Human Rights in Canada

Amnesty International Canada Directors issued an Open Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada urging him to repatriate Omar Khadr.

Amnesty International’s long-standing call for the repatriation of Mr. Khadr is strengthened by the Supreme Court ruling last Friday that Mr. Khadr’s Charter rights have been violated and that the Government of Canada must take steps to address those violations.

Read the Open Letter and Take Action

The Harper government’s decision to prorogue – or end -- this session of Parliament ahead of its normal timetable has many human rights activists wondering what the effect will be on legislation with profound human rights implications that was in the midst of debate by MPs.

Well, the current minority government situation has shown that even seasoned Hill followers are still learning how our parliament really works under those circumstances and that various scenarios are always possible. However, the immediate impact on Bill C-300 (corporate accountability) and Bill C-23  (Canada-Colombia trade agreement) is pretty clear.

The principal effect of ending a session by prorogation is to end government business. MP committee activity ceases – such as the committee that was examining the controversy around Afghan detainees.

As well, all bills introduced by the government that have not received Royal Assent prior to prorogation cease to exist. This affects Bill C-23 that would have implemented the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. During the next session of Parliament set to begin in March, the government will have to reintroduce the bill and have it go through all of the legislative stages, although it may seek cooperation from opposition parties to move the legislation forward quickly and avoid holding again dozens of hours of hearings and debates. The government remains determined to pass this legislation. So at one point or another in 2010, MPs will likely be called to vote on Bill C-23. Amidst clear evidence of a grave human rights and humanitarian crisis in Colombia, Amnesty International opposes Bill C-23 going forward without an independent human rights impact assessment. With MPs now back in their riding, we urge you to contact your MP to express your concerns and request support for an independent human rights impact study that considers the effect the trade agreement will have on human rights -- particularly on vulnerable sectors of the population like women, subsistence farmers, trade unionists, Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendent communities. Take action on the Canada-Colombia trade agreement. 

Prorogation has almost no practical effect on Private Members' Business, such as Bill C-300, an Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries, a private member’s Bill introduced by Liberal MP John McKay.  If consideration of an item at a certain stage had begun but had not been completed, the item is restored at the beginning of that stage, as if no debate had yet occurred.  This means that Bill C-300 will again go for review in Committee for 60 days when the House returns in March. Before the Parliament’s holiday break, the Canadian mining industry was stepping up its lobbying efforts to oppose this Bill. If you haven’t already contacted the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development to express your support for Bill C-300, please do so. Take action on Bill C-300.

Bill C-300 hangs in the balance.

If you haven't already done so, send a message to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to declare your support for Bill C-300 - an act respecting corporate accountability for the activities of Canadian mining, oil and gas in developing countries. 

The Committee is expected to vote on the Bill very soon. Please take action right now.

On April 23, 2009, the Federal Court ordered the Canadian government to ask the United States to repatriate Omar Khadr from Guantánamo Bay to Canada. On August 14, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld that decision. The Courts found that the Canadian government had failed to abide by its obligations under both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights law including the Convention Against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Despite these and other findings, the Canadian government appears determined to block Omar Khadr’s return to Canada for as long as possible. On August 25, the government sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and for a stay of the original court order. On November 13, 2009, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in this appeal.

Amnesty International has been granted intervenor status in this appeal and has asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the Canadian government's appeal and to uphold the ruling of the courts below that the Canadian government request that Omar Khadr be repatriated to Canada. Amnesty believes that Omar Khadr's repatriation is the only remedy that can address the serious and ongoing human rights violations that he has experienced during seven years of illegal detention in Guantánamo Bay. Amnesty also believes that the repatriation order is justified in light of the violations of Omar Khadr's right to procedural fairness, arising from the Canadian government's failure to consider his request for repatriation in a fair manner.

Only 15-years-old at the time of his capture by US forces in Afghanistan in the summer of 2002, Omar Khadr was transferred to Guantánamo Bay shortly afterwards. The status of his case and any potential trial remain in limbo as US officials continue to mull over the fate of some 230 detainees still held there. Reforms announced by the Obama administration still fall far short of international human rights standards. Other governments have worked to protect the rights of their citizens in US detention and negotiated their repatriation. Amnesty has urged the Canadian government to do the same and is intervening in this case to ensure that the Canadian government complies with its duty to protect its citizens from human rights abuses.

Q: What is the "Resource Curse"?

( )  A Harry Potter magic spell
 
( )  The latest Indiana Jones film
 
( )  A term to describe the worrying fact that many countries that are very rich in natural resources have very high levels of poverty. 

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To break the silence and end the fear
ABDELRAZIK SPEAKS FOR JUSTICE

Organized by Project Fly Home (an initiative of the People's Commission Network)

Abousfian Abdelrazik, recently returned from 6 years of forced exile in Sudan, will be on tour across Quebec and eastern Canada, from the 24th of September to the 17th of October, accompanied by members of Project Fly Home. The tour is sponsored nationally by the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Council of Canadians, Council on American-Islamic Relations - Canada (CAIRCAN), International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group (ICLMG), and the National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA).

Click here for Dates and Details

A coalition of rights groups today deplored the Canadian government’s failure to disclose fully documents relating to the illegal transfer to the US on September 12, 2001 of Benamar Benatta, resulting in his detention there for close to five years.

Mr. Benatta will be bringing a motion in Ontario Superior Court Friday to demand full disclosure. In responding to Mr. Benatta’s suit for damages, the government failed initially to disclose a number of documents that are helpful to Mr. Benatta’s case. The existence of these documents is known because Mr. Benatta had earlier obtained them through Access to Information. On being challenged, the government responded that the documents were “not relevant”. This raises a question about whether there are other important documents that the government has similarly deemed “not relevant”.

“Effective human rights protection demands transparency and accountability,” said Hilary Homes, Amnesty International Canada. “Since September 11th, however, in case after case allegedly involving national security, the Canadian government has obstructed transparency and blocked accountability at every turn. Benamar Benatta – and all Canadians – deserve better.”

Read the full news release | Take Action

“Our position regarding Mr. Khadr remains unchanged.” Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 25 August 2009

A mounting number of court decisions and official reviews have underlined the need to place human rights at the heart of cases involving citizens detained abroad. Yet the Canadian government continues to evade responsibility when it comes to Omar Khadr.

On April 23, 2009, the Federal Court ordered the Canadian government to ask the United States to return Omar Khadr to Canada. In the face of seven years of unlawful detention in Guantánamo Bay, it was the only remedy the Court could offer to address the serious and ongoing human rights violations in this case. On August 14, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld that decision.

The Courts found that the Canadian government had failed to abide by its obligations under both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and international human rights law including the Convention Against Torture and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Despite these and other findings, the Canadian government appears determined to block Omar Khadr’s return to Canada for as long as possible. On August 24, 2009, the government announced plans to seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court and for a stay of the original court order pending that potential appeal. The detention facility at Guantánamo may well have closed by the time any of these new legal proceedings unfold.

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