from the Arar Commission provides a remarkable analysis of the series of events prior to Maher Arar's detention in New York through to his release from Syria and return to Canada. Amnesty and its members have been involved in trying to right the many wrongs in this case from the first Urgent Action issued in 2002, to the call for a public inquiry, to leading a group of intervenors at the inquiry itself. The findings of the Arar Commission mark a great moment in history for justice and human rights in Canada and for everyone who works hard and passionately for them ... Share your thoughts and offer your best wishes to the Arar family
Canada: Open letter to Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice on Violence Against Indigenous Women
Posted: 4 October 2006
Two years ago Amnesty International issued a major report documenting the widespread violence faced by Indigenous women and girls in Canada. The Stolen Sisters report cited a Canadian government, now a decade old, that young Indigenous women in Canada are at least five times more likely than all other women to die as a result of violence... As you stated in the House of Commons on October 26, 2004, "we need a government that will address seriously" the issues of violence against Indigenous women and girls. While some notable steps have been taken to address these issues, they fall short what is needed to address the severe and persistent threats to the well-being, safety and fundamental human rights of Indigenous women in Canada that the Native Women's Association of Canada has long raised and that the Stolen Sisters report documents... Read the open letter
Canada: Remember the lives of our missing and murdered Aboriginal sisters
Posted: 4 October 2006
On the occasion of the second anniversary of Amnesty Canada's Stolen Sisters report, the struggle to have the lives of Indigenous women and girls taken seriously continues... Take Action | Photos: Ottawa Vigil | Stolen Sister: Daleen Kay Bosse