Human Rights in Canada

AI Canada has just launched its new Corporate Accountability blog.

Over the next couple of months, the blog will feature actions and updates related to Bill C-300, the Responsible Mining Bill.

Bill C-300 aims to ensure that Canadian mining, oil and gas companies that receive financial and political support from the Canadian government act in a manner consistent with Canada’s international human rights commitments and environmental best practices. 

Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s new international Secretary General was in Canada this week to deliver the key note address at the 9th CIVICUS World Assembly in Montreal. In his speech he noted that "the greatest injustices of the moment include gender injustice on maternal mortality".

From his first few days at work with the organization in July, Salil emphasized the indivisibility of all rights and said there was a need to find new ways of connecting more systematically economic, social and cultural rights with civil and political rights.

"The only way to address economic and climate injustice, caused by the reckless abuse of power and blatant violation of human rights by governments and corporations, is for ordinary people across the world to stand up for their rights. The CIVICUS World Assembly will call leaders in governments and the corporate world to account, to meet their human rights obligations and deliver justice for all.”

For the past six years Salil Shetty was Director of the United Nation’s Millennium Campaign, an anti-poverty campaign that calls for greater accountability from governments in the fight against hunger, disease and illiteracy. Through the Millennium Campaign, Salil galvanized strong faith-based, civil society, media, private sector and local government support for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

Watch the video “You are Powerful” which Salil showed during his CIVICUS keynote address | Follow Salil Shetty on Twitter | Follow Salil Shetty on Facebook

Canadian band Hollerado supports the work of Amnesty International! They are joining our call for an independent review of the police tactics and security measures used during the G20 Summit in Toronto, June 2010. This photo was taken at the Hope Volleyball SummerFest at Mooney's Bay Beach, Ottawa.

Want to do more? Sign AI's online G20 action | Check out Hollerado's website

The first round of G20 rallies and events took place on July 10th. Amnesty was prominent among the participants in many cities. We also managed to get some innovative media coverage courtesy of Andy McKim’s well-placed move to provide the backdrop for a CBC report.

Look for more events in your area on Saturday July 17th. Amnesty International is supporting events coordinated by Canadians Advocating Political Participation (CAPP) which back a general call for an independent review or inquiry in the G20 security measures. While various limited reviews are being initiated, notably ones by the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ontario Ombudsman, they are simply not enough.  Not only were police from several jurisdictions across the country deployed during the G20 security operations, but all levels of government and other agencies played key roles in decision-making around the location of the Summit and subsequent security measures.

July 17 Events

St John’s: 1:00-3:00 pm @ Lion’s Club (Bonaventure Ave.) to Colonial Building (Military Rd.)

Ottawa: 1:00-3:00pm @ Human Rights Monument (Elgin St)

Bancroft: 1:00pm - 4:00pm @ Millennium Park; ends at MPP Leona Dombrowsky's office click for more...

Signed the online G20 and MDGs actions? Shared them with others? Wondering what else you can do?

Rallies and other events will be taking place in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and other cities across Canada on July 10th and 17th. Look for the events in your area and continue to add your voice to the nation-wide call for accountability.

Amnesty International is supporting events coordinated by Canadians Advocating Political Participation (CAPP) which back a general call for an independent review or inquiry in the G20 security measures. While various limited reviews are being initiated, notably ones by the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ontario Ombudsman, they are simply not enough.  Not only were police from several jurisdictions across the country deployed during the G20 security operations, but all levels of government and other agencies played key roles in decision-making around the location of the Summit and subsequent security measures.

July 10 Events

Halifax: 2:00pm - 5:30pm @ Grand Parade (outside Halifax City Hall)

Montreal: 8:30pm - 11:00pm @ Phillips Square

Kingston: 1:00-6:00pm @ Mcburney Park (Skeleton Park)

Toronto: 1:00pm demo & march @ Queen’s Park click for more...

“Five feet away from me… Jesse fell down face first. The same officer [who punched him in the gut] then came and elbowed him in the back. The officer who was escorting me… looked over to me and said ‘Jeez, that shouldn’t have happened, shouldn’t have done that’.”  journalist Steve Paikin (TVO)

Governments bear a very important responsibility to ensure security in and around events such as the G20 Summit.  They have an equal responsibility to enable and protect the rights associated with peaceful protest, particularly freedoms of expression, assembly and association.

Some 1000 people were detained between June 25 and 28, 2010 in Toronto. While some were connected to acts of violence and vandalism - acts which Amnesty International clearly condemns - many were engaging in peaceful protest or simply caught up in police actions while going about their daily business. Among those targeted were journalists and others attempting to document the protests and the police response. This scale of arrests in connection with protests is unprecedented in Canada.

The G8/G20 Summits were supposed to have been a chance to talk about putting human rights at the heart of global fight against poverty.  Instead, the voices of thousands were silenced or ignored and the headlines dominated by images of burning police cars and broken windows.

We urgently need an independent review of the security measures adopted and the range of police actions taken in association with the G20 Summit in Toronto.

While we welcome the forthcoming review to be undertaken by the Toronto Police Service’s (TPS) Summit Management After Action Review Team, this is not an adequate response to the concerns of Amnesty International and other organizations and individuals. The TPS review is not independent, nor does it enable public participation or cover the wider range of actors involved, including various levels of government.

On July 2nd, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty announced that he did not believe the circumstances warranted an independent review of the G20 security measures. He encouraged concerned individuals to use the existing police complaint procedures. Again, this fails to take into account the full range of actors involved beyond the police or the broader public interests at stake.

On July 6, 2010 the Toronto Police Services Board approved an Independent Civilian Review of police tactics during the G20 protests. According to TPS Board member Adam Vaughan "we'll be looking for people outside the police service board to conduct that review because I think the public wants independence on this." It remains unclear what the terms of reference will be for this review, though it would of course likely be limited in jurisdiction. Reportedly the TPS Board will meet again in two weeks to establish the scope of the review. Amnesty International continues to call on the Federal government to undertake a full and independent review of the G20 security measures.

Send a message to the Prime Minister

Dear Prime Minister Harper and Premier McGuinty,

We are writing on behalf of the more than 80,000 members of Amnesty International across Canada to urge that you work together to launch an independent review of the security measures adopted and the range of police actions taken in association with the G20 Summit in Toronto.  This letter highlights many of the crucial issues that we believe need to be examined in that independent review. 

We first called for such a review in a Closing Communiqué issued at the end of Amnesty International Canada (English branch)’s Annual General Meeting on June 27th.  The meeting was held in Toronto, with some 200 members from across the country in attendance.  Amnesty International members took part in the People First demonstration on June 26th and witnessed many other demonstrations and some instances of arrest and other confrontation between police and demonstrators over the course of the weekend. We have also reviewed many of the growing number of media accounts, individual testimonies and monitoring reports describing police tactics, patterns of arrest, conditions of detention, and acts of vandalism and other violence, including the Preliminary Report of Observations issued by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association on June 29th.

Amnesty's Open Letter to Prime Minister Harper and Premier McGuinty | Preliminary Report of Observations issued by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (29 June 2010)

Amnesty International Canada (English branch)
Annual General Meeting 2010
Closing Communiqué

As the Annual General Meeting of Amnesty International Canada (English branch) concluded today in Toronto, Amnesty International members from across the country expressed their very deep concern that important rights associated with peaceful protest have suffered considerably in the city over the weekend. 

In connection with the G20 leaders summit, the heavy police and security presence that has permeated the city for several days, as well as acts of vandalism and other violence by numbers of individuals, have contributed to an atmosphere of apprehension and fearfulness that has led many individuals to refrain from or limit their involvement in peaceful demonstrations and other activities.   

At a time when the public should be encouraged to actively engage in debate and discussion about pressing global issues, the security measures that were put in place in Toronto in the lead up to the G20 Summit held in the city instead narrowed the space for civic expression and cast a chill over citizen participation in public discourse.  Many thousands of individuals did take part in public events such as the “People First” demonstration during the afternoon of June 26, but felt apprehensive while doing so.  Many others did not take part out of a sense of unease and fearfulness.

In meeting in Toronto at the same time as G8 and G20 leaders have held their summits in Canada, Amnesty International members have sought to draw attention to important human rights issues that should be priority concerns for both bodies. We have highlighted that it is a particularly key juncture in the development of the G20 as an emerging body that will exert growing influence on world economic, political and social affairs.  We have emphasized, therefore, that we look to them to take action to ensure that human rights are brought to the heart of the global effort to fight poverty, particularly through the millennium development goals.  We look to them to ensure that respect for universal human rights will become the hallmark of their deliberations and decision making.

Yet at a time when human rights need so very much to come to the fore, we have instead witnessed and experienced a curtailment of civil liberties.  click for more...

A new coalition, Voices-Voix, is sounding the alarm that the quality and health of democratic life in Canada is under serious threat. Voices-Voix released today its “Raise Your Voices” Declaration signed by human rights, women’s, aboriginal, labour, environment, student, faith-based and development organizations.

The Declaration calls on the government to respect the right to freedom of opinion and expression, act in accordance with Canada’s democratic traditions and values and be transparent.

“Voices-Voix, came together because of growing and serious concerns that the space for dissent and debate in Canada is rapidly shrinking,” says Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. “It is vitally important that concrete steps be taken immediately to arrest this erosion. Canada’s reputation as a human rights leader is on the line.”

The “Raise Your Voices” Declaration asserts that “Since 2006 the Government of Canada has systematically undermined democratic institutions and practices, and has eroded the protection of free speech, and other fundamental human rights. It has deliberately set out to silence the voices of organizations or individuals who raise concerns about government policies or disagree with government positions.”

Read the full news release

AI Canada’s legal intern Caylee Hong has been observing the Military Police Complaint Commission (MPCC) hearings.

The Military Police Complaints Commission, the quasi-judicial civilian body established by Parliament, continued hearing the complaint lodged by Amnesty International and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association into the transfer of detainees by Canadian Military Police in Afghanistan.

Gabrielle Duschner, the policy advisor who was a key link between DFAIT and the Canadian Forces, continued testifying yesterday. On Monday, she confirmed that she was the person who “put down her pen” during the interdepartmental meeting where Richard Colvin told senior officials that the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s infamous intelligence agency, commits torture. She stated that the room went silent and the meeting continued without addressing Colvin’s allegations. During the hearing internal memos by the Canadian Expeditionary Forces Command (CEFCOM) dismissing Colvin’s reporting as “unqualified and unsolicited” criticisms of the Canadian Forces were also revealed.

However, yesterday Duschner confirmed that in contrast to the briefing note which said that Colvin’s reporting of detainee abuse was “unsubstantiated speculation”, Canadian officials were alarmed by Colvin’s wide distribution of reports, not their accuracy. Colvin’s suggestions including that Canada renegotiate a new transfer arrangement with the Government of Afghanistan were in fact implemented. click for more...