Coalition letters

Our Nations and organizations urge all Senators to support Bill C-262, a private members bill to ensure that the federal government implements the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada called the UN Declaration “the framework for reconciliation at all levels and across all sectors of Canadian society.” In its Calls to Action, the TRC urged the federal government to fully implement this global, consensus instrument for the protection and realization of the human rights of Indigenous peoples.

Bill C-262 provides a principled and pragmatic framework for achieving this goal.

Passage of Bill C-262 will establish a legislative framework requiring the federal government to work in consultation and cooperation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples to develop a national action plan for implementation of the Declaration. The Bill also includes a collaborative process to reform federal laws and policies, and to report regularly to Parliament on the progress made.

This Bill deserves the support of all Senators.

AMR 01/8484/2018                                                                                  

Amnesty International acknowledges the XLVIII Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly as a regional summit that promotes dialogue between the diverse states of the Americas. In the context of its 70th anniversary, the OAS has invited reflections on its future as it seeks to comprehensively advance its four pillars: human rights, democracy, comprehensive development and multidimensional security. With this in mind, Amnesty International considers it is essential that human rights be the connecting thread in everything the OAS does, especially considering that human rights are fundamentally intertwined with the Organization’s other three pillars.

We are dismayed and appalled by the arrest and detention of ten human rights defenders by the Turkish government, now facing investigation for membership of an “armed terrorist organisation” on account of their peaceful human rights work.

As an attack on six of the most prominent human rights NGOs in the country, the arrests are a hammer blow to Turkey's besieged civil society and an ominous indicator of the direction Turkey is heading in.

The “Istanbul 10” are Veli Acu, Özlem Dalkıran, İdil Eser, Nalan Erkem, Günal Kurşun, Şeymus Özbekli, Nejat Taştan, İlknur Üstün (Turkish nationals), Ali Gharavi (Swedish national) and Peter Steudtner (German national). The arrest of İdil Eser, director of Amnesty International Turkey, follows that of the organisation’s chair Taner Kılıç a month ago – the first time that a director and chair of Amnesty International have been detained in the same country at the same time. We call on the Turkish authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all of them.

UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

Sixteenth Session

Tuesday April 25, 2017

Agenda Item 8

Joint Statement of: Assembly of First Nations; Assemblée des Premières Nations du Québec et Labrador/Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador First Nations; Amnesty International; Confederacy of Treaty No. 6; First Nations Summit; Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee); BC Assembly of First Nations; Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers); Union of BC Indian Chiefs; Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.; KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives.

The Honourable Stéphane Dion      The Honourable Omar Alghabra
Minister of Foreign Affairs                Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs
125 Sussex Drive                             125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario                                Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2                                           K1A 0G2

May 20, 2016

Dear Minister Dion and Parliamentary Secretary Alghabra,

Dear Prime Minister,

Our organizations welcome your public commitment to a renewed relationship between the federal government and Indigenous Peoples in Canada based on the rights guaranteed in Canada’s Constitution and enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We hope that this vision of cooperation and partnership will shape your government’s actions and priorities from the outset.

We are encouraged that, as a “top priority”, you have mandated the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to support reconciliation and implement the UN Declaration.

In particular, our organizations believe that there is an immediate and pressing need for your government to collaborate with Indigenous Peoples to institute the crucial human rights safeguard of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) in the laws, policies and procedures of the federal government.

Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister Designate of Canada
Ottawa, Ontario

Dear Mr. Trudeau,

On behalf of the more than 300,000 Canadians who are supporters of Amnesty International we are writing this Open Letter to congratulate you on your election victory this week and to share our initial recommendations for what we hope will be a significantly strengthened approach by your government to respecting and upholding human rights, domestically and globally. 

We are heartened by many of the specific commitments you have made and general positions you have offered, both before and during the recent campaign, with respect to numerous pressing human rights challenges.  We look forward to engaging with you and your government as you move to implement the legal and policy reforms that are sorely needed to end violations, address longstanding injustices in the country and position Canada for human rights leadership on the world stage.